Fardunjee Marzaban (1787 – 1847)
Printer, Gujarati Journalist, Founder of Mumbai Samachar

Artist Kooty

dated 1944, Oil on canvas
30.1 x 24.2 in. (76.5 x 61.5 cm.)

This powerful portrait of Fardunjee Marzaban, painted by the artist Kooty in 1944. It is a compelling reinterpretation of an original work gifted to Marzaban by his friend, A. Gibson, in 1835. Marzaban was a pioneering Parsi educationist, journalist, and social reformer in 19th-century Bombay. He is widely credited as one of the earliest Indian printers and publishers, having founded the Bombay Samachar in Gujarati and promoted literacy and rational thinking within the Parsi community. A progressive thinker, he championed women’s education and was a key figure in shaping Bombay’s intellectual and civic life.

Kooty’s rendition, created more than a century later, captures Marzaban with remarkable realism and reverence. The oil painting, dated 1944, shows a dignified elder in a white turban and flowing beard, dressed in soft yellow and white robes. The treatment of texture, particularly in the beard and fabric, demonstrates a high level of academic skill and attention to detail.

Kooty belongs to a lesser-known yet significant tradition of Indian realist painters working in the 1940s. A period when the influence of colonial art schools and British academic realism still lingered. Portraits from this time served as both personal and historical archives, celebrating leaders, reformers, and community stalwarts, especially during the backdrop of India’s Independence Movement.