The Art of Innovation

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The Art of Innovation: Masters of Spectacle

Masters of Spectacle

BBC Radio 4 - The Art of Innovation, Masters of Spectacle

Ian Blatchford and Tilly Blyth focus on the drama and upheaval in Coalbrookdale by Night.

Sir Ian Blatchford and Dr Tilly Blyth focus on the drama captured in de Loutherbourg's Coalbrookdale by Night, which shaped early impressions of Britain's Industrial Revolution

Sir Ian Blatchford and Dr Tilly Blyth continue their series exploring how art and science have inspired each other with a focus on the drama captured in Phillipe Jacques de Loutherbourg's painting "Coalbrookdale by Night". Its theatrical portrayal of industry, at the centre of a beautiful Shropshire landscape along the River Severn, came to shape boldly the early conflicted impressions of Britain's Industrial Revolution.

De Loutherbourg drew heavily on his talent for pushing the boundaries of thrilling spectacle. He'd designed sets for impresario David Garrick at Drury Lane, and built his own wholly immersive theatre, the Eidophusikon, that overawed audiences with scenes of infernal landscapes and the supernatural. 

Tilly Blyth travels to Shropshire to see the site of the industrial marvels in Coalbrookdale. And in the Science Museum Group Collection she finds a detailed mahogany model by Thomas Gregory of the single arch Iron Bridge. It's testament to the ironmasters' skills at stage managing a heightened emotional response to the forces of nature, and experienced by the many artists and tourists drawn to such new industrial wonders.
 


Producer Adrian Washbourne

Produced in partnership with The Science Museum Group

Photograph: (c) The Board of Trustees of The Science Museum

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

How art and science have inspired each other.

Sir Ian Blatchford and Dr Tilly Blyth explore how art and science have inspired each other.

In this landmark series, art historian and Director of the Science Museum Ian Blatchford and technology historian and Head of Collections of the Science Museum Tilly Blyth explore the art of invention and the invention of art and reveal the symbiotic relationship between the two. Many feel science takes the magic out of creativity. These programmes show how scientific advance facilitates creativity. And further, how artistic and scientific endeavour are inspired by the same desires and, often, are the result of intimate conversations between good friends. Galileo's painter friend Ludovicio Cigoli paints a maculate moon on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel and what does Galileo see when he looks through his telescope? A maculate moon. The poet Samuel Coleridge and the chemist Humphrey Davy were very close friends. Scientific innovators are creative thinkers. And the creation of art is dependent on technological development, as well as an aesthetic sense. Throughout history, artists and scientists have both desired to make sense of the world around them and change it, 

Produced in partnership with The Science Museum Group. 

Image credit: Science Museum Group Collection © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

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