H.J. Noltie’s new work sheds light on the lives of painters who were largely erased by their British colonial masters

thanks to Adam Freer (1747-1811), who was rather scrupulous about attributing credit to the artists who worked under him.

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In other cases, labels stuck on the paintings claim these were the handiwork of British artists like Mary Govan, but such anomalies, Noltie explains, are due to later additions made by the successors of the families. Govan, however, was a trained artist herself and did add her own embellishments to some of the works made by Indian artists.