Part IV

The Industrial Revolution and Artistic Devolution: 1760–1900

In this part . . .

The Industrial Revolution changed a lot of people’s jobs, the way cities looked and smelled, and the way artists made art. All these transformations are interconnected. In this part, you see how art mirrors those changes and how many artists tried to stimulate or provoke improvements in society, some by retreating to the past (the pre-pollution days), some by rechanneling the Industrial Revolution in a more humane and artsy direction, and others by trying to inspire democratic and social revolutions.