Angelo da Fonseca: Portrait of an Eclectic Genius

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Vivek Menezes reviews an article by Rupert Arrowsmith in the current issue of Art India magazine about the legacy of one of India's greatest Christian artists, Angelo da Fonseca.

Menezes writes:

Until his death in 1967, [da Fonseca] painstakingly created a magnificent oeuvre of uniquely cross-cultural paintings that are among the most remarkable contributions to 20th century art from any painter, anywhere in the world. 

But until 2014, the artist's reputation never caught up to his achievement. As Arrowsmith notes in 'Portrait of an Eclectic Genius', "it is very telling that Angelo da Fonseca...has needed to wait until this year for his first ever inclusion in a survey of the Indian 20th century icons."

By the way, art historian Savia Viegas plans to eventually publish a book about da Fonseca called Angelo Da Fonseca’s Lexicon of Christian Images.  No publication date is currently available.  But there are a few more articles about Fonseca here, here and here.

I'll leave you with a images of a few of da Fonseca's paintings.

Ecce Homo, Angelo da Fonseca

Supper, Angelo da Fonseca

Apocalypse, Angelo da Fonseca