Some artists are known for one particular style of paintings. Other are known for painting different styles. Francis Newton Souza falls into latter category with his figurative art, with so much variations and yet creating works which are repetitive in nature.
Born in Goa and brought up in Mumbai, Souza has been influenced by many ideas. He has to suffer the agony of loosing his father and then his sister and battled for his own life when he got small pox. He was brought up in devout catholic milieu and it left lasting impression on his ideas and imagination, which are reflected in his paintings of Saints and churches. Though, he could not become a priest as wished by his mother, he went on to portray divine power in various forms on the canvas. He was expelled from the Missionary school. However, he continued to paint his work on the lives of saints and divine power. A look at his church paintings shows that Souza was trying to showcase fear, Day of Judgment, social unrest and catastrophe on the canvas. Death, as witnessed by him, finds a prominent place in his works. Just as the thought of all this make us lost in our thoughts, his works are lost in landscape.
In pre-independence India, Souza was witness to the Indian freedom movement and also the Russian revolution of communism. He even joined Communist party and was one of the founding members of the Progressive Artist’s Movement. He however, soon became disillusioned with the communism when he was forced to portray the plight of proletariat on the canvas and left it as well. His association with the movement makes it clear that Souza was not a romantic painter. Though enrolled at JJ School of Art, he could not complete his education and was expelled due to his association with communist movement. Lack of fulfillment, it seems is in integral part of his life. He has to cope with this, though he never allowed this to affect his work and went ahead with his life and imagination.
Souza started his artistic career with nudism where women were the prime subject of exploration. The day he was expelled from school, he painted ‘Blue Lady’. His nudism are seminal works and it appears that Souza took great care to handle women in gentle manner, although distortion has also found its way in some of the works. His works of 1950s also depict love-making and women longing for love. In his other works of nudism, Souza creates women who look similar in terms of their curves, contour, style and glamour. He repeats himself while dealing with his women subject. His ‘Mother and Child’ (1962) and Standing Nude (1962) appear identical with same hair style, hair color, eye brows, body curves and the shape of the body. His nudism may appear provocative to persons of Victorian taste, but he has created a path for himself between the sculptures of Indian temples and European conventions. He seems to be fascinated by female body and deals with the subject in sensual manner so that women appear natural in most of the paintings. In some of his work, he has also tried to add glamour by showing women wearing crosses, bracelets, undergarments and shoulder –level tresses.
The complex issue of man-woman relation is also reflected in his works. In modern times, society has opened up and with it has come sexual tension and friction. This theme is reflected in his works. He captures each and every detail of women in his forms. His strokes are very careful and of soft nature.
Distortion is also prominent feature of Souza’s creations. His works are manifestations of fear and horror. In his personal life, he has to face many problems and most of the time he has to live with little money. He also faced tragedies in his personal life, which left their scar as well. At one time, his drinking also became a problem for himself. All this gives fear a permanent place in his mind where he creates his works! Hence, we find figures which are distorted out of proportion. Women with swollen bellies, disfigured face and eyes lead us to believe that he was trying to go beyond distortion. Men with beard and distorted appearance brings us near to demon and evil forces. Here, we find that Souza also was under the influence of Picasso and other contemporary European artists.
In his works, Souza was inspired by Indian classical art and European style. His women seem to be the mirror-image of ‘Yakshinis’ and women engraved in Khajuraho temples. His creation of love-making in sketch form and women applying make-up on the face, or simplying laying on one-side are reflection of Indian classical art as one can witness in the paintings of medieval India. Just as any artist is inspired by his surroundings, he was also inspired by the Portuguese architecture in Goa, life of a priest and the intermingling of two different cultures.
The work of Souza is the figurative representation of his own life and as he imagines it on the canvas. His is a synthesis of the Indian and European style and tradition, where he is trying to evolve as an artist without borrowing blindly from any of his influences. He is a reactionary without being a cynic.
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