Unknown / Private collection ( current location not publicly disclosed )
Location History:
24 February 2001. Osians, Mumbai, India. The painting was put up for sale at Osians auction India: The Passionate Detachment, as Lot 66. Tuli mentions the location as Mumbai, the auction date as 24 February 2001 and the highest bid, as ₹425,000.
Opium Eater, painted by Pestonji Bomanji in 1908 shows a person in a moment. The person is shown in a three-quarter view with his head down. His eyes looking away from the person watching. His long hair, beard, face and clothes are described in detail making the person look real and strong while still keeping a mood. The painting is oil on board. It is 56.90 × 37 cm in size. Tuli Research Centre
Bomanji uses a set of colors like beige, gray and soft skin tones. These colors stand out against the background. The focus is on the person’s face and clothes. The way the face is shaped shows Bomanji’s love for details and traditional painting. He does not try to make the person look perfect. Instead he shows the person as a person with features.
The way the painting is set up focuses on the person’s head and upper part of the body. The way the person is turned gives a movement in a picture. The dark hair and beard around the face make the face stand out. The necklaces and the pendant add details and something to look at. The simple background stops the eyes from going else.
The name Opium Eater adds a part about society to the painting. Of showing the person through signs of being important or looking good Bomanji connects the person to a certain habit and way of life. The quiet expression and the way the person is looking inwards can be seen with the name as a sign of being quiet and thinking. The painting itself does not tell us the person’s life.
The painting also shows where Bomanji was in the tradition of painting during the time of rule in Bombay. His work is known for portraits. The Tuli Research Centre lists Opium Eater as one of his paintings. It says it was made in 1908 and uses oil on board. Tuli Research Centre This painting is special because it shows how an Indian artist working in a style could use ways of painting with a person and Indian life.
The painting was later listed in Osians India: The Passionate Detachment auction in Mumbai, on 24 February 2001 where it was lot number 66.
The title Opium Eater gives the painting another layer of meaning. It connects the individual not simply with his appearance, but with a particular habit and social reality. The quiet posture and inward-looking expression may therefore be understood as suggesting isolation, contemplation, or withdrawal. However, the painting itself does not provide enough information to determine the subject’s personal story or to judge his character. Instead, the title invites the viewer to think about how individuals can be represented through particular social identities or habits.
The work also reflects Bomanji’s interest in detailed portraiture and his engagement with the academic painting traditions of early twentieth-century Bombay. His careful treatment of the face, hair, clothing, and jewellery gives the subject a strong physical presence while retaining the individuality of his features. In this sense, the painting can be seen as more than a portrait of a particular person: it is also an observation of human character and social life.
