Francis Newton Souza was a founder member of the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), largely responsible for shaping the Modern Art movement in India. He went on to become a celebrated artist in Europe, following exhibitions In London in the 1950s. He was influenced by the traditional temple sculptures of India, even as he imbibed from the sensibilities of European Old Masters and Modern painters. He was ranked along with artists of the stature of Georges Rouault, Chaime Soutine, Graham Sutherland and even Pablo Picasso.
Souza was bitterly critical of his natal Catholic Church and the hypocrisy of its clergy. He sought to disturb accepted notions of aesthetics and jolt stereotypical perceptions about religion, sin, sensuality and the oppressive political order. His artistic talents, whether in oil painting, writing. or line drawing, remain utterly compelling.
Posthumously, his work has achieved further critical acclaim, and is avidly sought after in India, the UK and the USA. The Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum of London own several of his works and have exhibited them from time to time.
The renowned Indian painter M F Husain paid a tribute by stating, "Souza was my mentor... he is the most significant painter, almost a genius".
An exhibition of his work in late 2005 at Tate Britian focuses on the themes of religion and erotica in his wok and confirms his status not only as a British painter of repute but also as a founder of Indian Modern art.
Aziz Kurtha is a practicing commercial lawyer who writes on, and collects contemporary art from the Indian subcontinent. He has co-authored with Balraj Khanna Art of Modern India published in 1998. Along with well-known Indian writer Khushwant Singh, he has edited a portfolio of drawings and verse by celebrated Pakistani artist, the late Sadequain. He has organized a number of exhibitions for important artists, including Francis Newton Souza as early as the 1970s.
He has also been a presenter for radio and television, having anchored the Eastern Eye series for over three years for Channel Four, UK.
He received his doctorate in law from the London School of Economics and works out of Dubai and London.
Art is often considered a distillation of its maker's true nature. Many years later, in hindsight, after his demise, it may be pertinent to reflect upon F N Souza's life and work for its true import.
In the mid-1950s, eminent British critics of the stature of David Sylvester and John Berger wrote memorable reviews of Souza's work. Edwin Mullins' monograph, and Geeta Kapur's writings of the 70s, are other important sources to which I owe a debt. However, these writings were hampered by limited access to the artist's work. as also the relatively less developed, expensive nature of colour photography at the time. Accordingly, images that accompanied such text appeared in small sizes. mainly in black and white. Advances in digital photography allows one to present nearly 200 of Souza's works in full colour. These appear here. sometimes juxtaposed with classical works by Old and Modern Masters that he admired. Most of Souza's works in this book have not been seen publicly.
Monographs and other picture-led books have an inherent tendency to draw the reader's eye onto the images rather than the accompanying text, which often goes unread. Readers are inclined to scan images without grasping the true context and meaning. In an effort to imbue viewing with understanding, extensive captions appear under most of the images.
One of my objectives was to examine the role played by Souza in bridging the nascent Modern art movement of India, of which he was a founder, with elements in Western, particularly European, art that he admired deeply.
It hardly needs pointing out that great painters in the West, from Turner to Picasso, as also in the East, occasionally honed their craft, in part, by copying other artists. Picasso is reported to have said, "I borrow from everybody and from everywhere." Indeed, the structure of El Greco's The Opening of the Fifth Seal (1608) is said to have Influenced Picasso's momentous Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) which, in turn, led to numerous adaptations, Including Souza's Young Ladies in Belsize Park (1962).
Souza read widely and studied Old and Modern Masters in museums and galleries. Sometimes he tried to adapt these images to suit his own Idiom. Frequently, such works bore very little pictorial relationship to the original, apart from a basic structural resemblance, seen. for instance, in his re-interpretation of works by Titian. Rembrandt. Caravaggio. Modigliani and Goya and followed by Henri Matisse and Picasso. The total number of Souza's 'inspired by works constituted a small. yet, revealing portion of his oeuvre.
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