Inspired by infrastructure

Abstract

Although illustrations of civil engineering works were not unknown during the latter part of the eighteenth century, artists of the period were not convinced that there was a place for them on gallery walls among the traditional subjects that appealed to their patrons. Industrial development in Britain at the turn of the century relied on a number of key industries, all of which depended heavily on a reliable transport infrastructure. As new materials and design features were adopted and the impact of the industrial revolution on the landscape became evident, the response of a few artists to contemporary developments changed. Some major British artists found inspiration in the new infrastructure and industrial development, and some fine paintings emerged depicting structures designed by, among others, Thomas Telford (1757–1834), John Rennie (1761–1821) and Sir Samuel Brown (1776–1852). Works by two of Britain's greatest landscape painters, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837) and some of their contemporaries are discussed in relation to the structures that inspired them.