Noted artist Francis Newton Souza’s extraordinary paintings along with his rare letters and images are now on display at an ongoing exhibition at the Dhoomimal Art Gallery in New Delhi’s Connaught Place.
April 2015. The nearly one-month-long exhibition titled “Souza - The City of Women” is showcasing his famous paintings of landscapes and nude women and also other archival material. The oldest paintings in the exhibition are dated to 1941.
Sharing her view about the iconic artist, Anjolie Ela Menon said at the launch event of the exhibition, “I have always been an admirer of Souza’s work. I believe that he was one of the greatest artists the country ever had. His work is quite different from other artists and that is what makes him different and when an artist is different, he creates waves.”
The highlight of the exhibition, curated by Vinod Bharadwaj and Brij Sharma, is that the Dhoomimal Art Gallery is showcasing some of Souza’s never seen before works for the first time. And it is also exhibiting some of the letters which he wrote along with his interviews and some unseen pictures. The aim of the exhibition, according to the gallery, is to showcase Souza’s work and present his real strengths in art.
“When we visit places like Khajuraho or other such temples in India and see the erotic images there, we can ask the question, are we going forward or going backward? It is just suppressed so much that the people are too scared to talk about it. We need to talk more about it and channel it in the right direction,” said Uday Jain, the director of the art gallery.
A novel based on realities associated with the Indian art world, “Seppuku” was also launched at the event. (The exhibition is on at the Dhoomimal Art Gallery, G 42, Connaught Circus, till April 30. )
