Antonio Piedade da Cruz

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Antonio Piedade da Cruz (born August 22, 1895 in Velim , † 1982 in Mumbai ), also known as AP d'Cruz or Cruzo , was a painter and sculptor from Goa , then a Portuguese colony in India .

Life

Cruzo studied drawing and painting from 1916 to 1922 at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Mumbai under Gladstone Salomon , MV Dhurandhar and Agoskar . On the recommendation of Max Bernuth , he applied to the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin (today University of the Arts Berlin ), where he became a master class student and studied under Arthur Kampf , Ferdinand Spiegel and Paul Plontke from 1923 to 1925 .

After the young Cruzo asked a German newspaper to correct a report about him in which he was described as "Portuguese from India" because he was "pure Indian", he met the Portuguese Ambassador Dr. Alberto da Veiga Simões , who then helped Cruzo organize a solo exhibition of his works in Lisbon in October 1925 .

Cruzo returned to Mumbai in 1927 and was known for his sculpture and portraiture among maharajas and the European elite. Philip Chetwode , Louis Mountbatten , Lallubhai Samaldas and Purshottamdas Thakurdas were among his clients.

His “Cruzo Studio” in the Brabourne Stadium became an important meeting place, also for members of the Goa liberation movement . Although Cruzo was associated with the elite, his works mainly related to poverty and injustice and the hard labor of farmers and fishermen. He also painted allegories and nudes .

A meeting with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1939 inspired Cruzo, whereupon his work focused on political issues, first the independence movement , the partition of India and later the Bangladesh war and the Vietnam war .

Cruzo died in 1982. He is still one of the most important artists from Goa.

After many years of oblivion, Cruzo's work is being rediscovered. In July 2016, the curator Ranjit Hoskoté organized an exhibition of 16 oil paintings by the artist at the Sunaparanta art gallery in Goa.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Clement Vaz, "Profiles of Eminent Goans Past and Present," Concept Publishing Company, 1997, ISBN 9788170226192
  2. ↑ Vamona AS Navelkar, The Flowering of Goan Art The Navhind Times , September 7, 2008,
  3. ↑ The Flowering of Goan Art, Asian Art Newspaper, April 2012, archive link ( Memento from November 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Needing "no special introduction to art lovers" according to Naguesh Rao Sardessai, p.22, Viva Goa Magazine, May 2011, http://issuu.com/vivagoaonline/docs/may_2011
  5. ↑ Ranjit Hoskote, The Quest for Cruzo, http://scroll.in/article/810483/the-quest-for-cruzo-remembering-a-bombay-artist-who-painted-the-rich-but-identified-with -the-poor
personal data
SURNAME Cruz, Antonio Piedade there
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cruz, AP d '; Cruzo, Antonio Piedade there
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian painter and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Velim
DATE OF DEATH 1982
Place of death Mumbai