STEVE MCCURRY | Taj and Train

Acquired directly from the artist in 2014 

The colors remain rich and saturated with no signs of fading. This work is in very good condition, as viewed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

“By chance I was walking down the track from Agra Station. I could see the Taj [Mahal] in the background of this enormous railyard, so I waited, and suddenly they started moving these steam locomotives in front of it. You can feel the continuity between past and present.” (Steve McCurry quoted in ‘Go Behind the Lens with Steve McCurry’, Rubin Museum, 17 December 2015, http://rubinmuseum.org/blog/go-behind-the-lens-with-steve-mccurry) In 1983, his mind filled with stories from Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), McCurry began his epic journey across India by rail, a trip which spawned his Rail series. The current work, Taj and Train, in which a symbol of colonial industrialization is contrasted with the seventeenth-century Mughal mausoleum, perfectly captures the juxtaposition between tradition and modernity that McCurry sought in his photographs of India.