Taj Mahal, Night

Date:: 1932
Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Yoshida Studio
Source:: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Typical Price

The Taj Mahal Gardens at Night is among the most sought-after prints from Yoshida's 1931 India series. A Taj Mahal in Moonlight No. 4 sold at Sotheby's for GBP 4,800 (hammer; GBP 4,000, July 2024), and moonlit versions carry an additional premium over daytime variants. The full Taj Mahal suite of six prints is the crown jewel of the India series.

Jizuri (artist-supervised) seal: $3,000–$9,000
Studio/posthumous edition: $800–$2,500

Description

Taj Mahal at Night is a companion to Yoshida's moonlight series, presenting the great mausoleum under the dark sky without the benefit of lunar illumination — the building visible in the deep blue of a clear Indian night, its white marble taking on an almost spectral pallor against the darkness. The 1932 date places this print within his sustained exploration of the Taj Mahal's visual properties under every condition of light and atmosphere. The nocturne required him to push the woodblock medium toward its limits of tonal depth, rendering darkness as a positive presence rather than mere absence of light.