The Train Goes Full Steam Ahead at Auction!

There was a time—unknown to the under-20s, not even the players of the Paris Saint Germain football team—when the train embodied both incredible modernity and the fastest means of locomotion. It didn't take long for artists to seize upon its many qualities, painting and photographing it in every steamy detail. From October 21, the Musée d’Arts de Nantes is launching into this thrilling adventure with a major exhibition entitled “Le Voyage en train” ("Travelling by Train") , inviting in-depth reflection on how the railway’s arrival impacted the arts. Departure is imminent—so all aboard! The railroad, one of the most telling symbols of the industrial revolution, was first considered a curiosity, then became a key asset of a young, triumphant Second Empire and a sign of its modernity. Speed was now synonymous with progress and took on democratic virtues. Paris was remodeled under the leadership of Baron Haussmann, and stations sprang up. During the 1855 Universal Exhibition, drawing on their special relationship with the United Kingdom, Napoleon III and Eugenie invited Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on a visit. The royal couple made a journey on the imperial train of the Compagnie de Chemin de Fer du Nord to Paris. Baron James de Rothschild, the company’s president, assigned Edouard Baldus to photograph remarkable sites along the line so that the…