An early-twentieth-century commercial painting studio, the Khubiram–Gopilal enterprise specialised in devotional pichhwai and popular manorath images in the pilgrimage town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan, India. They were among the few documented practitioners of the time in this active but generally anonymous domain, and also one of the first to incorporate photography into their work.

Khubiram and Gopilal Govardhanji were painters of devotional images in Nathdwara, home to the Shrinathji Temple dedicated to Krishna’s avatar as a child-god. Khubiram, at least, was influenced by the Academic Realism of Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906), much like his early contemporary Ghasiram Hardev Sharma (1868–1930), who was one of the chief painters and photographers associated with the Shrinathji Temple. Gopilal, a master portraitist, received his training from his uncle who was employed as court painter of Maharana Fateh Singh (r. 1884–1930) of Udaipur. He came from a devout Vaishnava family with ties to high-ranking temple officials.

Beginning in the early twentieth century, Khubiram and Gopilal sustained a business partnership in which they commissioned or sourced the work of a number of other painters, generally for devotional memorabilia sold to Nathdwara pilgrims. While the works were signed only ‘Chitrakar (“Painter” or “Painters”) Khubiram Gopilal’ — these artists would have been proficient in the idiom of the pichhwai paintings of Rajasthani temples as well as realistic portraiture. These were requisites in manorath paintings, in which patrons had to be recognisably depicted alongside the deity. As the popularity of these paintings extended beyond wealthy patrons to ordinary pilgrims, the increasing demand led the painters in Nathdwara to find more efficient ways to produce these images. The Khubiram–Gopilal studio was one of the first establishments to incorporate photography into their manorath paintings. 

Subjects would pose for or provide photographs of themselves, from which the artists would cut out the faces and hands — typically shown joined in obeisance — and paste these into generic manorath templates. They would later carefully paint over the pasted parts to mask the difference between the two mediums, so that the final result appeared to be an original, highly detailed painting. It is unclear whether this was done with the knowledge and approval of customers, and it is also possible that, given the novelty of photography at the time in these parts, they were unable to identify the photocollage method used. Among other services, the studio also painted colour into black and white photographs.

Khubiram–Gopilal’s work with photography has garnered divided opinions. The photocollage method is hailed by some scholars as innovative for the time; while others — including some artists previously employed by the studio — have viewed it either simply as a time-saving trick or a form of duplicity.