What the Artist Shows
Steam Railroads in Art
1750-1850
NEH Summer Seminar
Aspects of the Industrial Revolution in Britain
University of Nottingham 2006
Nancy Sieck, Petaluma High School, California
What the Artist Shows
• Railroads were originally built to haul heavy cargo from Mines and
Foundries to canals and markets.
• Passengers took joy-riding excursions behind steam locomotives as
early as 1821.
• From about 1829, passengers began to make up a larger part of the
railroads’ business.
• In order to promote their passenger business, railroad companies
often had well known artists paint commemorative scenes showing
the wonders of steam travel.
• When rail travel became more commonplace, publications such as
“Punch” satirized the railroads growing importance in their pages.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
Travelling Companions. 1862. Augustus Egg.
Birmingham Art Museum.
•
•
The two young women are mirrorimages of each other, they wear
grey satin gowns and identical
hats with jaunty cockades are
perched in their laps.
Motion is indicated by the
backward sway of the tassel on
the window shade. The seaside can
be seen outside the window of the
carriage.
A basket of fruit and a bunch of
roses are in the foreground
corners.
One woman reads, while the other
dozes…
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
Travelling Companions. 1862. Augustus Egg.
Birmingham Art Museum.
•
The idyllic scenery along with the elegance
of the young womens’ dresses indicates
wealth. This leads the viewer to surmise that
rail passengers are upper class, or at least in
comfortable financial circumstances. The
light comes from behind the viewer casting
no shadow on the young women, making
them appear timeless and carefree, as well as
reflecting off the rich fabric of their gowns.
Only the tassel sways, indicating that rail
travel is more comfortable than road travel.
This is also evidenced by the un-rumpled
slumber of the young woman on the left.
One woman reads, the other slumbers,
perhaps indicating the characters of
industry and indolence.
This painting may have been intended to
show prospective investors that rail travel
was the way wealthy people got about in
comfort.
What the Artist Shows
Objective View
The Night Train. David Cox. 1869. Watercolor.
Birmingham City Art Museums
• The train just at the low horizon
blends in with the heavy clouds,
making it difficult to see.
• Between the clouds is a bright
quarter moon.
• Shaggy fell ponies appear
startled by the train and one
races through the tall grass in the
foreground, while the others
merely throw up their heads to
watch.
• There is a gold grassy area in the
foreground of the painting on
which a dark pony stands.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
The Night Train. David Cox. 1869. Watercolor.
Birmingham City Art Museums
•
The low horizon and the speeding
train anchors the heavy clouds,
drawing the viewers eye from left to
right.
A quarter moon balances the top
third of the painting, allowing the
clouds to disappear into mist.
Bright light from the moon throws
strong shadows behind the pony in
the foreground, indicating his
importance as onlooker to progress
and perhaps his obsolescence.
The wind in the grass, the ponies’
flight, the scudding clouds and the
rocketing train all indicate speed and
movement.
Taken together, the painting
suggests that speed is of the essence,
and mere horses cannot keep up.
What the Artist Shows
Objective View
•
•
•
•
First Class. 1854. Daivid Solomon.
The Older man in the rear of
the compartment slumbers
while the younger man and
woman talk flirtatiously.
Both men are well dressed, as
is the young woman.
The shade is open and the
swinging tassel indicates
motion.
The carriage is opulent, hence
the painting title “First Class
– The Meeting”.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
First Class. 1854. Daivid Solomon.
•
This painting, originally done in 1854,
showing a young man flirting with a
young woman while her father sleeps,
caused a good deal of social controversy. It
was re-painted in 1855 showing the young
man and the father talking… no flirting
involved.
The father’s face, sound asleep, is in deep
shadow with his long hair falling about his
shoulders in an old-fashioned style. He
appears unconcerned and relaxed.
All the trappings of speed are apparent in
this painting: the swinging tassel, the
flashing scenery, and the spirited
conversation of the young people. There is a
seductive air to the interplay.
The artist’s intention was to make rail
travel attractive to the young and wealthy,
as well as promoting rail travel as a sound
financial investment to prospective
shareholders . This painting has a similar
intent to modern automobile advertising.
