A Modern Indian Master- F.N Souza

Image via Outlook India

"I seek Beauty more than knowledge. In fact, knowledge can be ugly."
Francis Newton Souza

There are some artists whose work resonates with you. For me, F.N Souza is one of those artists. I don't claim to be an expert in art, but here's why I love his work so much.

Although there is nothing pretty about his paintings- his works are often dark, terse and thought provoking, for me, they are beautiful in their raw ugliness; there is a certain tension and energy emanating from the canvases; they seem to speak to you, almost reach out and touch you.

Souza was born in 1924 in Goa. A rebel in the true sense, he attended St. Xavier's College in Bombay, but was expelled for drawing graffiti in the bathroom; although he claimed he was only correcting the original graffiti because it was so bad. He then studied in Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai but was expelled for participating in the Quit India Movement. In 1947 he founded the Progressive Artist's Movement along with S.H. Raza, M.F Husain and K.H. Ara, among others.

"Renaissance painters painted men and women making them look like angels. I paint for angels, to show them what men and women really look like."

Francis Newton Souza

Religious imagery was a powerful source of inspiration for him especially during the initial phase of his life as an artist. In fact the underlying theme in many of Souza's works revolves around his Roman Catholic background and his antagonism towards it.

Souza painted in an unrestrained and irreverent style and his works have reflected the influence of various schools of art- Goan folk art, the religious fervor of the Renaissance style as well as Modern abstractionist and Surrealist styles, however he was never really bound by any particular style.

'Birth'

F.N Souza was the first of India's modern painters to achieve high recognition in the West. He was also a prolific writer, cementing his literary reputation with his book, Words and Lines, in the year 1959. His paintings are displayed in several international museums such as the Tate  Gallery, London and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, to name a few.  In fact, Souza is the only Indian artist to have a room dedicated to his paintings at Tate Britain. His painting, “Birth” sold for a record $2.5 million at a Christie’s auction in London on June 11, 2008.

A Designer’s Life- Why We Do It

I knew that being an interior designer would be tough work, but five years of college failed to prepare me for the reality of it, which can be summed up in one word- FRUSTRATION!

No one warns you about the extra hours, the weekends lost, the frustration of slaving endlessly for a paranoid sadist with a giant ego who uses your ideas to further their own reputation. You aren’t really prepared for the jealousy and self-doubt you experience when you see your friends becoming successful while you are still a ‘struggling artist’.

And when you finally do branch out on your own, no one warns you about the crazy clients- you know the ones I’m talking about-the ones who expect you to perform miracles on a shoe-string budget, the ones who have you confused with a draftsman, the ones call you every 2 minutes because of an ‘emergency’ on site and the ones who disappear when it’s time to pay. Nothing can really prepare you for the times when chaos rules at your site or for that sense of trepidation you experience every time your phone rings because it’s probably news of another possible disaster on site.

And sometimes when it gets too much, when you’ve been yelling all day because you have been yelled at all day and you’re up at two in the morning trying meet a deadline, you ask yourself, ‘is it worth it?’ and ‘why?’ And you have no answers.

Then a few days later, you visit the site and you notice order emerging from the chaos; you see your vision taking shape, and you have your answer.

Why do we do what we do? Because we are the lucky ones that get to go to work every day and do something that we love. Because we get to translate an idea- something that may have started as a tiny doodle on a paper napkin- into a reality. Because what we design and see built is a monument to our creativity and vision- it’s there for everyone to see and has a lasting impact on the lives of its users. Because every once in a while you come across a rare, special client who shares your vision and you develop a relationship that makes the project a joy to work on. Because we are the lucky ones who can drive down a street and point out to a house or a building and say with a sense of pride that I did that. Because at the end of it, when you are through with a project and you have a chance to stand back, exhale and actually take stock, you are filled with an emotion that is a combination of joy, accomplishment, wonder and pride; it’s an amazing feeling that far outweighs all the other craziness we have to deal with.