The Taj Mahal

About the Artwork

This view of the Taj Mahal, shot from the bank of the Yamuna River, offers a dramatic contrast between the seemingly perfect white marble monument in the background and dark, ruined structures in the foreground. It sets the Taj into a broader geographic and cultural context by including nature (the river) and two cultures, one that has crumbled and another that, because it approaches aesthetic perfection, has been carefully preserved.

Provenance

?-2000: Kanwardip Gujral Collection, Hamburg, Germany May 5, 2000: (Christie's, South Kensington, London, England), lot 00274, sold to Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England 2000-2022: (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH March 7, 2022-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Quick Overview

Artist: Dr. John Murray (Scottish, 1809–1898)
Date: c. 1858–62
Medium: albumen print
Dimensions: Image: 43.2 x 38.4 cm (17 x 15 1/8 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund
Accession no.: 2022.10

More by Dr. John Murray in museum collections

The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
Dr. John Murray
c. 1858-62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007940
The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah
Dr. John Murray
c. 1858-62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Art Institute of ChicagoAT-00007946
Buland Darwaza with Figure
Dr. John Murray
1858–62 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00012750
Shimla
Dr. John Murray
1865 · Photograph
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00012752

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.