Rain Steam and Speed Flashcards
Subject:
Depicts a Firefly class steam train crossing the Maidenhead viaduct, yet the immediate impression is of sky, water and movement.
Train
The only image of real clarity is the black iron chimney of the train, with the white hot interior of the boiler.
The viaduct:
The steep foreshortening of the viaduct suggests the speed at which the train is moving.
One point linear perspective:
Exaggerated yet accurate – constructed by the orthogonal lines of the two bridges.
The atmospheric conditions:
Swirls, smears and sprays of paint stimulate the driving rain.
Influence of Romanticism:
Rejects the classical and idealised subjects of Neoclassicism and instead portrays the Romantic notion of a subjective, personal vision of the world. Loose brushstrokes and spontaneous composition reject the precision of the Neoclassical style.
Landscape:
Recognisable as the Maidenhead railway bridge, with a stone road bride on the left. The view is to the east towards London, and the River Thames dominates the right of the composition.
Symbols of old rural England:
The smaller, old stone road bridge alludes to slower, outdated modes of transport such as the horse and carriage, as does the skiff (rowing boat) on the river far beneath. The hare (on the right) – traditionally noted for its speed – cannot outrun the steam train. The girls dancing on the shore refer to an earlier, simpler way of life.
Symbols of modern industrial England:
All linear definition is lost, apart from the bridge and the engine’s chimney - Turner’s way of suggesting that mechanical, man-made power is dominant.
The Sublime landscape:
19th c Landscapes were guided by two rival concepts: the picturesque (Constable), which emphasized visual delight, and the sublime, (Turner) which emphasised the power of the natural world. Both responded to concerns about industrialisation and the Romantic notion of man living in harmony with nature.
Railway mania (1840s)
This painting was created at the height of railway mania, a time of increased investment and construction. The development of the railway changed British landscape, economy society and politics irrevocably.
Maidenhead railway viaduct (1839) and the GWR
Built by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel to connect the key cities of London and Bristol via the Great Western Railway. The viaduct was the subject of controversy, as critics initially said that it would fall down. Turner’s inclusion of the bridge references this impressive feat of Victorian manufacture and engineering.
Concerns about the railway and industrialisation:
The railway caused anxiety about the safety, viability and destructive force of new technology. Critics grew increasingly concerned about the spiritual and moral decline of British society caused by the Industrial Revolution. Like the growth of Victorian cities, trains and railway stations offered new opportunities for crime. Turner’s painting evokes a nostalgia for what has been lost; an iron monster ripping through the landscape
Production:
The critic Ruskin recorded the origins of this painting as a train ride during a rain storm – Turner stuck his head out of the window and, as excited as ever by strong sensations, Turner then replicated this experience in paint.
Reception:
The abstracted nature of the work attracted profound interest and a mixed reception when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, breaking with the tradition of the idealised historical landscape.
