Painting of a Bird

One of the finest examples of Company Painting in the NGMA collection, it is a natural history painting. The Company Paintings flourished from the late 18th to mid 19th centuries when the British officials and dignitaries of the East India Company commissioned traditional artists to paint scenes of Indian life. The popular themes that the British patrons demanded were natural history paintings, paintings of occupations, rituals and ceremonies, processions, costumes, scenes of British homes, modes of transport and portraits. A curious fusion occurred because these paintings were done by traditional miniature artists but they catered to the European taste for naturalism. Importantly, the paintings formed a visual record of the times. The painting of the bird perched on the branch of a flowering tree is a wonderful blend of elegant stylization and naturalism.