Milo Cleveland Beach

Rajasthani Painters: Bagta and Choka - Master Artists at Devgarh Milo Cleveland Beach

"This is a study centered on two artists within one family, but it has also explored a network of patronage among the successive rulers of one small territory subordinate to a major ruling house. It has led us to explore new, previously unrecognized centers of painting (Karera and Gyangarh, for example) and to realize that most powerful ruling courts did not necessarily provide the most informed, or the most productive, patronage. Paintings made for the Chundawats of Devgarh are for more interesting and innovative than the works made contemporaneously in Udaipur. But it is now clear that , even within one family of patrons, tastes can be quite distinct, as can the stylistic affiliations of the artists that various family members employed. It seems clear that Rajasthani painting will richly reward further attention." -- From the Afterword