Francisco Victor Newton de Souza (12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002), better known as F. N. Souza, was an Indian artist of

modern Indian painting The modern Indian art movement in Indian painting is considered to have begun in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century. The old traditions of painting had more or less died out in Bengal and new schools of art were started by the British. Initi ...

, and a founding member of the

Bombay Progressive Artists' Group The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), was a group of modern artists, mainly based in Bombay, from its formation in 1947. Though it lacked any particular style, there might be said to have been a move towards a synthesis of influences from India ...

. His style exhibited both

decadence Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

and

primitivism In the arts of the Western world, Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that means to recreate the experience of ''the primitive'' time, place, and person, either by emulation or by re-creation. In Western philosophy, Primitivism propo ...

Early life and education

Francisco Victor Newton de Souza was born to

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 ...

parents in the village of

Saligão Saligão () is a census town in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is surrounded by the villages of Porvorim, Parra, Guirim, Sangolda, Pilerne, Candolim, Calangute and Nagoa and is in Bardez Taluka of Goa. It is 10 km fro ...

Portuguese Goa The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...

. After his father and then his elder sister died, he and his mother moved to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, in 1929. Souza's mother remarried, and his half-brother was the painter Lancelot Ribeiro. Souza attended

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

in Bombay, but he was expelled in 1939 for drawing obscene graffiti in the restrooms. He then studied at the

Sir 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, ...

in Bombay but was also expelled from that school in 1945, because of pulling down the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

flag during a school ceremony and participating in the Quit India Movement. Souza joined the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

soon after, and co-founded the

in 1947.

Move to London

In 1948, Souza's paintings were shown in London's

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private English Baroque and then Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earl of Burlington, Earls of Burlington. It was significantly expanded in the mid-19th cent ...

as part of an exhibition on Indian Art. However, his work was attacked by the

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, ...

community in

during an exhibition at Chemould Frames. Souza emigrated to London in 1949, following several complaints against him to the police from the Indian public for obscenity. He initially struggled to make an impact as an artist in the UK. His Goan wife Maria took on multiple jobs in order to support their family. The

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

included his work in a 1954 exhibition. His success as an artist took off following the publication in 1955 of his autobiographical essay ''Nirvana of a Maggot'' in English poet

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

's '' Encounter'' magazine. Spender introduced Souza to the British art dealer

Victor Musgrave Victor Musgrave (1919–1984) was a British poet, art dealer and curator. Described by David Sylvester as a 'true pioneer' Musgrave was the first gallerist to show Bridget Riley and was a champion of Art Brut. Musgrave ran 'Gallery One' between 1 ...

. Souza's 1955 exhibit at Musgrave's Gallery One sold out, leading to ongoing success. Souza was one of five artists on the UK shortlist for the 1958

Guggenheim International Award The Guggenheim International Award was established in 1956 as "both a recognition of outstanding achievements in the visual arts and an important manifestation of international goodwill". A shortlist of artists and works were selected by juries to ...

for his 1955 painting ''Birth''. In 1959, Souza published his autobiographical ''Words and Lines''. Souza's career developed steadily, and he participated in several shows, receiving positive reviews from English art critic

John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...

. According to Berger, Souza's style "was deliberately eclectic: essentially

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in character", but "also drawing on the post-war

Art Brut Art Brut is an English indie rock band. Their debut album, '' Bang Bang Rock & Roll'', was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, ''It's a Bit Complicated'', released on 25 June 2007. Named after French painter Jean Dubuffet's definition ...

movement and elements of British

Neo-romanticism The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

Reputation

The Indian artist, M.F. Husain, recognized Souza as his mentor. In recent years, Souza's paintings have been sold for over a million dollars. His painting ''Birth'' (1955) depicting his mistress Liselotte posing naked while pregnant with their first daughter Keren, set a world auction record in 2008 for the most expensive "Indian" painting sold till then when it was purchased by

Tina Ambani Tina Ambani (née Munim, born 11 February 1957) is an Indian former actress. She is married to Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group. Personal life Tina Munim was born on 11 February 1957. She graduated high school in 1975 from the MM Pupils ...

for US$2.5 million (Rs 11.3 crore) at a

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

auction. In 2015, the painting ''Birth'' was resold to

Kiran Nadar Kiran Shiv Nadar (born 1951) is an Indian art collector and philanthropist. Nadar is the wife of Shiv Nadar, the founder of HCL Technologies, She is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation and chairperson of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. She ...

at Christie's in New York, fetching more than US$4 million. In June 2010, Christie's held an auction of over 140 lots from the Souza estate. Many of Souza's works fetched very high prices, some several times Christie's estimates. At an auction of Souza's painting ''The Last Supper'' (1990) held by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in 2019, his former muse and fellow artist Nimisha Sharma interrupted the auction after the bidding had ended. She asked repeatedly who was the artist’s “+” in his signature for that painting. Observers later speculated it was her way of telling the art world that she had painted it along with him.

