Which English painter is known for the artwork depicting a steam train rushing past a river and steelworks, illustrating the Industrial Revolution?

• A. Constable
• B. Gainsborough
• C. Turner
• D. Lowry

Answer: (C)

Turner is the artist who embodies the moment of modern progress—the steam age breaking into everyday life. In Rain, Steam and Speed, The Great Western Railway, a locomotive is shown rushing along a track with a river in the foreground and industrial activity, like steelworks and smokestacks, visible in the distance. Turner doesn’t just paint a scene; he conveys motion, light, and the awe of rapid change, blending the natural world with the new technology of the Industrial Revolution. The other painters point to different kinds of English scenes—Constable to tranquil rural skies, Gainsborough to portraiture and pastoral landscapes—but Turner uniquely captures how industry transforms the landscape itself.