What the Artist Shows
In Addition:
•
•
•
•
First Class – the Meeting. 1855. David Solomon
•
This is the second version of “First
Class – the Meeting”, painted in 1855
by Solomon.
Much less evocative of elegance and
youth than the first version, the artist
has chosen much lighter colors to evoke
brightness and respectability.
The young man and the father appear
to be doing business in the first class
carriage. Their dress and demeanor is
much more modern than the previous
painting. The young man is no longer
in a languid pose
This time the young woman is very
definitely not part of the discussion,
indeed, she appears very timid in the
young man’s presence.
The difference in lighting is almost
more important here than the change in
positions of the father and daughter.
The entire painting is much lighter –
the feeling less clandestine.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
Perfectly Dweadful. Punch. 27 September 1856, page 124
Punch Cartoon etching
showing a Gentleman about to
board a train.
Guard is showing the
gentleman his carriage, which
is already quite full.
Other people on the platform
going about their business
carrying parcels and baggage.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
Perfectly Dweadful. Punch. 27 September 1856, page 124
Punch cartoons were intended to
satirize the ‘Establishment’ and social
issues, this one is no exception.
Passengers already crowd the railcar,
and the foppish gent is dismayed at
the prospect of traveling with them. He
finds the situation “Perfec’ly Dwedful”
Here the British class system is in
full view for Punches ridicule,
complete with upper-class lisp and
contrast of the passengers’ dress.
Punch intimates that the lower classes
are now encouraged by the rail line
owners to ride the trains, but the upper
classes still consider the trains their
own private kingdoms.
What the Artist Shows
Objective View
•
•
•
•
Gustave Doré's illustration of third-class passengers at a station" from
London: A Pilgrimage (1872 ).
•
Etching of the third class section
of an underground station, dark
in tone, with bright lights casting
shadows on the platform.
Vanishing point at right center of
work.
Horizon equally divides the scene
into top and bottom.
Locomotive and passenger car on
the right track, facing the viewer,
another train is going in the
opposite direction.
Both platforms are crowded with
working men getting on and off
trains.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
Gustave Doré's illustration of third-class
passengers at a station" from London: A Pilgrimage
(1872 )
•
Not apparently to entice investors to a
project or promote rail travel, Dore has
given us an extremely photographic
representation of public transit in
London.
The etching is dark because the
Underground is just that:
underground. The viewer’s eye is
drawn to the right rear of the work by
the arched light openings and the
diminishing perspective of the trains.
Third class passengers, mostly
working men, crowd the platformsindicating the egalitarian nature of
rail travel.
Passengers are in overall perspective to
the trains and the station,not
excessively large or small, lending the
sense of reality that is present in all of
Dore’s work.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
Over the city by railway by Gustave Doré from London: A Pilgrimage.
1872.
•
Train on the viaduct in the
background of a London
neighborhood.
Very dark etching, with a lighter
spot in the center and the arches of
another viaduct framing the
middle ground.
The row of houses curves around
to the left center to end below the
viaduct
Tenement houses are the back-toback variety, showing the yards
and wash on the lines.
There is a very dark chimney in
the right foreground.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
•
Over the city by railway by Gustave Doré from London: A Pilgrimage.
1872.
On the viaduct in the background, the
speeding train blends into the dark, smoky
sky.
The curve of the houses is a repeated element
reflecting the viaduct arches, the house
windows, the sag of the clotheslines.
Light coming into the scene from the
middle right highlights the tenement yards
and picks out the sooty laundry.
Foreground is dark and the arch seems to
close in on the scene, making it almost
claustrophobic.The black chimney signifies
the pervasiveness of modern industry.
The asymmetrical curve of the foreground
arch adds an urgency to the etching,
perhaps repeating the sense of speed and
depressing nature of life portrayed in the
work.
Doré depicts the way railways cut into the
heart of the urban environments, creating
dark, bleak neighbourhoods.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
Sheet Music.”The Railway Guard, or the train to the North”.
Spellman Collection, University of Reading Library.
Illustration for sheet music of
a contemporary popular song.
Black uniformed guard
centered on station platform.
Rail carriage inside station
loading passengers and
baggage.
Lithograph tinted bright
colors.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
Sheet Music.”The Railway Guard, or the train to the North”.