Personal life

Souza met a

fashion designer Maria Figueiredo in 1945. They married soon after and had a daughter together. In 1954, Souza met Liselotte Kristian Kohn, a married

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

actress and

Progressive League The Progressive League was a British organisation for social reform and the promotion of scientific humanism, founded in 1932 by H. G. Wells and C. E. M. Joad under the name "Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals" (FPSI). One of the ...

member, with whom he began a relationship. They had three daughters together but they never got married: Souza remained married to Maria, while Liselotte remained married to Richard. They also

aborted Aborted is a Belgian death metal band formed in 1995 in Waregem. The group currently consists of vocalist, founder, and only constant member Sven de Caluwé, along with guitarists Ian Jekelis and Dan Konráðsson. Although the band originally ...

a pregnancy in 1959, Souza thereby being automatically excommunicated from the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Souza's relationship with Liselotte ended in 1961, with Liselotte alleging

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. He divorced Maria in 1964 in order to marry the 16-year-old Barbara Zinkant. He and Barbara moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1967 and their son was born in 1971. Barbara divorced Souza in 1977 in order to marry her lover. Souza divided his time between India and the United States after his second divorce. He was in several relationships, including a young married woman from Bombay, and had sexual relationships with multiple prostitutes. The Indian artist and poet

Srimati Lal Srimati Priyadarshini Lal (1959 – 2019) was an Indian artist, poet, writer, art critic, art authenticator and curator. She held over twenty exhibitions of her work internationally. She was the author of three books of poetry: ''The Window'' ...

was in a relationship with him from 1993 until his death. Souza's eldest daughter by his partner Liselotte Kristian is the British-Israeli painter Karen (Keren) Souza-Kohn. Karen's son is the British-Israeli street artist

Solomon Souza Solomon Souza (; born 1993) is a British-Israeli street artist. He is best known for spray painting portraits of contemporary and historical figures on the metal shutters of the Mahane Yehuda Market ("The Shuk") in Jerusalem, turning them into ...

, known best for his murals in the

Mahane Yehuda Market Mahane Yehuda Market (), often referred to as "The Shuk" (), is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem. Popular with locals and tourists alike, the market's more than 250 vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetable ...

. Anya Souza, his youngest daughter by Liselotte, was born with Down Syndrome and is a trustee of the Down Syndrome Association, known for speaking out against the 2003 International Down Syndrome Screening Conference at

Regents College Regent's University London (formerly Regent's College) is a private university located in London, England. It is part of Galileo Global Education, Europe’s largest higher education provider. Regent's University London was established in 1984 ...

in London.

Death

Souza died on 28 March 2002 from a heart attack. Only a few people attended the funeral, none of them being his family members or members of Souza's

community. His remains were buried in

Sewri Christian Cemetery The Sewri Christian Cemetery (Marathi: ''Sewrī Kristi smashan bhumi'') in Sewri, Mumbai, India, was established by Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal Commissioner of Bombay as a location for European burials. The land was acquired from the ...

in Mumbai.

Public collections

Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. Its collection includes more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing various cultures, including Asian, European, United States, Amer ...

, UK *

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London, UK *

Clifton Park Museum Clifton Park and Museum is a city park and municipal museum located in Clifton Park, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Clifton Park Museum is located in Clifton House and is one of several publicly owned museums and visitor attractions admi ...

, Rotherham, UK *Glenbarra Art Museum,

Himeji, Hyōgo 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

, Japan *

Haifa Museum The Haifa Museum of Art (, ), established in 1951, is located in a historic building built in the 1930s in Wadi Nisnas, downtown Haifa. Ranking as Israel's third largest art museum, the museum focuses on Israeli and international contemporary a ...

, Israel *

National Gallery of Modern Art The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent b ...

, New Delhi, India *

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, Melbourne, Australia *

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, London, UK *Progressive Art Gallery, New Delhi, India *

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London, UK *

The Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born ...

Art Gallery, UK *

Museum of Biblical Art (Dallas) The Museum of Biblical Art (MBA) in Dallas, Texas, USA, exhibits art with a Biblical theme. History The museum was founded in 1967 by Mattie Caruth Byrd. It was formerly known as the Biblical Arts Center. In 2005, a fire destroyed the museum and ...

, Texas, USA * Sarmaya Arts Foundation,

Fort, Mumbai Fort is a business and art district in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The area gets its name from the defensive fort, Fort George, Bombay, Fort George, built by the British East India Company around Bombay Castle. The area extends fro ...

References

External links

* (website on Souza by art critic

) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Francis Newton 1924 births 2002 deaths St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni People from North Goa district Painters from Goa