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36
37
“
It’s all very well to talk in metaphors about having one’s roots in one’s own
country. But roots need water from clouds forming over distant seas: and from
rivers having sources in different lands.
”
35
Souza, tired of the constraints of the establishment, as demonstrated so
markedly by his treatment by the police, decided to leave for London where
he felt he would be free to push the boundaries of his artistic knowledge and
understanding. For a long time, he had been encouraged by Goetz and Rudy
von Leyden, to travel to the West and see Contemporary Modernism and the
Masters of Western Art for himself. Additionally, his friend Alkazi, who had
moved to London two years previously, had written to him encouraging him
to come. In
1999
, Alkazi recalled why he and Souza had left India:
“
After all the horrors of the War. The whole World was there before you… and a
new civilised concept of the intermingling of cultures from all over the world.
We wanted to create these utopias, new cities, in which new ideas would flourish!
Now there was a new dawn and we should be playing our role in that new
millennium. I think that was one of the things that drew one abroad… we
wanted to be educated in that… we wanted to take as much as we could possibly
from it, and always at the back of my mind was the idea of coming back… to
share it with the people in India.
”
36
Souza decided to have one last show in Bombay before leaving. Held at the
Bombay Art Salon, it was both a farewell show, and a means of selling some
works to raise funds for his trip. The works on display were representative of an
artist who had matured in his craft:
“
It is three years since Newton held his first exhibition at the same premises. His
work was unmistakably that of the novice, crude, experimental, often devoid
of the simple principles of drawing. But nevertheless, they bore the stamp of
originality and a fierce search for a mode of expressing what he held to be true.
Most of those who saw the exhibition went away scoffling; they regarded him as
a flaneur who was trying to pull their legs. In spite of their derision of the alleged
devotees of art, in fact of rebuffs, abuse and the perpetual nightmare of most young
artists- lack of funds- Newton continued to paint. Today, he can look back on
those years of struggle and feel that he has achieved something worthy of being
called art……
On seeing Newton’s latest work what struck me was the diversity of influences
which have been at work on him. Here on one wall one sees pictures that are
inspired by ancient Indian art, by Mohenjo-daro, Khajuraho, etc. Facing them
are works influenced by the Impressionists, Van Gogh, Vlaminck, etc. To the casual
observer, it might appear as if Newton is only a copyist; this is incorrect. For,
Newton has taken but the form, the content is his own. There is so much of the
personality of the artist in them and the expression of his very definite views
that such a conclusion is untenable
”
37
DEPARTURE FOR LONDON
1949
On board the S. S. Canton for London,
22
July
1949
Image © The Estate of Francis Newton Souza
Rudy Von Leyden’s farewell speech for Souza, July
1949
Image ©
The Estate of Francis Newton Souza
Marg, Rebel Artist Francis Newton Souza by Dr. H. Goetz,
1949