NORTH INDIA, 1810-15

This view of the Taj Mahal comes from an album of views of monuments of Agra made by Agra draughtsmen in the early 19^th century (Francesca Galloway, Imperial Past, India 1600-1800, London, 2011, cats 1-20). Although the commissioning of albums of drawings of Mughal monuments in the style of European architectural studies was already popular in the early 19^th century, this series was the first time that single- and double-point had been consistently used (J.P. Losty, “Architectural Drawings by Agra Draughtsmen”, op.cit., pp.13-15). Unlike the other paintings from the album there might be a European prototype for this particular view in the form of a painting by the eccentric indigo planter and artist Thomas Longcroft. Longcroft travelled to India in 1783 with his friend the artist Johan Zoffany and over the course of the 1780s and 1790s he created a series of drawings of Mughal monuments in Agra and Delhi, drawn in meticulous detail and normally finished with a wash. Longcroft’s only surviving drawing now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (acc.no.FA.654) shows the Taj Mahal from the same southwest view as the current painting. Views of the Taj Mahal but on a smaller scale have sold at Sotheby’s London, 1 May 2019, lot 126 and 10 June 2020, lot 148.