Manak’s most outstanding work is a set of Gita Govinda painted in 1730 at Guler, retaining some of the elements of the Basohli style, most strikingly the lavish use of beetle’s wing casings. Nainsukh appears to have left his hometown in Guler and moved to Jasrota. He is believed to have initially worked for Mian Zoravar Singh, whose son and successor Balwant Singh of Jasrota was to become his greatest patron. Nainsukh’s celebrated pictures of Balwant Singh are unique in the kind of visual record they offer of the patron’s life.

What is considered as a salient feature of the later Pahari style, particularly attributed to Nainsukh's genius?

Individual portraiture

Answer: Individual portraiture
Nainsukh's genius was for individual portraiture, which became a salient feature of the later Pahari style.

Nainsukh appears to have left his hometown in Guler and moved to Jasrota. He is believed to have initially worked for Mian Zoravar Singh, whose son and successor Balwant Singh of Jasrota was to become his greatest patron. Nainsukh’s celebrated pictures of Balwant Singh are unique in the kind of visual record they offer of the patron’s life. Balwant Singh is portrayed engaged in various activities — performing puja, surveying a building site, sitting in a camp wrapped in a quilt because of the cold weather, and so on. The artist gratified his patron’s obsession by painting him on every possible occasion. Nainsukh’s genius was for individual portraiture that became a salient feature of the later Pahari style. His palette comprised delicate pastel shades with daring expanses of white or grey. Manaku, too, did numerous portraits of his enthusiastic patron Raja Govardhan Chand and his family. Prakash Chand, successor of Govardhan Chand, shared his father’s passion for art and had sons of Manaku and Nainsukh, Khushala, Fattu and Gaudhu as artists in his court.