The Horrors Of Industrialism: A Painting By John Rand

1006 Words3 Pages

Industrialization, was a time period where our agricultural society turned into a manufacturing society. This change was very controversial and sparked many thought provoking images. One of these images is a painting by John Rand. John Rand was an American Romantic painter who criticized industrialism. He saw America’s quiet countrysides turning into factories, which puked giant plumes of smoke for over twelve hours a day. In his life he created many paintings to show the horrors of industrialism. However, this one is more subtle and confusing, which people can interpret in many ways. The back of the painting shows brick red buildings which are billowing smoke out of the top of them. The red in the buildings could be symbolizing the red …show more content…

The first path it symbolizes is the crossing of many individuals from countryside to the city, in their hope to become wealthy. However these men are tricked to go over the bridge because they do not see the terrible factories which hide behind them. The other symbol of the bridge is that it is inviting the workers to come back to nature and leave the factories behind. The Romantics enjoyed nature and wanted other people to come back and be humbled by it. The bridge plays a pivotal role in this …show more content…

The falling apart fence could symbolize that the divide between nature and factories is becoming non-existent. In a way he could have been predicting the future. In today’s world there is very little nature to be seen in its pure state. Our culture has instead created strip malls and plaza’s instead of enjoying true nature. In a way Rand was warning people of what was yet to come with all these technological “advancements.” This painting of the industrial revolution is very thought provoking, and causes a person to think about of what was happening during the industrial revolution. He shows the horrors of the factories and the serenity of the nature. He makes someone want to go back in time where things were peaceful, and there was just nature. Everything was in it’s own natural state and peaceful. This painting gave viewers a small glimpse into the past of the United States and the industrial revolution. Even though this picture showed a small glimpse of the past, a picture (or painting) is truly worth a thousand

Open Document