Lot 57
  • 57

STEVE MCCURRY | Taj and Train, India, 1983

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 INR
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Description

  • Steve McCurry
  • Taj and Train, India, 1983
  • Signed, dated and numbered in ink on an artist's studio label affixed to the verso, accompanied by a certificate of authenticityEdition 50 of 90
  • Chromogenic print
  • Image: 15 ¼ x 22 ⅞ in. (38.7 x 58.1 cm.); Sheet: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 60.9 cm.)
  • Printed in 2016

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist
Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica

Literature

S. McCurry, South Southeast, London, Phaidon, 2000, unpaginated
W. Dalrymple, India: Steve McCurry, Phaidon, London, 2015, p. 115

Condition

The colours and tones in the print appear rich and bright. This print has not been inspected outside of its frame. This print is in very good condition overall 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Catalogue Note

“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 industrialisation is contrasted with the seventeenth-century Mughal mausoleum, perfectly captures the juxtaposition between tradition and modernity that McCurry sought in his photographs of India.