View of Hillbank on the River Thames near London Possibly 1795

Francis Jukes created "View of Millbank on the River Thames near London," offering a window into late 18th-century England during a time of immense social and economic change. Against the backdrop of burgeoning industrialization, visible by the distant chimneys and windmills, the river was a site of commerce and labor. The figures here—the men with horses, the people on the path, and the boatman— hint at the lives dependent on the river's trade. What does it mean to romanticize the Thames as Jukes has done? His picturesque depiction subtly contrasts the idyllic with the gritty realities of labor and pollution. Notably absent is any direct representation of the era's social upheaval. By focusing on a serene landscape, Jukes avoids engaging with the stark class disparities that defined London. "View of Millbank" thus becomes a carefully constructed scene, more attuned to aesthetics than to social commentary, reflecting the complex negotiation between beauty, reality, and representation in art.