[inscription not by Turner] c. 1786 - 1800

Curator: Here we have "[inscription not by Turner]", attributed to Philip James De Loutherbourg. This work is a small-scale piece, its support measuring only 80 by 119 millimeters, and it resides in the Tate Collections. Editor: My first thought? It's strangely… intimate. Like a postcard from the Industrial Revolution. "Wish you were here... choking on coal dust!" Curator: Indeed! The inscription points to an iron foundry near Swansea. De Loutherbourg was keenly interested in industry, and this may have been sketched as preparation for a larger painting. Editor: Swansea, huh? Makes you wonder about the societal cost of progress back then. The landscape, the workers... all fuel for the fiery furnace of advancement. It has a ghostly presence. Curator: Exactly. This era saw a significant shift in the social and economic landscapes, the cost of which is frequently overlooked. Editor: It's almost a dare: to see beauty in what was, for so many, a scene of toil and environmental disruption. I think there's a vital lesson to be learned here. Curator: I agree, and it serves as a poignant reminder of how industrialization reshaped art and society.