After 4 years, Angelo da Fonseca’s works to be on display from Dec 6

Panaji: After a gap of four years, the original paintings of one of India’s greatest modernists of the 20th century, Angelo da Fonseca, will be up for viewing for nearly four months at the Xavier Centre for Historical Research (XCHR), Porvorim. The XCHR inherited the Goan artist’s works, including 75 of the originals revolving around the theme of ‘mother’, from his widow Ivy Muriel. They will be on display from December 6, which marks his 120th birth anniversary.
That is not all. As a tribute, for the first time, 30 students from schools across Panaji, Porvorim, Mapusa and Saligao have been chosen to paint their interpretation of the ‘mother’, inspired by Fonseca’s works that mainly revolved around Christian themes like Madonna as the mother, painted in Indian and other non-European styles.
Savia Viegas, who has been researching Fonseca’s works since 2010 and has curated the latest exhibition, said the artist’s works show a deep passion for the ‘mother’ – he being the youngest of 17 siblings, who lost his mother at 10 to be brought up by his three eldest sisters then on.
Of the close to 250 works donated to the XCHR, 75 will be on display where the mother appears as Madonna, sometimes donning an Indian khadi saree, or attire from the Far East and, at times, in Mughal dressing style.
“He did a lot of experimentation on the mother figure. He was painting in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, when the Swadeshi movement was on in India. All these occurrences find narrative in his expression of Christianity. He was introducing the ideas of India moving away from Europe economically and socially, as also moving away from European art. He was not only a true Christian but a true Indian,” said Viegas.
She said that Fonseca’s works also show a working-class Madonna along with an upper class one.
When he went to Europe for two years, his works were a breath of fresh air there amid the gloom left by World War II. However, when he returned to India in 1951, they did not have the same effect.
“In Goa, which was still under the Portuguese, he faced difficulties by way of opposition from some religious Christians who were used to Christian images of a colonial perspective. But I appreciate that he stuck to his art despite that,” said Fr Anthony da Silva, director of XCHR.
Now, reintroducing Fonseca to the new generation, Viegas has held three workshops for the 30 school children before they come up with their own interpretation of the ‘mother’.
“When I began my research on Fonseca and I went to his native St Estevam, I was shocked by how no one knew him, let alone identify his house for me. The idea for the project for the school students came from a study I had read by two French socialists, which found that European children are more inclined to view art and museum artefacts because they are involved in art-related projects at a young age,” said Viegas.
Their interpretations will find a place near Fonseca’s works, as they will also sing ‘Happy Birthday Da’, as Fonseca liked his young students to refer to him.