On my tour of Art in the Age of Steam yesterday, I noticed an interesting combination in the last gallery which covers the Machine Age.
Part of a wall is dedicated to prints that were used to promote train travel. There are two Russian posters from the early 20th century that caught my eye. One is called The Development of Transportation, The Five-Year Plan and the other is The Transport Worker Uses Technical Knowledge as a Weapon and Strives for the Reconstruction of Transport.
The first Five Year Plan was introduced by Joseph Stalin in 1928 and concentrated on the development of iron and steel, machine-tools, electric power and transportation in the young Soviet Union.
The theme of transportation was used as a metaphor for progress toward a Utopian society and a dominating world power. These types of posters were plastered on the walls of factories and plants throughout the country along with reports that monitored the worker's production levels. Individuals who did not make their quotas would be publicly humiliated and criticized. Many were sent to work in labor camps in Siberia. Even under such harsh conditions, the First Five-Year plan was sucessfully completed in only four years. Ironically, it is very possible that without this type of plan, Russia would have been unable to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.
Directly opposite these posters are two photographs by William H. Rau. He was the official photographer for the Pennsylvania Railroad which was established in 1846 and was the largest railroad in the United States until the end of the 20th century.
The American railroad had a precarious start in the 19th century. Without adequate supplies of iron, many of the first tracks were constructed of wood, with metal strips on the top. The rails were unstable and would split frequently causing accidents, injuries and deaths.
Rau had worked as a western expeditionary photographer and was commissioned to create photographs of the railroad in the 1890s by the head of the railroad's advertising department. The project was meant to increase passenger traffic by romancing riders with beautiful vistas and modern conveniences.
Of the two photographs, one shows the main line at Parkersburg, PA. The picture was shot looking directly down the tracks which run straight and true into the horizon. The second picture was taken from the viewpoint of a passenger looking out the window onto the Susquehanna River. The tracks can be seen ahead as the train travels past a scenic hillside along the river.
This juxtaposition of cultural themes gave me a new perspective and background on just how important the railroad was not just to the art world but to the modern world as well.