F.N. Souza

Francis Newton Souza
Nationality	Indian
Known for	Painting, Drawing

Francis Newton Souza (12 April 1924 – 28 March 2002), commonly referred to as F. N. Souza, was an Indian artist. He was a founding member of the Progressive Artists' Group of Bombay, and was the first post-independence Indian artist to achieve high recognition in the West. Souza's style exhibited both low-life and high energy.

Francis Newton Souza was born to Roman Catholic parents of Goud Saraswat Brahmin origin in the village of Saligao, Goa. In 1929, after he had moved to Mumbai with his family, he surivived attack of smallpox which left him scarred for life. His grateful mother added Francis to his name, after St Francis Xavier, the patron saint of Goa.

He attended St. Xavier's College in Bombay, being expelled for drawing graffiti in a toilet which he claimed he was correcting, but the priests did not accept his claims.

Souza studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay but was expelled in 1945 for his support for the Quit India Movement.

Souza joined the Communist Party of India in 1947.

Souza's grandson is the Israeli artist Solomon Souza.

In 1947 he was a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group which encouraged Indian artists to participate in the international avant-garde.

In 1948 Souza's paintings were shown at an exhibition in London's Burlington House . In 1949 Souza moved to London, where initially struggling to make an impact as an artist, he worked as a journalist. 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, the owner of Gallery One. Souza's 1955 exhibit was a sold out, leading to ongoing success

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