Francis Newton Souza, the founder of the Progressive Artists Group, is best known for his inventive human forms, particularly the heads. Born in Goa in 1924 he was a student at the J.J. School of Art from where he was expelled in 1942 for participating in the Quit India Movement. He left for London in 1949 where after an initial period of struggle his work began to have an impact. The Institute of Contemporary Arts included his work in a group exhibition in 1954 to be followed by a solo show at Gallery One in 1955. Souza participated in the Commonwealth Artists of Fame exhibition in London in 1977 and has had several exhibitions including one man shows in Paris in 1954 and 1960 and in Detroit in 1968. His retrospectives were held in New Delhi and Mumbai in 1987 and a show at the Indus Gallery in Karachi in 1988. A large retrospective was once again held in New Delhi in 1996. He lived and worked in New York.

He passed away in Mumbai in 2002.