Angelo da Fonseca (1902–1967) was a 20th-century Indian painter.

Early life

Angelo da Fonseca was born in Santo Estêvão, Goa in 1902 to a wealthy

Goan Catholic Goan Catholics () are an ethno-religious community adhering to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani l ...

family. He studied under

Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore (Bengali language, Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was an Indian painter who was the principal artist and creator of the Indian Society of Oriental Art in ...

in Calcutta. Fonseca was subsequently condemned by other

Goan Catholics Goan Catholics () are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community adhering to the Latin Church, Latin Rite of the Catholic Church from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konka ...

for his anti-Catholic paintings and he left Goa for Pune; he had repeatedly depicted the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

as a Hindu woman wearing a

sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

and a bindi. His paintings have been displayed in major cities worldwide.

Art studies

He started out in medical studies at the

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College is a public university, public medical school, medical college located in Mumbai, India. It is affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest medical co ...

, Bombay, but soon left for

J. J. School of Art The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's (B.F.A) degrees in Painting, ceramic, Metal work, ...

. He also left the prestigious art school in 1930, because he felt it had too much of a European setting, and joined

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

in Calcutta where he was trained by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

in the Bengal School of Art.

Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism, Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his ...

was his teacher. Since he was a Christian, many of his paintings were based on Christian themes from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

Paintings

Fonseca was a prolific and versatile painter. He carved on wood and slate, illustrated scrolls, assembled stained glass, etched wax drawings, made pencil sketches, and decorated baked clay. He created over 1000 watercolours, murals and oil paintings in places such as

St. Xavier's College, Mumbai St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, institution of higher education run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on 2 January 1869. The college is ...

; Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Pune;

Rachol Seminary The Rachol Seminary, also known as Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in Rachol, Goa, India. Historical outline The edifice that presently houses the seminar ...

in Goa, etc. He was reportedly strongly influenced by the writings of

Henry Heras Enric Heras de Sicars, known by his anglicised name Henry Heras (11 September 1888, Barcelona, Spain – 14 December 1955, Bombay, India), was a Spanish-Indian Jesuit priest, archeologist and historian based in India. Education Enric was the h ...

, S.J., who encouraged Indian Christian artists to paint local Hindu themes rather than traditional Christian ones.

Goa

He returned to Goa in 1931. Goa was then ruled by Portugal. Fonseca faced severe criticism from both Portuguese and

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

Catholics for painting Christian themes with Hindu settings. He was criticized by the Parish Priest in his native village of Santo Estêvão, because he had painted the Virgin Mary as a Hindu woman in a

with a bindi. He eventually left Goa permanently.

Pune

Fonseca moved to Pune (then called ''Poona'') in 1931, practicing his art at the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Christa Prema Seva Ashram where he created many works. He married Ivy Muriel Menezes in 1951, their daughter Yessonda Dalton was born in 1957. He died in 1967 of

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

. Ivy Muriel died in September 2015 in Pune.

References

External links

The artist’s website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Angelo Painters from Goa 1902 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Indian painters