Born in April 1924 in a Portuguese colony in Saligao- Goa, Souza was one of the founding members of the Progressive Artists Group that is largely responsible for shaping the Modern Art movement in India. As a small child, Souza moved with his mother to Bombay and went on to attend St Xavier's High School where he developed an interest in drawing, studying oleographs and prints. From a very young age, Souza was precocious and rebellious. He was expelled at the age of 15 for drawing pornographic images in the school lavatories. Later in order to peruse art, Souza joined the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai however, was soon expelled for his participation in the Anti-British Quit India movement. Souza then joined the Communist Party of India and with artists such as Sayed Haider Raza and M.F. Husain, co founded the Progressive Artists Group. In 1949 Souza moved to London to cement his international reputation as an artist. Initially struggling to make an impact as an artist in the UK, he eked out a living as a journalist where he wrote an autobiography, Words & Lines (1959). A few years after shifting to London, Souza became one of the first post-Independence Indian painters to gain recognition in the West. In 1967, Souza moved to New York, where he remained living and working until he moved back to India shortly before his death.
Souza found his own blunt, extreme style by combining Expressionism and Art Brut with the spirit of cubism and the sculptures of classical Indian tradition, heavily influenced by the time he spent in the East and West. Often referred to as the "Indian Picasso", Souza became known for his aggressive lines and thick swaths of luminous color, combining fierce lines with his cruel humor. Nudes, landscapes and portraits became Souza's style and in every medium. His subjects ranged from still lifes, landscapes, and nudes to Christian themes such as the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Souza's paintings rejected convention and the banality of everyday life and many of them explored erotic subjects. A recurrent theme in his works was the conflict in a man-woman relationship, with an emphasis on sexual tension and friction. After shifting to the US, Souza struggled to sell his art in the American market that is when he invented his prominent series popularly known as the 'chemical alterations' that was a new form of more affordable art. This was a new method of drawing where Souza experimented with the use of chemical solvent on a printed page without destroying the glossy surface. With the use of this technique Souza started layering multiple imagery, thus creating several simultaneous narratives.
As one of India's most influential Modern painters, Souza received the John Moore Prize- Liverpool in 1957, Italian Government Scholarship in 1960 and the Guggenheim International Award in New York in 1967. Souza's works are part of several highly successful exhibitions and public institutions around the world. His works are the esteemed part of collections of few of the most prestigious museums and galleries in the world from The British Museum, The Tate Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. He has also exhibited at the Gallery Creuze- Paris in 1954, at Bose Pacia Modern- New York in 1998 and Francis Newton Souza Rare Works: 1965-2001 at Galerie 88 in Kolkata to name a few. As one of India's most influential Modern painters Souza continues to be widely exhibited, auctioned and published about all over the globe.His aggressive nature and dark work, failed to win him recognition in the country of his birth, where he was noted but never rewarded during his lifetime.
Souza died in Mumbai in March 2002 while visiting India.