F N Souza
BORN DIED EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS HONORS AND AWARD ABOUT THE ARTIST Francis Newton Souza was born in 1924 in Saligao, Goa. After losing his father at a very young age and suffering from a serious illness of smallpox, he vowed to pursue his own life. Souza was expelled for participating in the Quit India movement while studying at Sir J J School of Art in Mumbai. In 1947 he founded the Progressive Artists Group along with S H Raza, M F Husain and K H Ara, among others. An eloquent genius, Souza augmented his haunting and powerful canvases with his sharp and provocative prose. Francis Newton Souza's wild, graphic style created powerful and thought-provoking images. His repertoire of subjects encompassed still lifes, landscapes, nudes and icons of Christianity, boldly rendered in a frenetic distortion of form. Souza's paintings expressed defiance and impatience with the conventions and banality of everyday life. Souza's works have reflected the influence of several schools of art: the folk art of his native Goa, the pure paintings of the Renaissance, the religious fervor of the Catholic Church, the landscapes of 18th and 19th century Europe, and the innovative modern paintings. A recurring theme in his works was the conflict in the man-woman relationship, emphasizing sexual tension and friction. In his drawings, he used lines economically, while still capturing the fine details in his shapes. He also used a profusion of cross strokes that formed the general structure of his theme. In 1949, Souza left for London where, after a few years of struggle, he left his mark on the art scene. In the 1950s, he rose to prominence with his solo exhibition at London's Gallery One, at the same time as his autobiographical essay, Nirvana of a Maggot, was published. In 1967 he emigrated to New York where he received the International Guggenheim Prize. There he remained until his death. Souza's works were part of several successful exhibitions around the world. His works are in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. He has also exhibited at Gallery Creuze, Paris, in 1954, at Arts 38, London, in 1975 and 1976, at Bose Pacia Modern, New York, in 1998, and at Francis Newton Souza Rare Works 1965-2001, at Galerie 88. in Calcutta. F N Souza died in March 2002. Notification - We do not usually display F N Souza's work, only send it to private art collectors and interested art buyers.
April 12, 1924 Saligaon Goa
28 March, 2002
1960 Study trip through Italy with a scholarship from the Italian government
1940-45 Diploma in Painting, Sir J.J.School of Arts, Mumbai
2001 Francis Newton Souza Rare works 1965-2001, Galerie 88, Calcutta
1999 Copeland Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
1998 Bose Pacia Modern, New York
1997 Julian Hartnolls Gallery, London
1996 Artistic Heritage, New Delhi
1996 Souza from the Alkazi Collection, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi.
1993 Souza, Dhoomimal Art Gallery of the 1940s-1990s, New Delhi
1986 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1983 Souza at Forties Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1985 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay
1976 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1975.76 Arts 38 London
1968 London Art Gallery Detroit, USA
1966 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1966 Grosvenor Gallery, London
1963 Taj Gallery Bombay
1962 Kumar Gallery New Delhi
1961 Gallery One, London
1961.62 North Audley Street London
1960 Gallery One, London
1959 Gallery One, London
1957 Gallery One, London
1955 Gallery One, London
1954 Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1954 Creuze Gallery, London
1951 Indian Embassy in London
2001 Souza and Baiju, Saffronart and Apparao Galleries, Mumbai
1996 National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
1996.93 LTG Gallery, New Delhi
1987 Coups de Coeur, Halles de Lille, Geneva
1986 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1982 Modern Indian Paintings, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Washington D.C.
