The late nineteenth century saw the rise of the modern city shaped by industry, innovations in transportation, and shifting politics. During this period and throughout the early twentieth century, the urban experience became an important artistic subject.

The first part of this lesson features portraits of individuals and the second part addresses works depicting more than one person. These images are presented together because in all cases the artists chose not to specify their subjects’ setting, nor to include details about their subjects’ occupation or interests.

Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artists often took advantage of innovations in transportations by traveling to exotic or rural locations. Many radical artistic experiments occurred in the most rural and least “modern” of settings.