DAY 255

A PICTURE’S WORTH 1000 200 WORDS

Rain, Steam, and Speed

JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, C. 1844

Some artists are particularly gifted at evoking a mood or a powerful impression with their paintings. Joseph Mallord William Turner was one of the best. A survey of Turner’s works reveals a breathtaking array of vast skies, tumultuous fires and storms, and the overshadowing presence of nature.

Many artists of Turner’s time were repulsed by the noise, pollution, and unnatural feel of the Industrial Age; they were distraught with its machinery and its encroachment on the natural world. Turner hints at this controversy with Rain, Steam, and Speed, a depiction of perhaps the greatest of all 19^th century transportation innovations: the steam locomotive. The Great Western Railway’s “Firefly Class” locomotive was the most technologically advanced model available of its time. Here we see it rushing toward us across another engineering masterpiece of the era—the Maidenhead Railway Bridge.

Significantly, the machinery in Turner’s painting is eclipsed and overpowered by the natural world surrounding it. Although he portrayed human technology, Turner did not betray his love for nature. In this case he remained true to his Romantic roots by shrouding the locomotive and bridge in rain, clouds, and mist, creating an evocative contrast between the painting’s natural and man-made elements. —DDG