indian christian art says director xavier centre of historical research xchr fr savio abreuhis work reflects the complexity of the modern indian identity and the post colonial psyche which is far from homogeneous through his work fonseca strived hard to build a space for christianity in india which had been present for ages in the country but which he thought was still considered very foreign to the nation primarily because of inadequate artistic adaption fonsecas perseverance did pay off through the encouragement of fr henry heras the founder of the indian historical research institute in mumbai fonsecas work began to be exhibited at various places he began painting murals for churches and dabbled in grille work his art was not only exhibited in india but travelled to glasgow dublin cork rome madrid lisbon and zurich making him world famous fonseca also received recognition from the vatican with pope pius xii acknowledging him for pioneering christian art in india painting for him was purely a spiritual act of devotion fonseca rejected the salon in favour of smaller exhibitions in church halls and municipal buildings he wanted god to be drawn from within the church precincts and to live in the community says viegas he saw his art as a medium through which he could reach out to his indian christian countrymen as well his nonchristian brothers strength of line and the power of simple composition are the most striking features of angelos paintings writes fr m r lederle fonsecas paintings also showcase many female characters and numerous paintings are an expression of the female form fonseca died unexpectedly on december 28 1967 of pneumococcal meningitis most of his paintings had been in the possession of his widow ivy fonseca until she gave them for an exhibition to the pilar fathers in 2002 recently the xchr in goa run by the jesuits acquired around 80 paintings on mixed subjects some of which were gifted to them by ivy angelo fonseca had also previously given some of his paintings to the jesuits three exhibitions of fonsecas paintings have been held at xchr in recent years plans to put the works on display in the xchr museum are under way one hopes that many such attempts are made in the near future to showcase the work of this forgotten yet extraordinary artist whose deep faith in christianity and the equality of men succeeded in bringing to life on canvas characters that would otherwise seem a distant fantasy in the chaotic reality of the modern world