Spellman Collection, University of Reading Library.
Sheet music was a popular genre for
commercial art in the 1800s, and publishers
often sold their music based on the
illustration more than the tune involved.
The guard, with his robust, erect bearing
and full manly beard evokes an image of
strength and competence. Exactly the image
the railroads wanted to project. The guard is
in contrast to the porter and his heavy
burden in the background.
Brightly painted green coaches contrast
with the yellow of the platform, and the red
of the lady’s traveling costume and the
nameplate on the coach add a touch of
brilliance to the scene.
Lofty glass roof over the station adds a
sense of protection, and the smoke from the
waiting engine conveys power.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
The original Euston Station,
London, dominates this scene.
The station is designed as a
Greek temple.
People and carriages fill the
foreground area.
What the Artist Shows
•
•
•
•
The Original Doric columns of Euston
Station, London, designed by Phillip
Hardwick for the London and Birmingham
Railway in 1834, were intended to impress
investors and passengers alike.
The main arch, imposing in itself,
represented a new way of entering the city
and drew a forceful analogy between
contemporary England and Ancient Rome.
While the station was, indeed, very large,
the artist’s forced perspective using very
small characters makes it seem even more
imposing.
All the people in the foreground appear in a
hurry; speed seems to be diminished and
turned to awe as the viewer moves back
toward the imposing grandeur of the
station.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
•
George Stephenson on the cover of
“British Workman” magazine.
Locomotive engine appears above
Stephenson.
Two railway workers appear on
either side of the portrait.
Smaller vignettes of industry
spawned by the railways are in
circular frames at the bottom
corners.
A story titled “The wonderful
Railway Explorer” appears
directly below Stephenson’s
picture.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
George Stephenson was a very
powerful man, and this magazine
cover portrays him a very positive
light.
The portrait is enclosed in a round
glass-like sphere, much like a crystal
ball. In the artist’s view Stephenson
and his railroads railroads are the
future.
The two workmen appear strong,
happy, and productive. They are
surrounded by their tools.
Both the smaller pictures show positive
aspects of industry brought about by
the power of steam engines, even
though they are stationary.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
•
Jonah Ruskin is portrayed at the
center of the drawing with a
paint-tube body and palette knife
sword.
At the left side of the panel lies a
railroad train-dragon.
The Lady of the Lake appears to
the right of Ruskin and her
shield, labeled “High Art”, is on
the ground a the center of the
cartoon.
To Ruskin’s right, Lake District
scenery is reflected in the water.
A white rose, with one petal
missing, lies on the ground at
Ruskin’s feet.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not everyone was in favor of railroads’ expansion ,
as shown in this Punch cartoon.
Artist and philosopher Jonah Ruskin was vocal
about his opposition to the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway line’s expansion into Cumbria’s Lake
District.
Ruskin’s popularity as an artist is evident in his
portrayal with a paint-tube body.
He has vanquished the locomotive-Dragon to save
Britannia’s “High Art”.
The mangled rose beneath Ruskin’s feet may
actually be the red rose adopted by the L and M as
their symbol of patronage.
Ruskin was among those firmly against the
expanding railroads, particularly what he termed
the “vandalism” of homes and national treasures
alike. Some of Ruskin’s more famous lines were
written against railways and the accompanying
frenetic pace of life. He said, “A fool always wants
to shorten space and time, a wise man wants to
lengthen both.”
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
The Railway Station, oil on canvas, 1862. William Powell Frith.
Passengers waiting for a train crowd
the fore and middle grounds.
The locomotive and rail cars are in the
background.
The entire upper half of the painting is
the interior roof of the railroad station,
composed of two massive arched bays.
Departing passengers are well dressed,
with a mix of men and women, and
children.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
The Railway Station, oil on canvas, 1862. William Powell Frith
•
The soaring interior roof of the railroad
station, composed of two massive arched
bays, suggesting a cathedral. The glass
and the ironwork tracery at the rear of the
station tell the viewer that this is Brunel’s
elegant Victoria Station, even though it is
not indicated in the title of the painting.
The fine fabrics of the passengers’ dress and
the elegance of the station indicates that
they are people of wealth. These two facts
would be impressive to prospective investors.
