Scientists from Harvard University have shown that in the paintings of several artists of the 19th century, you can see how air pollution increased during the industrial revolution. Research published PNAS.
British artist Joseph Turner and French artist Claude Monet worked during the industrial revolution accompanied by air pollution. Scholars evaluated the contrast between 60 Turner paintings and 38 Monet paintings depicting the Houses of Parliament, Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge.
They found that the increase in SO2 emissions was associated with a decrease in the contrast of the images and an increase in the use of a white palette, even after adjusting for temporal trends and the subject of the images. In addition, with the increase of air pollution, the works of Turner and Monet took on more hazy lines and the style of the artists changed from figurative to impressionist.
A computer model created by the scientists was able to accurately estimate the contrast of the paintings by Gustave Caillebotte, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot based on air pollution levels in Paris, proving the accuracy of their results.
Source: Gazeta
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