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← Art Through History › The 19th Century

1760–1900

The Industrial Revolution

From about 1760, steam engines, iron, coal and factories changed how people worked, traveled and lived. Railways crossed continents, cities exploded in size and goods that were once made by hand came pouring out of machines. It made some people rich and left many in smoky, crowded towns.

Why artists painted it

Artists were amazed and troubled by the new world. Turner painted a steam train racing through rain, while others showed the glow of ironworks, the hard work of laborers and the beauty of bridges.

Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway · J. M. W. Turner, 1844

18 artworks about this moment

Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway J. M. W. Turner · 1844 👁️ Painted at the time Turner dissolves a speeding steam train into golden mist. It was a new world, painted as blurry as it felt. The Railway The Railway Édouard Manet · 1873 👁️ Painted at the time Manet paints a woman and child by the railing above the Gare Saint-Lazare, with the train's steam behind them. Landscape with a Carriage and a Train Landscape with a Carriage and a Train Vincent van Gogh · 1890 👁️ Painted at the time Van Gogh paints a train steaming across fields, the old and new worlds side by side. American Progress American Progress John Gast · 1872 👁️ Painted at the time A glowing spirit of Progress carries a telegraph wire across the West, with trains and settlers following. Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare Claude Monet · 1877 👁️ Painted at the time Steam from a train fills the glass-roofed Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris in this painting by Claude Monet. La Gare Saint-Lazare La Gare Saint-Lazare Claude Monet · 1877 👁️ Painted at the time Monet turns a busy train station into a cloud of blue and gray steam and sunlight. The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil Claude Monet · 1870 👁️ Painted at the time A train crosses a bridge over the Seine at Argenteuil, a village near Paris where the railway brought city people for weekends. Coalbrookdale by Night Coalbrookdale by Night Philip James de Loutherbourg · 1801 👁️ Painted at the time The furnaces of the ironworks at Coalbrookdale in England glow red against the night sky, in a picture of the place where the Industrial Revolution is said to have begun. The Neustadt-Eberswalde Rolling Mill The Neustadt-Eberswalde Rolling Mill Carl Blechen · 1830 👁️ Painted at the time Smoking chimneys and a factory stand beside a quiet canal in this early German picture of industry, painted by Carl Blechen in 1830. The Inauguration of the Great Exhibition: 1 May 1851 The Inauguration of the Great Exhibition: 1 May 1851 David Roberts · 1852 👁️ Painted at the time Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in the giant glass Crystal Palace in London on May 1, 1851, a world fair full of machines and inventions. Steamboats in the Port of Rouen Steamboats in the Port of Rouen Camille Pissarro · 1896 👁️ Painted at the time Steamships and tugboats crowd a busy harbor in the French city of Rouen, with smoke rising into a hazy sky. Factories at Clichy Factories at Clichy Vincent van Gogh · 1887 👁️ Painted at the time Smoking factory chimneys rise over green fields in Clichy, on the edge of Paris, in a painting by Vincent van Gogh of 1887. Lordship Lane Station, Dulwich Lordship Lane Station, Dulwich Camille Pissarro · 1871 👁️ Painted at the time A steam train rolls into a little suburban station in south London while the painter Camille Pissarro, who was staying in England to escape the Franco-Prussian War, looked on. The Louth–London Royal Mail Travelling by Train The Louth–London Royal Mail Travelling by Train James Pollard · 1845 👁️ Painted at the time A Royal Mail coach is loaded onto a railway truck so that it can travel by train, a sign that railways were replacing horses. The Opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria The Opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria Henry Courtney Selous · 1851 👁️ Painted at the time Queen Victoria and Prince Albert open the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in 1851, with thousands of guests looking on. The Casting at Ougrée The Casting at Ougrée Constantin Meunier · 1885 👁️ Painted at the time Steelworkers pour white-hot metal in a Belgian steelworks in a glowing picture by Constantin Meunier of about 1885. A View of Murton Colliery near Seaham A View of Murton Colliery near Seaham James Wilson Carmichael · 1843 👁️ Painted at the time A coal mine with its winding towers stands in the flat landscape of County Durham in northern England. The Forge The Forge Francisco Goya · 1819 👁️ Painted at the time Three men hammer a glowing piece of iron in a dark smithy in one of Goya's late paintings, a celebration of strength and hard work.