1982 India Myth and Reality, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy, London
1977 Famous Commonwealth Artists in London
1967 Guggenheim Foundation United States
1965 Art Now in India, London
1964 Grosvenor Gallery, 1964
1962 Commonwealth Institute, London
1957 John Moores Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool
1956,57,59,60 Gallery One, London
1954 Venice Biennale Italy
1954 Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1949 Bombay Art Society Hall, Mumbai
1948 Burlington House Gallery London
1947 Progressive Artists Group, Mumbai
2017 Man Grinding His Teeth, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2017 The Progressive Master Francis Newton Souza from the Rajadhyaksha Collection, Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, Ohio
2016 Indian Modernist Landscapes, 1950-1970, Bakre Ribeiro Souza, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2015 Francis Newton Souza works on paper, Kanoria Center For Arts, Ahmedabad, Gallery 7, Mumbai
2015 Selections of Abby Gray and Indian Modernism from the New York University Art Collection, Gray Art Gallery, New York University, New York
2014 Rituals and reasons that invoke the sensual in art, Apparao Galleries, Chennai
2013 Ram Kumar and the Bombay Progressives Form and Figure Part II, Aicon Gallery, New York
2013 Ideas of the Sublime, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2013 Panoply, Nature Morte, New Delhi
2013 Edge of Reason- and Beyond, into pure creativity, presented by Indian Art Circle at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2013 The Nude and the Nude The Body in Modern Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 Diva, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2012 Talking Heads, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2012 Iconic Processions, Aicon Gallery, New York
2012 Expanding the Line, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
Gallery Collection 2012, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 Migrations, Tate Britain, London
2012 F.N.Souza Landscapes, heads and nudes, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2012 Contemporary A selection of modern and contemporary art, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai
2012 Through the Ages, South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism, Aicon Gallery, New York
2012 Crossings Time Unfolded, Part 2, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2011-12 The Body Unleashed, Rubin Museum of Art, New York
2011-12 Picasso Souza, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Ethos V Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2011 The Lotus Path of Indian Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2011 Modern Masters, Aicon Gallery, New York
2011 Ida Kar Portraits by F N Souza, British Council, New Delhi, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, Sunaparanta Goa Centre, Panaji
2011 Manifestations VI, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Seduction by Masquerade, Nature Morte, New Delhi
2011 Progressive Starting States to the Present, Aicon Gallery, London
2011 POP Progressives on Paper, Aicon Gallery, New York
2011 Anecdotes, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2011 Natural Bodies, Subverted Canons, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Goddess, lion, peasant, priest Modern and contemporary Indian art, from the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin at the Oglethorpe Museum, Atlanta
2011 High-Light, presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at The Oberoi, Gurgaon
2011 Manifestations V, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Master Class, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below Modern and Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
2011 Continuum, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
Celebrations 2011 2011, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
2010-11 FigureLandscape Part Two, Aicon Gallery, London
2010 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2010 FigureLandscape Part One, Aicon Gallery, New York
2010 The Modernists, RL Fine Arts, New York
2010 Paper Trails, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 A Lost History The Other History Revisited, Aicon Gallery, London
2010 The Progressives & Associates, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2010 A. SYCO, The Observation Room, Mumbai
2010 From miniature to modern traditions in transition, Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
2010 Volte-Face Souzas Iconoclastic Vision, presented by Dhoomimal Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2010 Crossed Purposes, Mascalls Gallery, West Kent, Ben Uri Museum, London
2010 Vahana, Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai
2010 Manifestations IV, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 Roots, 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai
2010 Celebration 2010, Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi
2009 Master Class, The Arts Trust, Mumbai
2009 Traditional Methods and Modern Practices of Bazgasht, The Renaissance of Miniature Paintings of the Subcontinent, Mississauga Art Gallery, Mississauga, Ontario
2009 Anglo-Indian Express, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2009 Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2009 Indian Art after Independence Selected works from the collections of Virginia and Ravi Akhoury and Shelley and Donald Rubin, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead
2009 F.N.Souza Heads, landscapes and nudes, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2009 In Search of the Vernacular, Aicon Gallery, New York
2009 Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2009 Kalpana Figurative Art in India, presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Aicon Gallery, London, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
2009 Charting Time, Bodhi Art, Mumbai
2009 Armory Show, New York presented by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008-09 India Moderna, organized by the Institut Valencia dArt Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Valencia, Spain
2008-09 Expanding Horizons Contemporary Indian Art, traveling exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L.Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai, Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati, Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur, Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad, Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalays, Solapur, Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur, PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune, Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik
2008 Frame Figure Field 20th Century Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008 3 Masters Briefly, Akar Prakar, Kolkata
2008 F.N.Souza, presented by Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, London at Saffronart, New York
2008 Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008 Multiple Modernities India, 1905-2005, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA.
2008 Freedom 2008 Sixty years after the independence of India, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta
2008 Stories, reflections and constructions, ITC Windsor, Bangalore
2007-08 India Art Now Between Continuity and Transformation, Province of Milan, Milan
2007 Bacon, Freud, Souza and Mehta, Grosvenor Vadehra, New Delhi
2007 Painting without paint The chemical paints of FN Souza, R L Fine Arts, New York
20056 F. N. Souza Religion and Erotica, Tate Britain, London
2005 Ashta Nayak Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York
20056 Self-portrait from Renaissance to Contemporary, National Portrait Gallery, London
2005 Francis Newton Souza, Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, London and New York
2005 Modern Indian Paintings, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2005 A Tribute to F. N. Souza, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
2005 Manifestations III, Nehru Centre, Mumbai, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 Manifestations II, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 Ethos Contemporary Indian Art, Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2004 Souza in London, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia from the Bhayana family collection, British Council, New Delhi.
2003 Modern Indian Painting, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2003 Francis Newton Souza works on paper, Saffronart, Mumbai
2003 F.N Souza A definitive retrospective, Gallery Artsindia, New York
2003 Demonstrations, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2002 Souza and his friends, Grosvenor Gallery, London
1998 Kalidas Sanman, Government of Madhya Pradesh, India
1967 Guggenheim International Prize, New York
1960 Italian Government Scholarship (through the British Council)
1957 John Moores Award, Liverpool
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