''Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway'' is an
oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...
by the 19th-century British painter
J. M. W. Turner.
The painting was first exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1844, though it may have been painted earlier. It is now in the collection of the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London. The painting gives an impression of great speed in a static painting, an attribute that distinguished Turner from other artists.
The work combines the power of nature and technology to create an emotional tension associated with the concept of the
sublime.
Background
The painting was painted close to the end of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, which brought a massive shift from an agrarian economy to one dominated by machine manufacturing in the
Victorian Era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
. The railway was among the most potent symbols of industrialization, since this new way of transportation heavily affected industrial and social life. Turner seemed to be a generation ahead of other artists, as he was among the few painters at the time to consider industrial advancement as a commendable subject of art.
[Walther, Ingo F., Suckale, Robert, and Eschenburg, Barbara. ''Masterpieces of Western Art : a History of Art in 900 Individual Studies''. Köln ; London: Taschen, 1996.] The painting suggests that modern technology is a reality racing towards us.
The
Great Western Railway (GWR) was one of a number of private British railway companies created to develop the new means of transport. The location of the painting is widely accepted as
Maidenhead Railway Bridge
Maidenhead Railway Bridge, also known as Maidenhead Viaduct and The Sounding Arch, carries the Great Western Main Line (GWML) over the River Thames between Maidenhead, Berkshire and Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. It is a single structure o ...
, across the River Thames between Taplow and Maidenhead; a place that Turner had been exploring for over thirty years.
[Gage, John. ''Turner: Rain, Steam, and Speed''. London, 1972. pp. 19–22. Cited in Hugh Honour. ''Romanticism.'' New York, 1979.] The view is looking east towards London. The bridge was designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
and completed in 1839.
Description
Turner's painting illustrates an oncoming train in the countryside during a summer rainstorm. The train in the center is dark and rain-shrouded, surrounded by a golden natural landscape on both sides. However, the train and bridge, the solid elements of the painting, are barely hinted at, disappearing into the hazy and unreal atmosphere. The mist rising from the water, the rain that veils the sky, and the steam from the locomotive are blurred and mixed, unifying the painting's colors.
In the lower-left corner of the painting, we can see a little person on a boat, making evident that the bridge is constructed on top of a river. In the bottom right of the painting, a
hare runs along the track. Three white puffs of steam released by the engine into the air indicate that the train is in motion. The first, and nearest to the engine is the most distinct puff, while the other two gradually disappear in the horizon. For some, this detail expresses the idea of speed, as the puffs are progressively left behind.
[Gage, John. ''Turner: Rain, Steam, and Speed''. London, 1972. pp. 19–22. Cited in Hugh Honour. ''Romanticism.'' New York, 1979.] However they could equally well have been dispersed by the furious wind evident in the grey streaks painted across the viaduct. In the interior of the train, Turner depicted a crowd of waving figures that served as a reminder that the railway was a festive and popular entertainment.
Artistic technique
Turner frequently created an atmospheric tonality in his artistic creations by spreading the paint in short, broad brushstrokes from a filthy palette onto the canvas and gradually drawing forms out of his color ground.
In the center of the painting and the upper right, Turner used thick impasto with a palette knife.
[Wilton, Andrew. ''Turner In His Time.'' New York: Abrams, 1987.] To illustrate the rain, he dabbed dirty putty on to the canvas with a trowel, whereas the sunshine scintillates out of thick, smeary chunks of chrome yellow.
Additionally, Turner used cool tones of crimson lake to illustrate the shadows and, even though the fire in the steam-engine appears to be red, it is most likely painted with cobalt and pea-green.
Structurally, the picture has a balanced arrangement of forms with its firm geometrical elements.
Style and interpretation
Sublime
This celebrated picture demonstrates Turner's commitment to classical landscape, as well as his passion for experimentation and interest in the modern world.
[Wilton, Andrew. ''Turner In His Time.'' New York: Abrams, 1987.] The painting is interpreted as a celebration of travel and new technological power, with the railways representing the convergence of technology and natural forces.
[Wilton, Andrew. ''J. M. W. Turner: His Art And Life''. New York: Rizzoli, 1979.] These elements create an emotional tension associated with the overwhelming power of the
sublime. The thrilling essence of speed was an innovative factor of life, with the power to alter our emotions of nature, while the steam of the locomotive provided a groundbreaking atmospheric scenery.
Turner was not painting a factual view of the Great Western Railway, but rather an allegory of the powers of nature and technology.
Hare
A
hare runs along the track in the bottom right of the painting, possibly symbolizing speed itself.
Some think this is a reference to the limits of technology.
Others believe the animal is running in fear of the new machinery and Turner meant to hint at the danger of man's new technology destroying the sublime elements of nature.
Turner considered both hound and hare as the most characteristic emblems of speed, in which the hare does everything in its power to stay safe from the predator who chases it. In fact, he had used these symbols in previous works. In the 1810s, i
''Battle Abbey; the Spot Where Harold Fell'' and later in 1837, in th
''Apollo and Daphne'' he portrayed this detail of a hare being chased. A hare was likely to outpace a Great Western steam locomotive pulling a luggage train of open passenger wagons as depicted by Turner yet in Rain, Steam, and Speed, the modern observer might experience a feeling the poor hare could be crushed in an instant.
It is speculated that Turner, played on the idea of an animal chase, aware that a Great Western Firefly type of passenger locomotive engine was named Greyhound but his rendering of the engine is so indistinct to prevent any identification of its type and, in any case, fast and powerful Firefly locomotives were not allocated to luggage trains.
[Wilton, Andrew. ''J. M. W. Turner: His Art And Life''. New York: Rizzoli, 1979.]
Analogues
Some people interpret this painting as analogous to that of
The Fighting Téméraire, since there seems to be a transition from the past towards the future as the train speeds towards us.
Additionally, both paintings create a contrast between technology and the beautiful, peaceful landscape.
Other interpretations say that at the left of the painting, Turner features a second stone bridge that serves as an analogue to the bridge in ''Apullia and Appullus'' of 1814, emphasizing that both principal structural elements have been pushed to the edges of the canvas.
[Wilton, Andrew. ''J. M. W. Turner: His Art And Life''. New York: Rizzoli, 1979.]
See also
*
Trains in art
Criteria
A locomotive or train can play many roles in art, for example:
* As the main subject of a painting, sculpture, or photograph
* As a work of art in itself in addition to most functional considerations, especially in streamlined steam loco ...
Notes
References
External links
*
National Gallerypage on the painting.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway
1844 paintings
Arts in Berkshire
Collections of the National Gallery, London
Culture associated with the River Thames
Great Western Railway
Maidenhead
Paintings by J. M. W. Turner
Rain in art
Trains in art
Rabbits and hares in art
Bridges in art