'Feeding the Parrot', by Pestonji Bomanji, is an 1882 oil on canvas from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. Here, Bomanji displays his expertise in European academic styles through light, texture and the realism of his subjects, possibly his wife Jiloobai, tenderly feeds a parrot as a child looks on, particularly his sensitive rendering of their expression. These elements combined, his work often gave psychological depth and rich, subdued tones, that led to him being known as the "Indian Rembrandt."
The work was likely completed when Bomanji was at Ajanta, working with the copyists for the Ajanta cave murals under the Sir J. J. School of Art project, for although unseen, hints of the style of the murals exist in the background as faint imaging. This imagery directly connects an ancient Indian tradition to a study of European academic realism in the colonial period.
The painting's depiction of the Parsi way of life in colonial Bombay embodies the complex and hybridized identity of the community: 'modern' and with the influence of Westernism, but still fundamentally Indian in domestic traditions, home-life and clothing; the Western academic Realism contrasts with an undeniable Indian atmosphere. As far as the image itself is concerned, perhaps the bird represented the idea of companionship, the refining effect of owning a trained bird or perhaps a fragile domestic intimacy, for, rather than depict any epic scene or mythological occurrence, Bomanji is concerned with the small, intimate detail of family life, elevating it to an atmosphere of warmth, grace and humility. The work stands out as one that synthesizes Indian subjects with Western training. It remains a key painting in Indian art history and of Bombay School work, and the colonial Indian art of the late 19th Century.
The painting depicts a woman feeding a parrot highlighting the domestic life with the cultural identity of the Parsis in India.In this painting Bomanji has blended Indian subject matter with western academic realism.In this painting the lights falls on the woman's face and the folds of her blue saree while the child clinging to the woman remain in the shadows. There is a faint painting of the Ajanta murals in the upper-right hand corner of the painting.The Ajanta reference is not deecorative ,the painter spent decades copying the Ajanta murals and it has shaped his painting style by showing sensitive human expression and psychological depth.This painting also highlights the Parsi community in India who influenced by western ideologies but remained rooted in traditions and religious practices.This painting is also significant because Bomanji has painted a real women doing a real thing outside of mythological or allegorical context reflecting a progressive role of Parsi women .It holds complex meanings attributed to clinging child, the parrot and the central character the wife of the Painter .
