INDIA, RAJASTHAN, MEWAR, ATTRIBUTED TO SHIVALAL, CIRCA 1860

The artist Shivalal is the son of the well-recognized Mewar court painter Tara. His brother, Mohanlal, worked for the court in a novel role as a photographer. Shivalal is known to have collaborated with Tara on at least one occasion under the reign of Maharana Sarup Singh (r.1841-1861) in 1858. The artist is most well known for his expansive depictions of hunting scenes, particularly for the natural topographic features he would include while painting on site. He also experimented with the new medium of photography, coloring albumen prints often captured in his brother's photokhana. The brothers continued to work under Sarup Singh's successors, Maharana Sajjan Singh and Maharana Fateh Singh; however, the increasingly available medium of photography, and the realism and immediacy it brought with it, ultimately took over the role of traditional court painting in Mewar.
Compare the present work to equestrian portrait of Maharana Sarup Singh attributed to Shivalal from the Ann and Gordan Getty Collection sold at Christie's New York, 24 October 2022, lot 1152, for $23,940.