imported>Helper201 at 18:47, 27 August 2021

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{{short description|British painter 1924-2002}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox artist
| name =
| Born =
| image = Indian artist of Goan origin, Francis Newton Souza.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Francisco Victor Newton de Souza
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1924|04|12}}
| birth_place = [[Goa]], [[Portuguese India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2002|03|28|1924|04|12}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[India]]
| nationality = [[Portugal|Portuguese]], then [[United Kingdom|British]]
| field = [[Painting]], [[Drawing]]
| training =
| movement = [[Expressionism]]
| works = "Birth", "Words and Lines"
| spouse = * {{marriage|Maria Figueiredo|1946|1964|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Barbara Zinkant|1965|1977|end=divorced}}
| partner = Liselotte Kohn (1954–1961) [[Srimati Lal]] (1993–2002)
| patrons =
| awards =
| url =
| children = Shelley Souza 
Keren Souza-Kohn Francesca Souza-Kohn Anya Souza-Kohn Francis Patrick Souza
}}

'''Francis Newton Souza''' (12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] artist. He was a founding member of the [[Progressive Artists' Group]] of [[Bombay]]. Souza's style exhibited both [[decadence]] and [[primitivism]].<ref name="Chopra">
{{cite book
|first=Ashok
|last=Chopra
|date=2016
|ISBN=9789352641123
|title=A Scrapbook of Memories
|publisher=Harper Collins
|location=India}}</ref>

==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.<ref>
{{cite news
|last=Grimes
|first=William
|title=Overlooked No More: F.N. Souza, India’s Anti-Establishment Artist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/obituaries/fn-souza-overlooked.html
|access-date=1 June 2020
|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 April 2020}}</ref> Souza's mother remarried, and his half-brother was the painter [[Lancelot Ribeiro]].<ref>
{{cite news
|last=Buckman
|first=David
|title=Lancelot Ribeiro: Artist in the vanguard of the influx of Indian artists to Britain
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lancelot-ribeiro-artist-vanguard-influx-indian-artists-britain-2261209.html
|access-date=16 May 2021
|work=[[The Independent]]
|date=23 October 2011}}</ref>

Souza attended [[St. Xavier's College, Mumbai|St. Xavier's College]] in Bombay, but he was expelled for drawing obscene graffiti in the restrooms.<ref name=Raaj>
{{cite news
|last=Raaj
|first=Neelam
|title=With $4m art record, Souza sizzles
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/With-4m-art-record-Souza-sizzles/articleshow/49011471.cms
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|date=18 September 2015}}</ref>

He then studied at the [[Sir J. J. School of Art]] in Bombay but was also expelled from that school in 1942, because of his support for the [[Quit India Movement]].<ref name=Raaj/> Souza joined the [[Communist Party of India]] soon after, and co-founded the [[Bombay Progressive Artists' Group]] in 1947.<ref name=Mirror>{{cite news
|last1=Gehi
|first1=Reema
|title=Mr. Souza's baggage was always excess
|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/sunday-read/mr-souzas-baggage-was-always-excess/articleshow/49121201.cms
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|date=27 September 2015}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="Maddox">
{{cite news
|first=Georgina
|last=Maddox
|URL=https://www.thehindu.com/society/an-exhibition-captures-fn-souzas-early-years-as-an-artist/article26212923.ece
|date= 9 February 2019
|title=An exhibition captures F N Souza's early years as an artist
|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Souza emigrated to London in 1949, following several complaints against him to the police from the Indian public for obscenity.<ref name="Khasnis">
{{cite news
|last=Khasnis
|first=Giridhar
|URL=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/28476/a-rebel-always.html
|date= 3 October 2009
|title=A rebel, always
|work=[[Deccan Herald]]}}</ref>

