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18
19
Newton, aged
18
,
1942
© The Estate of Francis Newton Souza
Both artistically and politically, Newton’s imagination was being aroused by new
ideas and movements outside of the confines of his art school. Firstly, Bombay
saw the arrival of three figures from the West escaping Nazi persecution who
brought with them a new slant on artistic practice. Austrian art teacher and
painter Walter Langhammer, who joined Times of India as art director; German
art critic Rudolf von Leyden, who became art critic for the same newspaper; and
Austrian chemist and collector Emanuel Schlesinger, all who became patrons
for the burgeoning Modern Indian art scene in Bombay at the time. They helped
out not only financially but also by opening up the artists they met to foreign
influences by providing resources such as books and colour reproductions of
classical and modern European paintings. Young artists, among them Newton,
would meet at Langhammer’s studio on Nepean Sea Road to hear his tales of
the European Art scene.
Likewise, Newton’s political passions were ignited in the
1940
s by several
dramatic events - the Bengal Famine of
1943
, the Indian Naval Mutiny of
1943
and most significantly, The Quit India Movement of
1942
launched by Gandhi.
He joined in the mass protests that were organised to campaign for an orderly
British withdrawal from India. Newton saw the presence of the ‘pompous
and unworthy’ British principal Charles Gerrard at the J.J School, as indicative
of the colonial hold the British had on India. After five years of study,
but before being able to qualify for his diploma, Newton was expelled for his
political actions, and in particular his behaviour towards the principal:
“
Once, on a day of national demonstrations, he ran up the Union Jack on the mast
only to aggravate the protesting students. When we lowered the flag, he sent for
the police who patrolled the school grounds. Lathi charge and arrests followed.
”
10
Newton, aged
18
in side profile,
1942
©The Estate of Francis Newton Souza