The technological revolution, which began in the 18th century and lasted until the 19th century, fundamentally changed not only the economic and social conditions of the world but also the way art was created in history as the transition of states from agricultural economies to commercial dominance began to show dramatic changes. Technological advances have given rise to innovations, urbanization, mass production, growth, and hospitality and have inspired designers to respond in various ways.
This blog will examine how technological advances inspired significant art forms, including Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, and Modernism, by examining how artists sought to make sense of unpredictable international exchanges.
Industrial advances transformed Europe and the Western world before the 18th and 19th centuries, reshaping every aspect of life. Rural people migrated to urban areas, where factories, railroads, and mills dominated the luxury scene. The automation of the workforce and the rise of capitalism have brought significant economic growth and created demanding new living conditions with dangerous working conditions, crowded living spaces, and office spaces preparing things.
This transition from agriculturist to merchant economics haunted me for a long time as the traditional rhythms of life gave way to a new reality governed by machines and systems of control. The artists began exploring these issues in response to professional development opportunities and outcomes.
The beginnings of industrialization coincided with the rise of Romanticism after the 18th century. This movement supported sensuality, individualism, and natural beauty in response to the mechanics and logic of the Industrial Revolution of Being.
Romanticism may be seen as a response to the encroachment of industry and urbanity. Artists like J.M.W. Turner and Caspar David Friedrich expressed a deep thirst for untouched lands and a new, unworldly connection to nature. Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed—The Great Western Railway (1844) captures the relationship between technological progress and the emerging forces of nature.
Similarly, Frederick’s landscapes often depict solitary figures dwarfed by nature’s grandeur, as in Wanderer (1818) on a Sea of Darkness. This reflects the Romantic belief in the strength of nature and inspires fear and excitement in printed expression.
For many Romantic artists, technological progress threatened humanity’s religious and emotional well-being. When machines came to be commissioned after economic development, Romanticism gave them access to the mysterious, emotional, and eternally irrational aspects of human happiness.
In the mid-19th century, artists began to react directly to the social and economic changes often brought about by technological progress. This resulted in a heightened realism that sought to depict a truly changing period of life, focusing on the ordinary rhetoric of the working class and the brutal realities of business life.
Realist painters such as Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet rejected the idealized romantic scenes and, on the other hand, pointed out the ever-horrifying truth of lifestyles given reductive directions on a period of technological progress. Courbet's painting The Stone Breakers (1849) is a poignant example of two recognizable faceless figures, including non-humans, symbolizing the alienation of the workers who saw the cage only as punishment.
Known for his paintings of peasant life, Millett painted The Gleaners (1857), which depicts women gathering grain left over from the fields. This painting emphasizes the intricate craftsmanship of rural workers and highlights the appreciation and wealth gained through technological progress. Realist artists such as Corbett and Millet believed that art should reflect society, and each is shown its unflinching beauty and cruelty.
In addition, virtual reality encouraged a fascination with social injustices and inequalities that were aided by technological progress. Among the wealthy bourgeoisie, sharp divisions and functional nobility became common themes in realist art. With their artwork, artists challenged inhuman conditions and exploitative labor in factories and encouraged viewers to confront the dark side of development.
In the late nineteenth century, an impressive push to the top came from a movement focused on capturing the fleeting moments of present life. Because it was not as overtly political as it was realistic, it was still heavily influenced by technological progress, particularly urban environmental images and sophisticated leisure activities made possible by technological progress.
Imaginative artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-August Renoir, embraced the city’s dramatic social changes, often creating modernized images from Paris in another. Under the supervision of Baron Haussmann in the middle of the nineteenth century, Paris had broad avenues, parks, and railways; for artists who discovered pure imagery, Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare Railway Station (1877) series illustrates Impressionist artists' fascination with the technological advances of the time. Train steam and smoke capture the level of electricity during the trading period, including the busy activity.
However, Degas focused on the human side of modernity, depicting workers as milliners and laundresses in his art. In The Laundress (1884), Degas emphasizes the consideration of physical labor in manufacturing garments and shows how vital labor was to realizing the new economy.
The Impressionists also illustrated the new leisure pleasures that technology affords the bourgeoisie. As cities modernized and transportation improved, people could experience parks, theaters, and cafes and travel to the nation-state. Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) is entertaining, with characters playing in the river. This image reflects the social transformation by technology, where urban dwellers could now move away from the city and enjoy the benefits of the current way of life.
Impressionism’s knowledge of slowness, color, and atmosphere reflected the brief nature of rapidly changing international life. The strength of the recommendation over the period is consistent with the pace at which traders are moving, where the overall product was perceived as stable.
As the twentieth century approached, technological progress continued to evolve, introducing new technologies, including electricity, automobiles, and aircraft. These developments fed the modernist movement, each acknowledging and critiquing the impact of technological progress on society.
The futuristic, modernist division embraced technological progress with enthusiasm. At the beginning of the 20th century in Italy, futurists celebrated speed, generation, and the power of machines. Artists such as Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla incorporated the energy and forward progress of the mechanical age and used Boccioni’s sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) to create dynamic images of mechanical motion.
Other modernist movements, including Dada and Surrealism, were crucial to industrial development. Because of the devastating effects of World War I, many artists began to dismiss the idea of progress promised by technological progress. Like Marcel Duchamp and Hannah Hoch, Dadaists rejected the logic and common sense associated with technological progress, creating abstract, anti-art pieces that expressed their frustration with modern society.
The Surrealists, led by artists such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, sought to break commercial boundaries by exploring the unconscious mind and desire. Their work created fantastical, dreamlike worlds that defied common sense and allowed for the use of commercial-age physical assets and machinery.
Since the nineteenth century, technological advances have profoundly affected art communities. Whether through the nostalgia of Romanticism, the social critique of Realism, the social spatiality of Impressionism, or the celebration and mechanical critique of Modernism, they were influenced by artists who responded in different perspectives to the diversity created by commercial development, which made them incorporate the forces of modernity. Through those movements, the art form became the dominant means of expressing and interpreting the complex realities of the commercial age.
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