F. N. SOUZA

1924

Born to Roman Catholic parents in village Saligao, Goa, then under Portuguese occupation. His father dies when he is just three months old.

1940

Joins Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, for a diploma in painting.

1942

Enters his paintings in the Bombay Art Society Annual Exhibition, only to have them rejected.

1945

Is expelled from the art school for his participation in the Quit India movement; in anger at being expelled, paints The Blue Lady, which he displays at his first solo exhibition the same year. The painting is bought by Dr. Hermann Goetz for the Baroda Museum.

1946

A nude self-portrait that is part of his exhibition at Bombay Art Society receives severe opprobrium; he’s forced to ‘cover up’ the offending parts of the painting, generating controversy.

1947

Joins the Communist Party but quits. Forms Progressive Artists’ Group with S. H. Raza, K. H. Ara, M. F. Husain, S. K. Bakre and H. A. Gade.

1948

Participates in an exhibition of Indian art at Burlington House, London.

1949

Two of his works are removed from an exhibition and his flat is raided by the police to seize ‘obscene’ paintings. The Progressives hold their first exhibition at Baroda Museum at the invitation of Dr. Goetz, who also buys their works for the museum collection. Leaves India for England with fellow artists S. H. Raza and Akbar Padamsee.

1950

Indian High Commissioner Krishna Menon commissions him to paint murals for the Indian Students’ Bureau on West Cromwell Road; they are destroyed in 1959 when the Bureau is demolished.

1951

An exhibition of Souza's works is organised by Menon at India House.

1953

Holds a joint exhibition in Zurich along with S. K. Bakre and M. F. Husain.

1955

Has his first solo at the newly opened Gallery One promoted by Victor Musgrave which coincides with the publication of his autobiographical piece, ‘Nirvana of a Maggot’ in the journal Encounter, edited by Stephen Spender. Critic John Berger terms his art ‘imaginative vision that is truly moving’.

1956

Harold Kovner, a wealthy New Yorker, patronises Souza with a monthly allowance to paint for him over the next four years.

1957

Paints the iconic work, Birth. Is awarded the John Moore exhibition prize.

1958

Represents Britain at the Guggenheim International Award.

1959

Publishes his book Words and Lines detailing his shocking and brazen approach to art.

1960

Travels to Italy on an Italian government scholarship but finds no takers for his paintings.

Early 1960s

Queen Elizabeth visits his exhibition. Paints some of his best works.

1961

Participates in ‘Four Centuries of Indian Painting’ at Sao Paulo and Rio in Brazil. Wins the Wakefield Museum’s ‘collector’s choice’ recognition. Paints his well-known work, Oedipus Rex.

1962

Edward Mullins’s book F N Souza: An Introduction is published. Paints Young Ladies in Belsize Park, an adaptation of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Paints Seated Nude around the same time as Nude on Blue Armchair.

1963

Souza’s painting featuring Three Men is used on the cover of the book A Language in Common, printed by the Times Literary Supplement.

1964

Divorces wife Maria to marry sixteen-year-old Barbara Zinkat. Studio International Art magazine runs an in-depth feature on Souza.

1967

Settles in New York to advance his career; holds a solo show in Detroit.

1969

Creates his ‘chemical’ paintings, or ‘chemical alterations’, an invented medium and technique involving the erasure of images on printed magazine paper and painting over it.

1971

Visits California and paints cheerful countryside landscapes in an entirely different style.

1975

Holds a solo exhibition of his oil paintings inspired by Indian mythological themes at Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi.

1977

Exhibits his works as part of Commonwealth Artists of Fame, London.

1978

Is part of ‘Contemporary Indian Art’, curated by Geeta Kapur, Richard Bartholomew and Akbar Padamsee in London. Features in the exhibition ‘India: Myth and Reality, Aspects of Modern Art’ organised by Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.

1985

Releases New Poems on the occasion of his solo exhibition at Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay.

1987

Curated by Ebrahim Alkazi, a retrospective is held of Souza’s works jointly at Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.

1986-89

His Last Supper has a significant critical impact and comes to be considered one of his major works.

1993

Tate Modern acquires his landmark 1959 work, Crucifixion.

1998-99

Is honoured with the Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government.

1999

A retrospective of his works from 1950-99 is held at Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.

2002

Makes his last painting, The Face of the Christ, before passing away in Mumbai. Just a little after his death, Grosvenor Gallery in London holds an exhibition called ‘Souza and Friends’ in which his contemporaries, S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, Akbar Padamsee and Ram Kumar participate.

2003

Tate Britain pays tribute to him with a retrospective, 'Religion and Erotica'.

2008

Souza’s Birth, painted in 1955, sells at a Christie’s auction for $2.5 million, a record price, bought by Harmony Foundation, Mumbai. It is auctioned again in 2015 for $4 million and acquired by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.

2010

Yashodhara Dalmia curates an exhibition of Souza’s portraits and heads titled Volte Face: Souzas Iconoclastic Vision, at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. In June 2010 Christie’s auction 140 lots from the Souza estate and realises 5 million pounds.

2015

Man and Woman Laughing sets a record at Rs. 16.8 crore at an auction in New Delhi.

2018

Tate Britain dedicates a room to his works for its exhibition ‘All Too Human'