C. R. Mandy, Editor of ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’
by Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002)
dated: 1955
Oil on canvas
22.5 x 16 in. (57 x 40 cm.)
Mr. C. R. Mandy was the former editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India. He was very helpful to Souza in his early years and always appreciated his art works. He occasionally helped Souza by publishing articles on the life of the struggling artist.
Francis Newton Souza was born in 1924 at Saligao, Goa. He was expelled from Sir J. J. School of Arts, Bombay for participating in the Quit India Movement. Souza founded the Progressive Artist’s Group in 1947 where the initial members were Ara, S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, Gade and Bakre. The group was largely responsible for shaping the modern art movement in India. Souza is famous for his heads and especially those executed in the 1950s and 60s. The area outside ‘the head’, the space is usually, as in this picture, prepared quite perfunctorily. Since the figure itself is the only real focus and the artist does not place the image in any particular context.