Agra School Taj Mahal, Agra, India

An original late 19th-century gouache painting, Agra School, Taj Mahal, Agra, India.

A striking painting depicting the iconic facade of the Taj Mahal at Agra. The architecture is rendered in exquisitely fine detail, in coloured ink and wash, whilst opaque pigment to the sky makes the domed white marble of the mausoleum stand out in majestic contrast.

Produced by an Agra School artist in the late 19th century, the style of the painting embodies that of the Indian Company School artist working earlier in the century. Indian Company paintings were produced for Western (especially British) patrons in India in the 19th century, many of whom were working for the East India Company. They displayed a striking hybrid technique which led to the categorisation of the 'Company' style as a School. While incorporating traditional elements from Rajput and Mughal painting, they were given a more 'western' appearance through their use of perspective and rounded modelling, as opposed to the more decorative, 'flatter' styles that had gone before.

Painted on smooth wove paper, which appears to have been previously bound in a sketchbook. With Persian / Arabic script on the verso.