Sold at Auction: Francis Newton Souza

(born April 12, 1924 in Goa, India; died March 28, 2002 in Bombay, India). Born in the Portuguese Catholic community of Goa, Francis Newton Souza was raised by his mother, a dressmaker. He attended the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai, but was expelled in 1942 for supporting the Quit India Movement. In 1947, together with Syed Haider Raza, he founded the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group to encourage young Indian artists to become part of the international avant-garde movement. After India gained its independence from Britain in 1949, Souza moved to London, where he got his first major exposure when the Institute of Contemporary Art included his work in a 1954 exhibition. Souza’s artistic style remained consistent across his career- rooted in Expressionism, but heavily influenced both by Art Brut and Neo-Romanticism. Subject-wise, Souza’s work focused on female nudes and Christian imagery, but also included still-lifes and landscapes. He moved to New York in 1967, where he continued to reside until shortly before his death, when he returned to his home in Mumbai.