Sita Ram (fl. 1810-1822)
The Taj Mahal in morning light inscribed 'Taj at Agra & part of the Garden in the Morning fromthe East (lower centre on the backing sheet, overmounted) pencil and watercolour
16 1/8in. x 24 3/8 in. (40.9cm. x 61.9cm.)

Literature :
P. Pratapaditya, J. Leoshko, J. Dye and M. Markel, Romance ofthe Taj Mahal, Los Angeles, 1989, pp. 231-2, pl. 249, illustratedin colour. Exhibited Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Romance of theTaj Mahal, 17 December 1989 -17 March 1991, no. 249, lent by the present owner.

Lot Notes :
This watercolour probably formed part of a remarkable album entitled 'VIEWS BY SEETA RAM FROM SECUNDRA TO AGRA, vol. IX' (Sotheby's, London, 9 July 1974, lot 263). This was one of three albums whose rediscovery in the 1970s brought Sita Ram to prominence as one of the most accomplished Indian artists. A smaller but related drawing from this album was sold Christie's, London, 21 September 2001, lot 297 (sold £10,000). Both show the Taj Mahal viewed from the South-East in bright morning light, but the present watercolour is the more expansive, drawing back to encompass in its view the shadowy gardens beneath the sunlit dome.

This is one of a pair of watercolours showing the great monument in morning sun and then in moonlight. The viewpoint is shifted slightly in the moonlit scene (on loan to the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard) but both explore the play of light on the marble dome and in the lush, shadowy gardens, and are 'among the most poetic representations of the Taj' (P. Pratapaditya et al, op. cit, p. 231).

The subtlety in tonal variation so evident here is characteristic of Sita Ram, the first Indian painter fully to appreciate and adopt the palette and style of English picturesque painting. Lauded by Jerry Losty as 'the most brilliant and versatile Indian artist of his time' (in J.K. Bautze, Indian and Western Painting 1780-1910, Virginia, 1998, p. 309), he was topographical painter to Lady Hastings and spent much time travelling through India in the company of Lady Hastings and her husband Lord Hastings, the Governor-General of Bengal.

Source : Christies