What a bloody marvellous painting, part 5

A peep at the train

by
Rudolf Swoboda
1892

Detail 1

Detail 2

I discovered this lovely work and the 19th-century Austrian painter through Niall Feguson's interesting book "Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World ".

When one looks at the works produced in the nineteenth century, one cannot help but wonder -What happened? Where did all that knowledge, skill and talent vanish? How did it come to be that the Gods of the 19th century like John William Waterhouse, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John Singer Sargent were dethroned by the preening lice of the 20th, like Picasso, Rothko and Rauschenberg.

Just compare and contrast-

Ophelia, 1889
by
John William Waterhouse

Untitled, 1963
Oil, silkscreened ink, metal, and plastic on canvas
by
Robert Rauschenberg