Talking art! Why Pheroza Godrej has nicknamed an untitled work by Manjit Bawa, 'Tipu Sultan'

The topic of discussion at a recent event in the city between author Ina Puri and art patron Pheroza Godrej was the late artist Manjit Bawa —his work, life and legend. During the conversation, Godrej spoke about Bawa’s canvas in her home. It hangs near the entrance to the verandah in her house.

“It’s an oil on canvas. It has just three shades: emerald green, white and a very, very dark cobalt blue, almost touching on black. Most of his work was untitled but we’ve nicknamed it Tipu Sultan because he [the portrait subject] does look like Tipu Sultan,” she said, adding, “It’s a male face and he’s got his finger almost going into his nostril. So, it was quite tongue in cheek. You’ll never see Tipu Sultan like that and in polite company, you’ll never see anyone putting their finger in their nose.”