Manchershaw Fakirjee Pithawala (1872-1937) was in the truest sense one of the most celebrated Parsi artist who established himself as an ace portrait painter Born in Surat’s Pithawala village, a possible derivative for his name, he moved to Bombay after his father’s demise in 1888 Art was not his immediate calling as he initially worked as a writer and as time took its course he became an artist whose watercolour works had dexterity to the extent that they were presented to the Princess of Wales on her arrival in India in the year 1905In the years leading up to Independence, India as a country was undergoing historically significant revivals in the field of art Mughal art and India’s traditionally ethos found a voice of their own, naturalistic form of painting was gaining popularity, especially in the form of individual portraits Only to a certain extent was it an adoption of the ways and whims of the colonial acquisition Other than that, the portraits also happened to be a manner in which tribute was paid to western influencers, namely Vermeer or Rembrandt and a closer to home ode to JJ School of Art in BombayM F Pithawala actively dabbled in the new age techniques of painting that went far beyond the boundaries of existing norms He was discovered and trained in visual art by John Griffiths, the principal of Sir J J School of Art His time here formed the base of his artistic voyage that followed He began to exhibit extensively across the country before leaving for Europe in 1911 M F Pithawala’s opulent portraiture works established his position as one of India’s leading artists of the genre amongst art patrons even in London Pithawala was also announced by famed Anglo-Indian Naturalist and author Georger Birdwood as an artist beyond par, which he attributed to his training in European naturalistic art Pithawala portrayed the lives and likenesses of his patrons, their aristocracy and social status was captured with finesse