Arts During the Industrial Revolution
There were many artistic movements during the period of Britain's industrialization, each of which was a reaction to
the feelings of the time, as well as to the movement which had preceded it. By the time that the Industrial Revolution
really took hold, some artists were at differences with the ideals which it espoused, such as those of discipline,
temperance, structure, and views of the Enlightenment. These feelings translated into the Romantic movement,
which encouraged individualism, freedom, and emotion.
Artistic Movement
Neo-classicism – 1750 to 1820
"The imitation or use primarily of the style and aesthetic
principles of ancient Greek and Roman classical art" (Classic,
Classical, and Classicism).
Some of the Artists Involved
John Nash, Jaques-Louis David, John Flaxman,
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Antonio
Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Horatio
Greenough, Hiram Powers.
http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/bibliography.html#classic
Romanticism – 1800 to 1850
http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/glossary.html#romanticism
"Generally characterized by a highly imaginative and subjective
approach, emotional intensity, and a dreamlike or visionary
quality" (Romanticism).
http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/bibliography.html#romanticism
Edmund Burque, William Blake, Lord Byron,
Francisco de Goya, Theodore Gericault,
Eugene Delacroix, Samuel Palmer, John
Constable, J.M.W Turner, Claude Lorraine.
Realism – 1845 to 1900
An attempt to represent figures and objects exactly as they
appear in life (Realism).
http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/bibliography.html#realism
Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, Anton
Chekhov, George Eliot, Mark Twain, Henry
James, Thomas Eakins, Jean Francois Millet.
Pre-Raphaelite – 1850 to 1900
A reaction against Victorian materialism and neo-classicism.
Produced earnest, quasi religious works inspired by Mediaeval
and early Renaissance painters up to the time of Raphael
(Porter).
http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/bibliography.html#Porter
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais,
William Holman Hunt, Edward Coley BurneJones, William Morris, John Ruskin, Augustus
Welby Northmore Pugin.
Impressionism and Post Impressionism – Late Nineteenth
Century
Instead of painting an ideal of beauty, the impressionists tried to
depict what they saw at a given moment, capturing a fresh,
original vision. They often painted out of doors so that they
could observe nature more directly and set down its most
fleeting aspects—especially the changing light of the sun
(Porter).
Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot,
Camille Pissaro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred
Sisley, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Paul
Signac, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Georges
Seurat.
Romanticism was probably the most important artistic movement to flourish during the
Industrial Revolution. It had the most widespread effects on the general population, and its
artistic achievements are still admired today. http://industrialrevolution.sea.ca/impact.html