Bikaner and Kishangarh

Bikaner had long links with the Mughal court, so its painting has Mughal elegance and soft colours. Ustad Ali Raza came from Delhi to work for Karan Singh (about 1650). Under Anup Singh, Ruknuddin blended local, Deccani and Mughal styles. Ibrahim's work has a misty, dreamlike quality.

Artists worked in studios called Mandi, under a master. The master's name was written on his pupils' works, and his final touch was called gudarayi. Studios also did marammat (repairs) and made nakals (copies). Portraits of artists are found only in Bikaner.

Bahis (royal diaries) and inscriptions make Bikaner one of the best documented schools. Nuruddin's Rasikapriya (1683) uses a mound in the centre to divide indoor and outdoor scenes.

Kishangarh, founded by Kishan Singh in 1609, is the most stylised school: long, slender figures, arched eyebrows, pink-tinged lotus eyes, a sharp nose and thin lips, much green, and wide panoramic landscapes. Its themes are from Krishna Lila, after Raj Singh joined the Pushtimarg of Vallabhacharya.

Nihal Chand painted for Sawant Singh, a poet under the name 'Nagari Das', who loved the singer Bani Thani. Her features are thought to have inspired the famous Kishangarh face, and the two appear as Radha and Krishna in panoramic settings.