Coalbrookdale by Night

“Coalbrookdale by Night”

            During the industrial revolution in England, there were many changes environmentally and socially that many pieces of art demonstrates. In “Coalbrookdale by Night” by Philipp Jacques Loutherbourg in 1801 shows his interpretation of how a night looked like in Coalbrookdale(Coalbrookdale by Night). The Industrial Revolution was a phase in history that shaped the modern technological advances today by providing a way to produce many copies of a certain object. It was a time where thousands of people were able to work in factories and make a living for their family with brutal work hours and working conditions(Montagna, Joseph). This way of transforming from cultivating crops to urbanization spread along Europe and Britain was especially a top contributor of the movement. People argued about the conditions they were living in and the sanitation of the factories. Changing the environment with pollution of mining and burning in factories also affected the views of the industrialization. Therefore, in this painting by Jacques, he presents a view of the industrialization in Coalbrookdale, which is the first coke-fired furnace of the industrial revolution(McKiernan,Mike).

            Philipp is able to convey his perspective of the industrial revolution by using, “fire landscapes”, which was a style of art used by many artists whom emphasized fire across the artwork itself in order to portray the environment. The artist tries to portray a picture with two sides of happiness and warning; happiness of the industrialization providing jobs and help for people to purchase objects more cheap and a warning by showing the pollution of smoke rising into the air. Philip incorporates a dog running by at the bottom of the page, with a family including a mother and son looking out the hillside at the factory. He also puts in a carriage with a man at the back coming down the the center of the painting. All these things seem very idealistic and partly staged by Jacques and many art critics believe it is to be staged. His background as a theater producer has given credence to this statement and how he might have painted this piece without attention of making it natural.

            This piece let’s us see the power of man in the industrial side and the advancement people have been able to achieve. The power of man being able to pollute the habitat for all living objects and the power of man being able to build such powerful machines and create strategic ways of making life easier.