In 1949, the Goan Catholic artist Francis Newton Souza travelled to London from Bombay on a Portuguese passport. Over much of the following two decades, he painted themes now considered integral to his oeuvre: sexualised images of women, foreboding heads of institutions, dark religious allegories. Many critics at the time misunderstood his work and either regarded it as merely derivative of Western Expressionism (a charge he long scorned) or fetishised it as Indian painting, lumped in alongside the contributions of other non-white artists in mid-century Britain. Scholarship has since attempted to restitute Souza as a champion of global modernism. This paper, however, explores Souza's creative practice in London through several interwoven and overlooked threads: the cosmopolitanism imbued by his Goan upbringing, the visual imagination of messianic Christianity that connected Goa to the broader Lusophone world and the psychological trauma of some elements of Portuguese colonial rule that persisted in his experience of the diaspora. Souza's interest in maternity and motherhood recurred alongside imagery of martyrdom which characterised many of his works from the 50s and 60s. Read in dialogue with self-portraits Souza created on the precipice of his arrival in London through to his departure to New York in 1967, this paper explores how Souza contended with a particular anticolonial, transnational political context often masked through an insistence on biography. In London, Souza grappled with the pitfalls of Portuguese colonial inheritance and the promises of self-creation, refracting his own experience through the prism of global dispossession and religious suffering. Speaker bio: Nicole-Ann Lobo is a joint PhD candidate in the Department of Art & Archaeology and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities at Princeton University. Her dissertation explores the artists, revolutionaries, writers and jazz musicians who forged aesthetic and political solidarities while bringing about the end of empire in twentieth-century western India and East Africa, particularly Goa and Mozambique. Previously, Nicole-Ann completed her MPhil at the University of Cambridge’s programme in Modern South Asian Studies, where her dissertation on the painter F.N. Souza was awarded the C.A. Bayly Prize for Best Dissertation in South Asian History. Nicole-Ann's writing and criticism has been published in October, Dissent, Texte zur Kunst, Third Text Online, The Quietus and elsewhere. Image credit: Francis Newton Souza, Self Portrait, oil on board, 76 x 61 cm. Image courtesy of Ruth Borchard Collection (PCF112) © Estate of F N Souza. All rights reserved, DACS 2024 Code of Conduct This code is designed to create a positive and welcoming environment at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. It applies to all events, meetings and visits, in-person and online. It also extends to the social medial and digital platforms we use for events and communication. These are our guiding principles: We welcome debate and discussion, but this should always be considerate of others.Discriminatory or unlawful behaviour, harassment and defamatory comments will not be tolerated.We appreciate courtesy to our staff and other attendees – we value kindness, politeness and respect, and want to create spaces where people feel comfortable.We take reports of abuse very seriously.Onsite:Individuals whose behaviour breaches this code will be asked to leave the building. The events manager or appointed host for the event or visit will take responsibility for making this decision. Online:Abusive content posted online will be reported and removed. Breaches of this code may result in the individual being blocked or barred from attending the Centre or participating in its activities, on site or online, in the future. Any behaviour that breaches this code should be reported to a member of staff at an event or can be emailed to feedback@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk Our Code of Conduct is supported by the Centre’s Public Complaints Policy and Procedure.

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