https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=M_F_PithawallaM F Pithawalla - Revision history2026-07-30T21:50:14ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=M_F_Pithawalla&diff=158079&oldid=previmported>DMySon at 18:24, 28 February 20212021-02-28T18:24:56Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian painter (1872–1937)}}<br />
{{lead too short|date=December 2018}}<br />
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'''Manchershaw Fakirjee Pithawalla''' (1872–1937) was an important painter of the Bombay School in the early 20th century.<br />
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==Biography==<br />
M. F. Pithawalla was born in Pitha, Surat. He moved to Bombay following his father's death in 1888. He was discovered and trained by [[John Griffiths (artist)|John Griffiths]], the principal of [[Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art]]. His first showing at the Bombay Fine Arts exhibition won him a silver medal. Thereafter, he began exhibiting widely at shows in [[Simla]], [[Bombay]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Madras]] and [[Pune]].<ref name="discoverdag">{{cite web|url=http://discoverdag.com/artists/m-f-pithawala/|title=M F PITHAWALA|website=DAG|accessdate=2018-10-21}}</ref> Pithawalla was a regular prize winner at exhibitions of art societies across India. He was the only artist to win three successive prizes at the [[Bombay Art Society]], including a gold medal in 1908.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850-1922: Occidental Orientations|author1=Mitter, P.|date=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521443548|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mRTtkri8E0C&pg=PA83|page=83|accessdate=2018-10-21}}</ref><br />
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In 1911, Pithawalla left for Europe visiting Italy, Paris and London. He had a one-man show at the Dore Gallery in London in October, 1911. Later, his portrait of [[Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy]] was displayed in an exhibition of "Modern Indian Art" at the [[New Burlington Galleries]] in London in 1934.<ref name="Times1934Dec10">{{cite newspaper The Times|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=hamlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS135605130&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|articlename=Modern Indian Art|section=Reviews|date=10 December 1934|page_number=8|issue=46933|accessdate=2018-10-21}}</ref> His talent for portraiture drew praise in London. The art critic Sir George Birdwood wrote an article in his appreciation<ref name="Goa Art Gallery">{{cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/pithawala_m_f.htm|title=Artist Gallery - M F PITHAWALA|accessdate=2018-10-22}}</ref> and commented on his copies of Velasquez and Rembrandt paintings, “When slightly aged, it will be hard to distinguish them from the originals.”<ref name="Bid & Hammer">{{cite web|url=http://auctions.bidandhammer.com/p/233/modern_contemporary_indian_art?catId=20#.W81DE_Zx3Dc|title=Bid & Hammer|accessdate=2018-10-22}}</ref><br />
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Pithawala's portraits document the ethos and hierarchy of the colonial establishment in India. He depicted members of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, ladies and gentlemen of high standing – lawyers, landlords, elite merchants and their wives.<ref name="Bid & Hammer"/> He is also remembered for the album he was commissioned to make for Queen Mary on her Indian visit in 1905, containing watercolours of women from different Indian communities.<ref name="google"/><br />
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M F Pithawala served a 30-year term as a committee member of the [[Bombay Art Society]] and as vice-president of the Art Society of India.<br />
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==Exhibitions==<br />
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1894 Bombay Fine Art Exhb., Bombay. <br />
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1902 Exhb., Simla Fine Art Society, Simla. <br />
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1907, 09, 39 Annual Exhb. Bombay Art Society, Bombay. <br />
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1911 Solo exhb., Dore Gallery, London. Exhb. New Burlington Gallery, London. Exhb., Royal Society of Portrait Painting, London. <br />
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1912 Exhb. inaugurated by Her Excellency Lady Clarke, Hall of Elphinstone High School, Bombay. <br />
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2004 Manifestations II, organised by Delhi Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.<ref name="Goa Art Gallery">{{cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/pithawala_m_f.htm|title=Artist Gallery - M F PITHAWALA|accessdate=2018-10-22}}</ref><br />
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==Collection==<br />
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National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Gallery Chemould, Mumbai. Jane and Kito de Boer, Dubai.<ref name="Goa Art Gallery">{{cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/pithawala_m_f.htm|title=Artist Gallery - M F PITHAWALA|accessdate=2018-10-22}}</ref><br />
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==Awards==<br />
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1894 Awarded Silver Medal and Cash Prize of Rs. 70, Bombay Fine Art Exhb., Bombay. <br />
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1907 Gold Medal, Annual Exhb., Bombay Art Society, Bombay. <br />
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1908 Gold Medal, Annual Exhb., Bombay Art Society, Bombay. <br />
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1909 Gold Medal, Annual Exhb., Bombay Art Society, Bombay. <br />
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1894-1911 Awarded 24 Gold and Silver Medals and 45 Cash Prizes.<ref name="Goa Art Gallery">{{cite web|url=http://goaartgallery.com/pithawala_m_f.htm|title=Artist Gallery - M F PITHAWALA|accessdate=2018-10-22}}</ref><br />
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==Further reading==<br />
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''Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850–1922: Occidental Orientations'' by Partha Mitter<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Indian male artists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian_painters]]<br />
[[Category:1872 births]]<br />
[[Category:1937 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Bombay School]]<br />
[[Category:Indian portrait painters]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian painters]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]</div>imported>DMySon