Trains in art

Vor der Vollendung (Before the Completion), 1873-1876, by Paul Friedrich Meyerheim

Criteria

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A locomotive or train can play many roles in art, for example:

  • As the main subject of a painting, sculpture, or photograph
  • As a work of art in itself in addition to most functional considerations, especially in streamlined steam locomotives and luxury passenger accommodations of the early 20th century, known also as the Machine Age
  • As a subject for a novel or film
  • As a metaphor in song or poetry, particularly for physical power or directed movement (physical, romantic (phallic) or other), as in Fisherman's Blues:
"I wish I was the brakeman
on a hurtling, fevered train
crashing headlong into the heartland
like a cannon in the rain"

In 1978, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris held the exhibition "Les Temps des Gares" with the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the National Railway Museum in York, and the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

In 2008, Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery held an exhibition entitled: "Art in the Age of Steam."

Trains in specific artworks

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Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, c. 1877 by Claude Monet

The following list is in chronological order, oldest to youngest:

Artists specialising in trains

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In the United Kingdom the Guild of Railway Artists is a group of painters of railway subjects.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Umberto Boccioni. States of Mind I: The Farewells. 1911 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  2. ^ "New SF exhibit captures that other era when Americans were obsessed with new technology". The Mercury News. April 4, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "Alex Colville, Horse and Train, 1954". Art Canada Institute - Institut de l’art canadien. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  4. ^ Perry, J. J. "Thomas Hart Benton mural depicts country music history". The Herald-Times. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "Jeff Koons, Jim Beam—J.B. Turner Train, 1986". whitney.org. Retrieved November 10, 2022.

Further reading

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Media related to Trains in art at Wikimedia Commons