Francis Newton Souza the founder of the Progressive Artist's Group in 1947 is 'best known for his inventive human forms particularly the heads. Born in Goa in 1924 he was a student at the J.J. School of Art from where he was expelled in 1942 for participating in the Quit India Movement. He left for London in 1949 where after an initial period of struggle his work began to have an impact. The Institute of Contemporary Arts included his work in a group exhibition in 1954 to be followed by a solo show at Gallery one in 1955. The publication of his autobiographical piece 'Nirvana of a Maggot' in Encounter magazine that was then edited by the poet Stephen Spender also won him recognition.
A series of exhibition that followed did well and were reviewed by well-known art critics like John Berger who noted that Souza & 6straddles many traditions but serves none". Apart from his paintings he proved to be very articulate and an ingenious writer as his book "Words and Lines" published in London in 1959 revealed. He was on his way to being recognized as an outstanding painter when he left for the United States and settled in New York in 1967. Souza participated in the Common wealth Artists of Fame exhibition in London in 1977 and has had several exhibitions including one man shows in Paris in 1954 and 1960 and in Detroit in 1968. His retrospectives were held in New Delhi and Mumbai in 1987 and a show at the Indus Gallery in Karachi in 1988. A large retrospective was once again held in New Delhi in 1996.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017
Masterpieces Of Indian Modern Art. Edition II, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
2016
Groupe Mobile, Bétonsalon, France, 13e
Picking up the Pieces: Collage in Post War Britain, Grosvenor Gallery, UK, London
Womanhood: Through The Eyes of Indian Modern and Contemporary Art, Tao Art Gallery, India, Mumbai
Memory And Identity: Indian Artists Abroad, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
Kama Chameleon: Shaw, Souza, Somnath, Akara Art, India, Colaba
2015
After Midnight: Indian Modernism To Contemporary India 1947/1997, Queens Museum of Art, USA, Queens
The Ecstasy of Art – 1, Tao Art Gallery, India, Mumbai
Indian Abstracts - An Absence of Form, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
India Modern - Narratives From 20th Century Indian Art, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
2014
Indian Divine: Gods & Goddesses in 19th and 20th Century Modern Art, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
Shifting the Paradigm, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA, Greenwich Village
2013
The Naked and the Nude - The Body in Indian Modern Art, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
Past Parallels: The Art of Modern & Pre-Modern India, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA, Greenwich Village
Panoplism, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
Group Exhibition: The Drawing Wall, Vadehra Art Gallery, Defence Colony, India, New Delhi
Modern Masters, Grosvenor Gallery, UK, London
The Form and the Figure Pt. II, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA, Greenwich Village
Mumbai Modern: Progressive Artists Group 1947-2013, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
Manifestations X: 75 Artists 20th Century Indian Art, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
2012
Iconic Processions, Aicon Gallery, New York, USA, Greenwich Village
Manisfestions VIII- 20th certury Indian Art, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India, New Delhi
2010
Figure/Landscape: Part Two, Aicon Gallery, London, UK, Mayfair
2009
Tracing TIme, Works on Paper, Bodhi Art, Mumbai - Kalaghoda, India, Kala Ghoda
Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, Back Bay
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