F. N. Souza

Francis Newton Souza (12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002) was an Indian-American British Asian artist. He was a founding member of the Progressive Artists' Group of Bombay. Souza's style exhibited both decadence and primitivism.[2]

F. N. Souza
Born
Francisco Victor Newton de Souza

(1924-04-12)12 April 1924
Goa, Portuguese India
Died28 March 2002(2002-03-28) (aged 77)
Mumbai, India
NationalityPortuguese, then British[1]
Known forPainting, Drawing
Notable work
Birth (1955)
MovementExpressionism
Spouse(s)
    Maria Figueiredo
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1946; div. 1964)​
      Barbara Zinkant
      ​
      ​
      (m. 1965; div. 1977)​
      Partner(s)Liselotte Kohn (1954–1961)
      Srimati Lal (1993–2002)
      Children5

      Early life and education

      Francis Newton Souza was born Francisco Victor Newton de Souza to Goan Catholic parents in the village of Saligão. After his father and then his elder sister passed away, he and his mother moved to Mumbai in 1929.[3] Souza's mother remarried, and his half-brother was the painter Lancelot Ribeiro.[4]

      Souza attended St. Xavier's College in Bombay, but he was expelled in 1939 for drawing obscene graffiti in the restrooms.[5][6] He then studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay but was also expelled from that school in 1945, because of pulling down the Union Jack flag during a ceremony and participating in the Quit India Movement.[6][7] Souza joined the Communist Party of India soon after, and co-founded the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group in 1947.[8]

      Career

      In 1948, Souza's paintings were shown in London's Burlington House as part of an exhibition on Indian Art. However, his work was attacked by the Goan community in Mumbai during an exhibition at Chemould Frames.[5] Souza emigrated to London in 1949, following several complaints against him to the police from the Indian public for obscenity.[9]

      He initially struggled to make an impact as an artist in the UK.[9] His Goan wife Maria took on multiple jobs in order to support their family.[10] The Institute of Contemporary Arts 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 Stephen Spender's Encounter magazine. Spender introduced Souza to the art dealer Victor Musgrave. 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 for his 1955 painting Birth.[11]

      In 1959, Souza published his autobiographical Words and Lines.[12]

      Souza's career developed steadily, and he participated in several shows, receiving positive reviews from John Berger. According to Berger, Souza's style "was deliberately eclectic: essentially Expressionist in character", but "also drawing on the post-war Art Brut movement and elements of British Neo-romanticism".[2]

      Reputation

      The renowned Indian artist, M.F. Husain, recognized F. N. Souza as his mentor.[13] In recent years, Souza's paintings have been sold for over a million dollars.[14] His painting Birth (1955) depicting his mistress Liselotte posing naked while pregnant with their first daughter Keren,[7] set a world auction record in 2008 for the most expensive "Indian" painting sold till then when it was purchased by Tina Ambani for US$2.5 million (Rs 11.3 crore) at a Christie's auction. In 2015, the painting Birth was resold to Kiran Nadar at Christie's in New York, fetching more than US$4 million.[15]

      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.[16]

      At an auction of Souza's painting The Last Supper (1990) held by Sotheby's 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.[17]

      Personal life

      In 1954 Souza met Liselotte de Kristian (née Kohn, 1919–1990), a married Jewish actress who became his mistress.[18][19] They had three daughters together but they never got married: Souza remained married to Maria, while Liselotte remained married to her husband Richard.[13][18] They also aborted a pregnancy in 1959,[20] Souza thereby being automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.[21]

      Souza's relationship with Liselotte ended in 1961.[18] He divorced Maria in 1964 in order to marry the 16-year-old Barbara Zinkant. They moved to New York City in 1967 and their son was born in 1971. Barbara divorced Souza in 1977 in order to marry her lover.[1]

      Souza divided his time between India and the United States after his second divorce. He had several mistresses (including a married young woman from Bombay) and visited several red light districts.[22] The Indian artist and poet Srimati Lal was his mistress from 1993 until his death.[23]

      One of Souza's grandsons by his mistress Liselotte de Kristian[13][18] is the British-Israeli street artist Solomon Souza, known best for his murals in the Mahane Yehuda Market.[24]

      F. N. Souza died on 28 March 2002 from a heart attack and was buried in Sewri Christian Cemetery in Mumbai. Only a few people attended the funeral, none of them family members or members of Souza's Goan community.[5][9]

      Public collections

      See also

      References
      1. Rangel-Ribeiro, Victor (2019). Souza: The Artist, His Loves, and His Times. Goa Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788190426527.
      2. Chopra, Ashok (2016). A Scrapbook of Memories. India: Harper Collins. ISBN 9789352641123.
      3. Grimes, William (9 April 2020). "Overlooked No More: F.N. Souza, India's Anti-Establishment Artist". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
      4. Buckman, David (23 October 2011). "Lancelot Ribeiro: Artist in the vanguard of the influx of Indian artists to Britain". The Independent. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
      5. Maddox, Georgina (9 February 2019). "An exhibition captures F N Souza's early years as an artist". The Hindu.
      6. D'Souza, Ornella (6 January 2019). "Born rebel". DNA India (newspaper).
      7. Raaj, Neelam (18 September 2015). "With $4m art record, Souza sizzles". The Times of India.
      8. Gehi, Reema (27 September 2015). "Mr. Souza's baggage was always excess". The Times of India.
      9. Khasnis, Giridhar (3 October 2009). "A rebel, always". Deccan Herald.
      10. Nair, Uma (11 March 2014). "Souza - The Heartless Husband". The Times of India.
      11. Svendsen, Louise Averill (1958). Guggenheim International Award, 1958. New York City: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. OL 16751796W.
      12. Souza, F. N. (1959). Words and Lines. London: Villiers / Scorpion Press. OCLC 501036319.
      13. Singh, Khushwant (6 May 2006). "A Maverick Painter". The Telegraph (India).
      14. "Sale of a painting by the late Indian painter Francis Newton Souza has set a record for an Indian work of art". BBC News. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
      15. Archived 28 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine FN Souza’s ‘Birth’ sets new record, sold for $4 million at Christie’s New York auction. The Financial Express, 18 September 2015.
      16. Christie's - The Art of Souza: Property from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza
      17. Gehi, Reema (16 November 2019). "Souza's muse interrupts show, a Gaitonde painting goes unsold". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
      18. Carvalho, Selma (2 September 2013). "A morning with F N Souza's daughters". State of the Art.
      19. "Liselotte de Kristian (1919-1990), Actress; partner of F.N. Souza". National Portrait Gallery. London. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
      20. Jackson, Milenka (June 1989). "Part 5". Liselotte Souza interviewed by Milenka Jackson. Living Memory of the Jewish Community (Audio recording summary). London: British Library. She had an abortion in 1959, three babies in these conditions at the age of 40 was too much.
      21. "Can. 1398". Code of Canon Law. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
      22. Sareen, N K (20 October 2021). "Selfie with Souza, the painter who shot to international fame before Hussain". The News Porter.
      23. Sanyal, Amitava (9 April 2010). "Francis Newton Souza: How the artist's libido guided him in art as in life". Hindustan Times.
      24. Ghert-Zand, Renee (29 February 2016). "Young artist turns Jerusalem's market into gallery of famous faces". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
      25. "Supper at Emmaus with the Believer and the Sceptic by Francis Newton Souza". Art UK. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
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