Though Francis Newton Souza is most commonly associated with Goa in the context of art, it is his contemporary Laxman Pai who must get a similar mention in this regard. Pai, unlike Souza, had a lifelong affair with his birth place which he liberally expressed in his works.
Born in Margao, Goa, on January 21, 1926, Pai grew up in a politically charged India. He participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha against the British rule, leading to his imprisonment. Years later, he would also participate in the movement to liberate Goa from the Portuguese rule in 1960-61.
Pai studied at Bombay’s Sir J. J. School of Art, and later, also taught at his alma mater. However, despite his political leanings, Pai’s work mostly remained devoid of political commentary of the times, instead focusing on imagery that drew heavily from the lush and rich colours of his native state. Another defining impact on his art was his decade long stay in Paris in the 1960s-70s, where he perfected the blend between traditional Indian aesthetics and European modernism. He was equally brilliant in his renditions of landscapes and figurative works.
Pai served as the principal of the Goa College of Art for a decade beginning 1977. The Goa government bestowed him with its highest civilian honour, the Gomant Vibhushan award. He won the prestigious national award of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1961 and 1963, and was honoured by the government of India’s Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
He passed away in Goa on March 14, 2021.