A Railway Engine 

David Cox likely made this watercolour, A Railway Engine, in England sometime in the mid-19th century. In this period, railways were a new and transformative technology, radically changing people’s experience of space and time. Here, the steam from the engine almost blends into the sky; the train itself rendered as a series of loose marks. What did this new technology mean for the public role of art? We might see Cox grappling with how to visually represent these dramatic changes. The Industrial Revolution changed the face of Britain, but not everyone saw this as progress. It changed working conditions, as well as class and social structures. The art of this period provides a useful record of cultural attitudes to technological advancement. By consulting historical documents, we can better understand the social conditions that shaped artistic production at this time.