To which style the artist 'Nihal Chand' was related?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 4:
Nihal Chand was the foremost and defining painter of the Kishangarh school of painting, a prominent sub-school of the Rajasthani miniature tradition that flourished in the mid-18th century. Working under the patronage of Raja Sawant Singh (Nagari Das), Nihal Chand is credited with creating the unique and highly stylized visual idiom that distinguishes this school. His masterpiece, the famous portrait of 'Bani Thani' (depicting the king's mistress as Radha), perfectly exemplifies the Kishangarh style with its elongated, lotus-shaped eyes, pointed noses, and slender figures, which collectively represent the spiritual and aesthetic ideals of *shringara* (romantic devotion).

The incorrect option is 1:
The Apabhransh style, sometimes referred to as the Jain school of painting, is incorrect as it represents a much earlier phase in Indian art history, flourishing roughly between the 11th and 15th centuries. This style served as a transition from mural to miniature painting, known for its flat, stiff figures, primary colour palette, and distinctive protruding eye, primarily illustrating Jain texts like the *Kalpasutra*. Nihal Chand’s work in the 18th century is separated from the Apabhransh period by several centuries and belongs to the fully developed Rajput miniature tradition.

The incorrect option is 2:
The term ‘Modern’ is chronologically and stylistically inaccurate for Nihal Chand’s work. In the context of Indian art, the Modern period generally refers to art movements from the late 19th or 20th century onwards, such as the Bengal School or the Progressive Artists’ Group. Nihal Chand was an 18th-century court artist belonging to the classical Rajput miniature tradition, which predates and is distinct from the artistic goals and styles of Modern Indian Art.

The incorrect option is 3:
Pahari refers to a group of Rajput painting styles that developed in the Himalayan hill states, such as Basohli, Guler, and Kangra, which are geographically separate from Rajasthan. While the Pahari and Rajasthani schools are both sub-sections of the broader Rajput painting category and share themes like Radha-Krishna devotion, their styles and centres of production are distinct. Nihal Chand's characteristic style, with its extreme elongation of features, is specific to Kishangarh, not the soft, lyrical style typical of later Pahari schools like Kangra.