Nihâl Chand (1710–1782) was an Indian painter and poet who produced some of the best known examples of
Rajput painting
Rajput painting, also called Rajasthan painting, evolved and flourished in the royal courts of Rajputana in northern India, mainly during the 17th century. Artists trained in the tradition of the Mughal miniature were dispersed from the imperia ...
. He was the chief painter at the court of
Kishangarh
Kishangarh is a city and a Municipal Council in Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
History
Kishangarh State was founded by the Jodhpur prince Kishan Singh in 1609. Prior to the rule of Kishan Singh this area was ruled by Ra ...
during the time of the ruler Savant Singh (also known as Nagari Das). He is attributed with a small group of paintings in a distinctive style, produced for Raja Savant Singh, and mostly depicting the king and
Bani Thani as
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
and
Radha respectively. These are "widely held to be the finest of all Rajasthani miniatures", and are unusually large for their type, reaching 19 by 14 inches (48 x 36 cm). He was a devout follower of
Vallabha
Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhu (1479–1531 CE), also known as Vallabha, Mahaprabhuji and Vishnuswami, or Vallabha Acharya, is a Hindu Indian saint and philosopher who founded the Krishna-centered PushtiMarg sect of Vaishnavism in the Braj(Vraj) ...
who had founded a Krishna-centric philosophy that surfaces repeatedly in his paintings as he signifies the deity with light blue skin. He arrived in Kishangarh between 1719 and 1726.
[Kossak, 21]
Gallery
File:7_attrib_to_Nihal_Chand_Raja_Savant_Singh_and_Bani_Thani_as_Krishna_and_Radha_Artwork_ca_1760_Fine_Arts_Museums_of_San_Francisco.jpg, Raja Savant Singh and Bani Thani as Krishna and Radha, ca. 1760.
File:Radha and Krishna in the boat of love - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Radha and Krishna in the boat of love''
File:Maker_unknown%2C_India_-_Krishna_and_Radha_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, Krishna and Radha, Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton, ca 1750.
File:3 Nichal Chand (attr) Krishna Celebrates Holi with Radha and the Gopis 1750-60 Boston MFA.jpg, ''Krishna Celebrates Holi with Radha and the Gopis'', 1750–60, Boston MFA
References
Further reading
Bani Thani* Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art,
* (see index: p. 148-152; plate 56, 70)
External links
Rajput culture
1710 births
1782 deaths
People from Ajmer district
18th-century Indian painters
Miniature painting
Indian male painters
Painters from Rajasthan
{{India-artist-stub