The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam Carlos A. Schwantes The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam. By Ian Kennedy and Julian Treuherz. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2008. There are no doubt thousands of heavily illustrated books devoted to railroads, but of these only a relative handful could themselves be called works of art. At the head of that short list must stand The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam, which is arguably the most beautiful book ever published on the subject. This evocative celebration belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the history of railroad technology, as well as in the railroads' many representations in visual and verbal texts. Familiar and evocative images from dozens of museums, art galleries, and collectors around the world are reproduced on these pages with infinite care and state-of-the-art printing skills. Given the complexity and the cost of the task, I think it highly unlikely that a more visually arresting book on railroads will ever be published. For those of us fortunate enough to see the original exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, this massive book is both a worthy companion and an encouragement to think more broadly about what the railroad represented to painters, photographers, and poets from around the globe. The emphasis throughout is on fine art. Readers will not find included here or in the exhibit the genre of railroad art as represented by cartography or popular illustrations. Also missing are the dramatic paintings of the Grand Canyon, for example, done for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway by artist Thomas Moran. Apparently the curators' rationale was that art done to advertise railroad lands, tourism, or other services to potential buyers or users was too pedestrian to be worthy of inclusion. Fair enough. After all, curators must draw a line around what to include, and the body of art generated by the railroads themselves is at best an unwieldy mass, and that is just for the railroads of the [End Page 161] United States. Railroads in Canada and Europe generated numerous additional illustrations. The curators' decision makes perfect sense, although an impressive exhibit could also be done of art (illustration) in the service of railroads on different continents. In addition to the personal pleasure and sheer sense of wonder evoked by seeing so many timeless paintings and photographs collected in one place—not to mention an evocative selection of poetry like Walt Whitman's "To a Locomotive in Winter"—the book features eight chapters written by authorities on the subjects of art, railroads, or some combination of the two. These highly useful essays are certain to spur further thinking on the subject. I would quibble with Michael Freeman's assertion in his otherwise excellent introductory essay that the railroads of England and the United States introduced steam power to the popular consciousness only in the early 1830s. Perhaps that was true for England, but in the United States the steamboat had already done that a quarter century earlier on the Hudson River and almost two decades earlier on the Mississippi and the other great rivers of the nation's heartland. It is fortuitous that this book and the exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art seek to present railway art in a global context. Even as I write this review (August 2009) I am mindful that Congress only recently passed legislation that supposedly lays the groundwork for a network of high-speed trains in the United States, something that existed for decades in Japan and Europe. But over the years we Americans grew insular on the subject of railways, ignoring technological advances in other countries because we were apparently so blinded by our ongoing love affair with the automobile. Furthermore, the consciousness of even the most avid American student of railroads seldom encompasses more than North America. I can only reiterate that if you did not have the pleasure of seeing the museum exhibit, by all means search for a copy of this book. Better yet, buy yourself a copy because the first printing is certain to become a collector's item. Carlos A...