Page 10 - The Arts Trust Souza The Centennial

than the end of it. The liberation from the During this phase, Souza’s inclination
shackles of academic conformity propelled
him towards artistic experimentation and
socio-political critique through his art.
Funnelling his indignation as fodder for
creativity, Souza began to paint feverishly
right from the day of his expulsion. Vividly
recounting the day in his biography, he
wrote: “I marched home indignantly and
started furiously painting in oils with a
palette knife on a large piece of plywood.
I painted an azure nude with a still life and
landscape in the background. I finished the
painting in an hour of white heat. I titled it
‘The Blue Lady’ and exhibited it in my first
one-man show in December 1945.”
He also returned to his native Goa
for a few months and found solace and
inspiration amidst the rustic landscapes.
Living in an old weather-beaten house,
he captured the essence of rural life with
intense brushstrokes depicting peasants
engaged in various activities, from toiling
in fields to partaking in religious rituals.
Souza’s Catholic upbringing was a
consistent source of thematic inspiration.
While his paintings took on more radical
imagery, his early works exemplified
his fondness for primary colours, which
rendered his canvases with almost primal
qualities that evoked a haunting effect, as
seen in a Christ and Golgotha in Goa, both
painted in 1948.
In Golgotha in Goa, Souza draws
inspiration from the altar at the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, believed
to be the site of the crucifixion. He emulates
its structure and imagery, showcasing his
powerful impasto technique. His bold,
sweeping, expressionistic brushstrokes
create texture and push forms to the brink
of abstraction. Bright colour blocks emerge
from deep recesses, creating a mosaic-like
effect similar to soldered cement joining
glass panes. This style, reminiscent of
cloisonnism, evokes the feel of traditional
stained glass, akin to the churches in Goa—
then a Portuguese colony with Catholicism
as the dominant religion.
8 9
towards Marxist ideology also led him
to join the Communist Party of India.
However, true to his nature, he rebelled
against the members telling him to paint
in ways they wanted. Talking about this
another brief chapter of his life and why
he quit the Communist Party, Souza wrote:
“I don’t believe that a true artist paints for
coteries or for the proletariat. I believe
with all my soul that he paints solely for
himself.” While he had moved on, his works
during this period, such as The Indian
Family, Family, and Men In Boats reflect a
strong sense of social realism, portraying
the struggles of the country’s impoverished
working class.
Marking a pivotal moment in the
evolution of modern Indian art, Family
depicts an impoverished family of four
Souza was also a prolific
writer. His autobiography,
Words & Lines, was
crisp and eloquent, while
his essay ‘Nirvana of a
Maggot’ in Encounter
and article in The
Illustrated Weekly of India
became widely read
having a meagre meal on the floor of he also underscores their faith. This
their hut, with them holding tiny cups portrayal of the living conditions laid the
and surrounded by empty vessels. This groundwork for Souza’s later critiques of
work, slightly less stylised than the work religious hypocrisy and social hierarchies,
The Indian Family, painted a year later, which defined his acclaimed works of the
also stands out for its explicit references 1950s and 60s.
to Catholicism, evident in the oversized On the other hand, what makes Men in
cross the woman wears on a rosary and Boats so captivating is Souza’s portrayal
the household shrine with the Madonna of the working man not as a downtrodden
Maqbool Fida Husain’s ‘Portrait of Souza’, an oil on and Child hanging on the wall. While Souza victim but as an inspiring romantic hero.
canvas (34.3 x 28.7 in) painted in 1946, presents a emphasises their poverty, sustained by In this piece, Souza highlights the stark
different side of Souza at work indebtedness to the wealthy and powerful, contrast between urban and rural India.