He initially struggled to make an impact as an artist in the UK.<ref name="Khasnis">
{{cite news
|last=Khasnis
|first=Giridhar
|URL=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/28476/a-rebel-always.html
|date= 3 October 2009
|title=A rebel, always
|work=[[Deccan Herald]]}}</ref> His Goan wife Maria (mother of his daughter Shelley) took on multiple jobs in order to support their family.<ref name="Nair">
{{cite news
|last=Nair
|first=Uma
|URL=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/plumage/souza-the-heartless-husband/
|date= 11 March 2014
|title=Souza - The Heartless Husband
|work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> The [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] included his work in a 1954 exhibition. Souza met a married [[Jewish]] stage actress named Liselotte de Kristian (neé Kohn) in 1954, and she became his [[mistress (lover)|mistress]]. They never married (Souza remained married to Maria, while Liselotte remained married to her husband Richard) in spite of having three [[illegitimate]] daughters (Keren, Francesca, Anya) together.<ref name=Singh>{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Khushwant|title=A Maverick Painter|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-maverick-painter/cid/1025138|work=[[The Telegraph (India)]]|date=6 May 2006}}</ref><ref name=Carvalho>
{{cite web
|title=A morning with F N Souza's daughters
|first=Selma
|last=Carvalho
|date=2 September 2013
|URL=https://blog.saffronart.com/2013/09/02/a-morning-with-f-n-souzas-daughters/
|work=State of the Art}}</ref>

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)|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. In 1959, Souza published his autobiographical ''Words and Lines''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Souza|first1=F. N.|title=Words and Lines|date=1959|publisher=Villiers / Scorpion Press|location=London|oclc=501036319}}</ref>

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 [[expressionism|Expressionist]] in character", but "also drawing on the post-war [[Outsider Art|Art Brut]] movement and elements of British [[Neo-romanticism]]".<ref name="Chopra">
{{cite book
|first=Ashok
|last=Chopra
|date=2016
|ISBN=9789352641123
|title=A Scrapbook of Memories
|publisher=Harper Collins
|location=India}}</ref>

Souza's affair with Liselotte ended in 1961.<ref name=Carvalho>
{{cite web
|title=A morning with F N Souza's daughters
|first=Selma
|last=Carvalho
|date=2 September 2013
|URL=https://blog.saffronart.com/2013/09/02/a-morning-with-f-n-souzas-daughters/
|work=State of the Art}}</ref> He divorced his wife Maria in 1964 in order to marry his latest mistress, the 16-year-old Barbara Zinkant. He moved to [[New York City]] with his new wife in 1967. Their son Francis Patrick was born in 1971, but Souza's wife Barbara then divorced him in 1977 to marry her own [[extra-marital]] lover.<ref name="Ribeiro">
{{cite book
|title=Souza: The Artist, His Loves, and His Times
|first=Victor
|last=Rangel-Ribeiro
|date=2019
|publisher=Goa Publications Pvt. Ltd.
|ISBN=9788190426527}}</ref>

Souza returned to India after his second divorce. [[Srimati Lal]] was his mistress from 1993 till his death.<ref name="Sanyal">
{{cite news
|first=Amitava
|last=Sanyal
|URL=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/francis-newton-souza-how-the-artist-s-libido-guided-him-in-art-as-in-life/story-OIMxSyKgc2WgEllePKARoM.html
|date= 9 April 2010
|title=Francis Newton Souza: How the artist’s libido guided him in art as in life
|work=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> F. N. Souza died on 28 March 2002 from a heart attack and was buried in [[Sewri Christian Cemetery]] in Mumbai. Only a few persons attended the funeral, none of them family members or members of Souza's Goan community.<ref name="Maddox">
{{cite news
|first=Georgina
|last=Maddox
|URL=https://www.thehindu.com/society/an-exhibition-captures-fn-souzas-early-years-as-an-artist/article26212923.ece
|date= 9 February 2019
|title=An exhibition captures F N Souza's early years as an artist
|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref name="Khasnis">
{{cite news
|last=Khasnis
|first=Giridhar
|URL=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/28476/a-rebel-always.html
|date= 3 October 2009
|title=A rebel, always
|work=[[Deccan Herald]]}}</ref>

