Golu of Nurpur occupies an important position in the history of Pahari miniature painting. Active during the first half of the eighteenth century, approximately from 1710 to 1750, he belonged to a celebrated hereditary lineage of painters that included his grandfather Kripal and his father Devidasa. The three generations are particularly important for understanding the development of the Nurpur tradition and its relationship with what has conventionally been termed the Basohli style. Golu's importance lies not merely in the continuation of his family's artistic practice, but in the distinctive transitional character of his paintings. His works preserve the intense colours, strong contours, stylized figures and expressive quality inherited from the early Basohli-Nurpur manner, while simultaneously displaying a growing interest in naturalism, spatial organization, delicate facial expression and courtly portraiture. In this sense, Golu's art occupies a crucial position between the earlier Basohli aesthetic and the more refined naturalistic manner that developed at Guler during the eighteenth century.

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