M. F. Pithawalla’s Diana of the Uplands (1911) is a striking oil-on-canvas painting that combines portraiture, landscape, and the visual language of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British art. The work depicts a fashionable woman seated outdoors on a windswept hillside, accompanied by two large black-and-white greyhounds. She wears a long, flowing white dress or coat with pale blue accents and a broad-brimmed straw hat decorated with vivid red flowers. Her raised hand appears to steady the hat against the wind, while her other hand holds the dogs’ leash. The woman’s relaxed yet alert pose gives the composition a sense of movement and vitality. The landscape occupies a substantial part of the composition. Behind the sitter are dark, undulating hills beneath a broad, cloudy sky. The muted browns, greens and greys of the landscape contrast with the luminous white of the woman’s clothing. The red flowers on her hat provide a small but important accent of colour, drawing attention toward her face. Pithawalla uses the strong horizontal sweep of the landscape and the diagonal line of the leash to create visual movement across the canvas. The two greyhounds dominate the lower foreground, their elongated bodies and energetic poses reinforcing the impression of a brisk outdoor excursion. The painting is particularly significant because Pithawalla’s work is closely associated with Charles Wellington Furse’s Diana of the Uplands (1903–04). Furse’s original, now associated with Tate, similarly presents a full-length woman in a white costume and broad-brimmed hat, holding two greyhounds against a windswept landscape. Contemporary descriptions of Furse’s painting identify the sitter as his wife, Mrs. Charles Furse, and note its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1904. Pithawalla’s 1911 painting can therefore be understood as an important example of the circulation and adaptation of European academic and portrait traditions within colonial India.
The muted browns, greens and greys of the landscape contrast with the luminous white of the woman’s clothing. The red flowers on her hat provide a small but important accent of colour, drawing attention toward her face.
Share
By: Suhita Mondal
M. F. Pithawalla’s Diana of the Uplands (1911) is a beautiful painting of oil on canvas, combining portraiture, landscape, and the aesthetics of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British tradition. The artwork depicts a fashionable woman sitting in the landscape of an open-air and surrounded by two large black-and-white greyhounds. The woman is dressed in a long white dress or coat with pale blue trimmings and wears a wide-brimmed straw hat decorated with vibrant red flowers. The model’s hand is raised to hold the hat against the wind, and her other arm is occupied with the greyhounds’ leash. The woman’s posture is relaxed but alert, and her position in the picture creates an impression of motion. The landscape occupies a considerable part of the painting, and the woman is only seen on the edge of the steep hillside. A grey and cloudy sky above the horizon and the background of the dark folds of rolling hills frame the landscape. The greenery and the brownish rocks in the distance complete the scene, complementing the white dress with a calm contrast of the blue sky. The woman’s red floral decorations on the wide-brimmed straw hat serve as an effective and noticeable feature drawing attention to her face. Pithawalla uses the line of the landscape and the leash to lead the eye across the picture, and the greyhounds occupy the foreground, adding life to the picture with their elongated bodies and lively stance. The painter’s 1911 work is even more remarkable given the painter’s close relationship to Charles Wellington Furse’s Diana of the Uplands (1903–04). The latter’s painting is also presented in a similar setting, depicting a woman in a white costume and wide-brimmed hat, two greyhounds at her side, and the wind-blown landscape. Contemporary critics identified the model for Furse’s Diana as Mrs. Charles Furse, and the work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1904. Pithawalla’s Diana of the Uplands (1911) thus emerges as a critical component of the pictorial tradition of European artistic culture.