Pleasant colors of the rich dress fabrics
interspersed with the darker mens’ suits
give viewers’ eyes stopping places in their
travels back and forth through the
painting.
There is some confusion among the people
farther in the background of the painting,
where they appear to be rushing toward the
cars in the foreground. They may be
rushing toward wealth and privilege as well.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Stockport Viaduct, with the tiny
silhouette of a Stephenson Locomotive
steaming across it fills most of the top
half of the painting.
Smoke and steam from factories at
the left side of the painting mingles
with clouds and is split by the Sun’s
rays.
Two tall, dark factory smokestacks
divide the painting in half vertically.
Wagons and people crowd the roadway
at the left of the painting.
On the right, the river flows between
the factories and warehouses.
Shadow from the buildings and
smoke on the left throws the middle
ground into darkness.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
The viaduct dominates the scene, and the
train seems very small in contrast. The
artist’s intent was to showcase the
architecture of the viaduct. It forms a
mighty presence, completely dominating
the otherwise important river.
Human and wagon traffic on the road at
the left is dwarfed by the dark mass of the
new factories, their smoke, and the
industry they and the train represent.
One of the first things the viewer notices is
the shafts of sunlight diagonally pointing
to the factories, and to the future.
The dark vertical smoke stacks are the
artist’s “God’s righteous finger pointing the
way to Heaven/Redemption”.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
•
•
Great Indian Peninsula Railroad Terminal and Offices, Bombay.
1876. Alex Haig. Oil on Canvas.
•
Huge, multi-domed building
dominates the lower half of the picture.
The terrain beyond the building to the
left side of the picture is flat and open.
Pale blue sky with high, thin clouds.
There is a large park in the foreground
with trees, fountains and people.
British flag flies from the far lefthand side of the building.
People are in both the middle and
foreground. Some are dressed in
European clothing, and others appear
to be foreign.
There is no indication of industry or a
city.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
Great Indian Peninsula Railroad Terminal and Offices, Bombay. 1876. Alex
Haig. Oil on Canvas.
•
This is a typical “commemorative paining”
and does not necessarily show things as
they were. The open park shown in front is
actually a crowded market square with
throngs of vendors and traffic of all sorts.
Very few Europeans would have been
strolling near the station.
The main rail station in Bombay, India
was built in the decade between 1878-1888,
to be a showpiece of the Raj. It replaced a
wooden structure that dated from the early
1830s.
The long, unseen rail platforms at the rear,
ending in the mass of the station building
suggest the floor plan of a secular Cathedral
dedicated to progress and modernity.
Notice the abundance of glass, and the
“Rose Windows” at the front of both large
wings.
What the Artist Shows
Objective view
•
•
•
•
•
St. Pancras Station. c1868
•
Gigantic single-span arch dominates
the upper two-thirds of the etching.
There is a large glass and ironwork
partition hanging from the roof at the
far end of the station.
Light is diffuse, but quite strong in
the center of the work. A train is seen
approaching the station in the
background.
Three groups of men appear in the
foreground, one of whom is not
dressed in work clothes.
There is a pool of light at the center of
the etching, throwing shadows on the
ground.
Freight cars are on some of the
railroad tracks inside the station.
What the Artist Shows
Analysis
•
•
•
•
St. Pancras Station. c1868
•
The arched roof at St Pancras Station, London,
was a daring design. Single span had never been
this large, but Barlow designed the iron structure to
be able to support it’s own weight . Note the point to
which the ironwork comes at the peak and the
lightness of the topmost parts, as compared to the
heavier bottom parts.
The brick side walls are not structural supports;
Scott designed them to appease the Victorian
sensibility, but they are really ‘windscreens’. The
roof itself was constructed of glass panes, reducing
the weight and allowing the space to be flooded with
natural light.
Originally, rolling stock was stored in the open
train shed, but gradually rail traffic dictated that
the space be dedicated to additional platforms.
The groups of workmen at the center of the work,
and the well-dressed businessmen at the right are
close to real-size. The station roof, still standing
after all these years, is immense.
This etching was most likely an encouraging view
for investors, an inducement to travel, and a
celebration of the station’s daring architecture.