11: The Industrial Revolution (1800 CE – 1899 CE)
- Page ID
- 308338
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)The 19th century was a time of transformation around the world and the concepts and principles of art were revolutionized as part of the broad changes in the art world. Instead of lasting several decades or centuries, art movements changed every 10-20 years as artists experimented with technology and the innovative ideas. The industrial revolution brought prosperity, an emerging middle class, and people with time on their hands to enjoy life. Transportation gave the general population and artists the ability to travel to other countries, exposure to other cultures, to study and learn new art methods. Art around the world changed and became incorporated into everyday life, no longer controlled by royalty, government, or religion.
- 11.1: Overview
- The 19th century was a period of transformation around the world, reshaping the concepts, purposes, and principles of art. Instead of lasting for several decades or centuries, art movements began to change every 10 to 20 years as artists experimented with new technologies, materials, and ideas. The Industrial Revolution brought prosperity, an emerging middle class, and more leisure time, allowing more people to travel, study, visit exhibitions, and enjoy art.
- 11.2: Romanticism (1780-1850)
- Romanticism emerged as a rebellion against the strict logic and order of the Neoclassical period, ushering in an age that emphasized emotion, imagination, and individual experience over reason and restraint. Rather than focusing on rationality and balanced compositions, Romantic artists celebrated passion, intuition, drama, and the power of human feeling.
- 11.3: Realism (1848 – 1870)
- While Romanticism dominated the first half of the 19th century, Realism became the major artistic movement of the second half. As its name suggests, Realism focused on portraying life as it truly appeared, emphasizing ordinary people, everyday activities, and accurate detail instead of dramatic emotion or idealized subjects. Artists sought to paint scenes with almost photographic precision, often depicting peasants, laborers, and working-class life as worthy subjects for serious art.
- 11.4: Hudson River School (1850s – 1880)
- The Hudson River School became an important American art movement deeply influenced by Romanticism and the major political themes of 19th-century America: discovery, exploration, and settlement. Artists associated with the movement painted sweeping landscapes that celebrated the vast and dramatic scenery of the United States, emphasizing how the American wilderness differed from the more cultivated landscapes of Europe.
- 11.5: Shanghai School of Art (Late 19th Century)
- The Shanghai School of Art emerged during the 19th century in the city of Shanghai and became an important artistic movement during the Qing Dynasty. Similar in some ways to the American Hudson River School, the Shanghai School brought together artists who developed new approaches to painting while responding to rapid social and political change.
- 11.6: Edo Period (1615 – 1868)
- In Japan, the Edo Period lasted from 1603 to 1868 and was marked by economic growth, political stability, and flourishing artistic and cultural development. The country was governed by the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal system organized into regional territories controlled by powerful lords known as daimyo. Japanese society followed a strict social hierarchy, with merchants and artisans occupying lower social classes even though they played important roles in commerce and artistic production.
- 11.7: Impressionism (1860 – 1890)
- Impressionism was an influential art movement that developed between 1860 and 1886 and permanently transformed the direction of modern art. Before the rise of Impressionism, the art world was dominated by Romanticism and Realism, movements often characterized by carefully finished, highly detailed, and almost photographic paintings. The Impressionists rejected many traditional artistic rules and instead focused on capturing fleeting moments, changing light, and immediate visual impressions.
- 11.8: Post-Impressionism (1885 – 1905)
- Post-Impressionism developed between 1880 and 1905 as a movement created by artists who wanted to move beyond the naturalism and fleeting visual impressions emphasized by the Impressionists. Influenced by Symbolism, Post-Impressionist artists focused more on expressing emotion, imagination, personal meaning, and psychological depth within their paintings.
- 11.9: Art Nouveau (1890 – 1914)
- Art Nouveau was an international artistic movement that flourished between 1880 and 1905 and emphasized decorative arts, fine craftsmanship, and elegant organic design. The movement developed partly as a response to the social and economic changes brought by the Industrial Revolution. As industrialization expanded, large numbers of people moved from rural farming communities into crowded cities, where poor living conditions and the loss of traditional ways of life created dissatisfied people.
- 11.10: Photography (Since 1826)
- Photography is the process of capturing an image at a specific moment in time by recording light onto a light-sensitive material such as photographic film or a digital image sensor. The invention of photography during the early 19th century became one of the most important scientific and artistic developments of the modern world, permanently changing how people viewed and documented reality.
- 11.11: Conclusion
- The 19th century was a period of extraordinary artistic transformation as artists around the world experimented with new ideas, technologies, materials, and techniques. Movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, the Hudson River School, the Shanghai School of Art, and Japanese Ukiyo-e each reflected changing social conditions and new ways of seeing the world.