==Reputation==
The renowned Indian artist, [[M.F. Husain]], recognized F. N. Souza as his mentor.<ref name=Singh>{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Khushwant|title=A Maverick Painter|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-maverick-painter/cid/1025138|work=[[The Telegraph (India)]]|date=6 May 2006}}</ref> In recent years, Souza's paintings have been sold for over a million dollars.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sale of a painting by the late Indian painter Francis Newton Souza has set a record for an Indian work of art|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7452163.stm|access-date=20 December 2010|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=13 June 2008}}</ref> His painting ''Birth'' (1955) depicting his mistress Liselotte Kohn posing naked while pregnant with their first daughter Keren,<ref name=Raaj>
{{cite news
|last=Raaj
|first=Neelam
|title=With $4m art record, Souza sizzles
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/With-4m-art-record-Souza-sizzles/articleshow/49011471.cms
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|date=18 September 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fn-souzas-birth-sets-new-record-sold-for-4-million-at-christies-new-york-auction/137827/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061708/http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fn-souzas-birth-sets-new-record-sold-for-4-million-at-christies-new-york-auction/137827/ |date=28 September 2015 }} FN Souza’s ‘Birth’ sets new record, sold for $4 million at Christie’s New York auction. The Financial Express, 18 September 2015.</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22811 Christie's - The Art of Souza: Property from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza]</ref>

Souza's illegitimate grandson by his married Jewish mistress Liselotte de Kristian (neé Kohn)<ref name=Singh>{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Khushwant|title=A Maverick Painter|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-maverick-painter/cid/1025138|work=[[The Telegraph (India)]]|date=6 May 2006}}</ref><ref name=Carvalho>
{{cite web
|title=A morning with F N Souza's daughters
|first=Selma
|last=Carvalho
|date=2 September 2013
|URL=https://blog.saffronart.com/2013/09/02/a-morning-with-f-n-souzas-daughters/
|work=State of the Art}}</ref> is the British-Israeli street artist [[Solomon Souza]], known best for his murals in the [[Mahane Yehuda Market]].<ref name=GhertFamousFaces>{{cite news
|last1=Ghert-Zand
|first1=Renee
|title=Young artist turns Jerusalem's market into gallery of famous faces
|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/young-artist-turns-jerusalems-market-into-gallery-of-famous-faces/
|access-date=28 February 2017
|work=[[The Times of Israel]]
|date=29 February 2016}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Gehi>{{cite news
|last1=Gehi
|first1=Reema
|title=Souza’s muse interrupts show, a Gaitonde painting goes unsold
|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/souzas-muse-interrupts-show-a-gaitonde-painting-goes-unsold/articleshow/72079861.cms
|access-date=21 August 2021
|work=[[Mumbai Mirror]]
|date=16 November 2019}}</ref>

==Public collections==
*[[Birmingham Museum of Art]], UK
*[[British Museum]], London, UK
*[[Glenbarra Art Museum]], [[Himeji, Hyōgo]], Japan
*[[Haifa Museum]], Israel
*[[National Gallery of Modern Art]], New Delhi, India
*[[National Gallery of Victoria]], Melbourne, Australia
*[[Tate Gallery]], London, UK
*[[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London, UK
*[[The Hepworth Wakefield]] Art Gallery, UK<ref>{{cite web|title=Supper at Emmaus with the Believer and the Sceptic by Francis Newton Souza|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/supper-at-emmaus-with-the-believer-and-the-sceptic-22652|website=[[Art UK]]|access-date=23 November 2014}}</ref>
*[[Museum of Biblical Art (Dallas)]], Texas, USA

==See also==
* [[Lancelot Ribeiro]] (brother and fellow painter)
* [[Vamona Navelcar]]
* [[Vasudeo S. Gaitonde]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{cite web|title=Souza|url=http://www.fnsouza.com/}} (website on Souza by art critic [[Srimati Lal]])
*{{cite web|title=SOUZA, Francis Newton - Artist Profile (1924-2002)|url=http://grosvenorgallery.com/artists/souza-francis-newton/|website=Grosvenor Gallery|location=London}}
*{{cite web|title=F N Souza|url=http://www.saffronart.com/artists/f-n-souza|website=Saffron Art Gallery|location=Mumbai}}
*{{cite web|title=Francis Newton Souza|url=http://rukispaintings.blogspot.in/2010/11/francis-newton-souza-canvas-works.html|website=Ruki's Art Gallery|location=New Delhi}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Francis Newton}}
[[Category:Indian male painters]]
[[Category:Indian erotic artists]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:British emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni]]
[[Category:People from North Goa district]]
[[Category:Indian Roman Catholics|Souza, Francis, Newton]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:Indian Expressionist painters]]
[[Category:Painters from Goa]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]

F. N. Souza - Revision history

imported>Helper201 at 18:47, 27 August 2021