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{{Short description|Goan painter and sculptor, (1895 – 1982)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
'''Antonio Piedade da Cruz''' (22 August 1895 – 1982) was a 20th-century Indian painter and sculptor.<ref>J. Clement Vaz, "Profiles of Eminent Goans Past and Present", Concept Publishing Company, 1997, {{ISBN|9788170226192}}</ref>

==Early life and background==
He was born on 22 August 1895 in the village of [[Velim, Goa|Velim]] in then [[Portuguese India]] and joined [[Bombay]]'s [[Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art]] in 1916. Cruzo studied under Gladstone Salomon, [[M. V. Dhurandhar]] and Agoskar, and graduated in 1920. He went on to study in Europe, applied to the [[Berlin University of the Arts]] and won a scholarship and the status of "Master Student" (Meisterschüler). He studied there from 1922 under [[Arthur Kampf]], Ferdinand Spiegel and Paul Plontke.

==Career==
Cruzo caught the attention of the Portuguese Ambassador in Berlin when he, after a German newspaper described him as "Portuguese from India", asked the paper to rectify, insisting that he was "pure Indian". With the support of the Ambassador, Cruzo held his first solo exhibition in [[Lisbon]] in October 1925. He returned to India following a request by the [[Moolam Thirunal|Maharaja of Travancore]].

Cruzo settled in Bombay and became well known as a sculptor and [[portrait painter]] both among [[Maharaja|Indian royalty]] and the expatriate elite. Among the people who sat for his portraits were [[Philip Chetwode]], [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Louis Mountbatton]], [[Lallubhai Samaldas]] and [[Purshottamdas Thakurdas]].

His "Cruzo Studio" in [[Brabourne Stadium]] became an important meeting place, including for members of the [[Goa liberation movement]]. Despite Cruzo's entries with the rich and famous, his main work focused on poverty and [[social injustice]] as well as hard-working farmers and fishermen. He also painted colourful [[allegories]] and [[Nude (art)|nudes]].

A meeting with [[Mahatma Gandhi]] gave Cruzo fresh inspiration and from then onwards, political themes dominated his work, first the [[Indian struggle for independence|struggle for independence]], [[partition of india|partition]] and later the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] and the [[Vietnam War]]. Cruzo died in 1982 but remains one of Goa's most notable artists.<ref>Vamona A.S. Navelkar, [http://www.navhindtimes.com/story.php?story=2008090731 The Flowering of Goan Art] [[The Navhind Times]], 7 September 2008,</ref><ref>The Flowering of Goan Art, Asian Art Newspaper, April 2012, http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/flowering-goan-art {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102171209/http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/flowering-goan-art |date=2 November 2013 }}</ref><ref>Needing "no special introduction to art lovers" according to Naguesh Rao Sardessai, p.22, Viva Goa Magazine, May 2011, http://issuu.com/vivagoaonline/docs/may_2011</ref>

After years of oblivion, Cruzo's work is being rediscovered. In 2016, [[Ranjit Hoskote]] curated an exhibition of 16 oil paintings by Cruzo at the [[Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts]]<ref>Ranjit Hoskote, The Quest for Cruzo, http://scroll.in/article/810483/the-quest-for-cruzo-remembering-a-bombay-artist-who-painted-the-rich-but-identified-with-the-poor</ref> and a website was set up to gather existing media and information about the artist.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Antonio Piedade da}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from South Goa district]]
[[Category:Indian male painters]]
[[Category:Indian male sculptors]]
[[Category:Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni]]
[[Category:Indian portrait painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian sculptors]]
[[Category:Painters from Goa]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male artists]]

Antonio Piedade da Cruz - Revision history

UpdateBot at 03:29, 20 May 2022