Kevin Sharp, Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea Director, Dixon Gallery and Gardens

In the nineteenth century, no industry wielded more power and influence than the rails, and few corporate entities generated greater wealth and political might. Railroads fundamentally transformed American banking and finance, coal mining and steel production, farming and ranching, urban planning, and unmistakably, if inadvertently, the fine art of painting. In the first half of twentieth century, a period defined by two world wars and a global economic depression, railroads struggled to find their place in the transportation hierarchy and in American life. Through it all, artists in the United States remained fascinated by the rails and their perception of the industry often mirrored that of the American public at large.