An engineer's take on Turner's 'Rain, Steam and Speed' & 'Dutch Boats in a Gale' - National Gallery - YouTube

Hello, I'm Rob Bell from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Now, I know that there's art in engineering, but is there engineering in art? So, Dutch boats in a gale. Lost souls in a vessel at the mercy of the sea. Brutal, majestic nature and the insignificance of human life. The fishermen here huddle in their boat, holding on for dear life and one clings to the tiller, trying to steer the boat away from another. Moments away from a collision that will spill them all overboard. Now, amongst all of this drama, Turner still captures the boats as pieces of engineering. The forms of the hull, the lines supporting the masts and the way that the sails themselves are attached. These are real boats, depicted by someone with an eye for technical detail. Now, going back to the chaos in this gale, it's not just the sailors in peril on the wine-dark, fishing-boat-bobbing sea. What about us, the viewers, peering over Turner's shoulder? Are we in the water, not waving but drowning? Are the green waves closing over us, full fathom five? Now, like many great pieces of art, the joy of looking at this painting is tempered with a sense of unease, a sense of jeopardy. And talking of jeopardy, come and have a look at this. Rain, steam and speed on the Great Western Railway. Another Turner, another storm, another uneasy viewing experience with the speeding locomotive bearing down upon us. Now, here nature is impotent. The train slices through the rain. Only we are imperiled, not from the force of nature, but from the hand of humankind, in danger of being run down by this iron horse. It's time we step back. Unlike the fishing boats, where every detail is captured by Turner's brush, this locomotive flashes by in a blur, masked by steam and rain. Around the edge of the painting, we see echoes of the traditional world Turner also celebrated. The idealised countryside, the group of people by the river's edge, observing the rites of spring. The old stone road bridge could be from Dido building Carthage. But bursting out of the centre is the modern world, red hot in tooth, claw and smokebox. And Turner is as fascinated by steam locomotives as sailing ships, as interested in the Great Western Railway as ancient Carthage. The Great Western Railway was opened from London to Bristol in 1841. It was laid out by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, as romantic and obsessive as any artist. And it was laid out as a racetrack to make real his vision for high speed travel. Now the 31-year-old Brunel recruited a 20-year-old engineer, Daniel Gooch, to design his locomotives. Gooch, from a small town near Newcastle, was the creator of this locomotive, one of the Firefly class. They could run at 60 or more miles per hour. They're passengers, the fastest people in human history. And what Turner is showing in this painting is the cutting edge of technology. Nothing was faster, nothing more advanced, and nothing was changing human lives so quickly. And while Turner put engineering in his art, Daniel Gooch was putting art into his engineering. His celebrated locomotives had fine lines, and like all great pieces of art, they evoke an emotional response. What an art critic might call sublime, but seeing one in full flight, you'd just say, wow. When you see this painting, don't assume the heroic days of engineering are consigned to the past with ancient Carthage. Creative young men and women are still being given great responsibility, still working together, solving problems, translating ideas in the mind's eye to solid objects that change and improve human lives. There is still art in engineering. But my question to you is, do artists still put engineering in their works? For Turner, the power, beauty, and menace of a storm at sea was one and the same as the power, beauty, and menace of a speeding train. He painted the natural world and the man-made world, the ancient world and the modern world. He treated all these subjects just the same, all worthy of his brush. And while Daniel Gooch could walk into any engineering office today and recognise his descendants still at work, would Turner be surprised that artists weren't painting airports and motorways, buses, and spaceships? If you're interested in learning more about art history, click here or here and subscribe to our channel. Thank you very much for watching and we'll see you next time.