Gustave Brion, Wood Rafts on the Rhine, 1855

Romanticism had been destroyed in the same fire that fueled the new Realist Movement. This fire lay in the boilers of the factories that commoners labored in. The Realists were tired of seeing the grand landscapes and extravagant themes of the Romantics, so Realists shifted art’s focus to these laborers. The commoners, laborers, and peasants finally had their time to shine in the Realist paintings of the 19th Century, while Romanticism had ignored the commoner altogether and catered to the more upper and intellectual classes. Despite their frustration with the Romantic Era, some Realists held onto what they had learned from the Romantics.

Gustave Brion’s Wood Rafts on the Rhine pays homage to the Romantics. The sailors on the rafts are Brion’s main focus in the painting, but he uses the Romantic landscape to enhance the laborers' plight. The sailors struggle to cross the Rhine River and possess the usual tired and haggard look that Realist paintings give to their laborers. Then, Brion dims the atmosphere with the dark and gloomy landscape that bears down on the workers. The laborers’ job becomes all the more overwhelming with this sinister riverside nearby. Wood Rafts on the Rhine also bears striking similarity to the Romantic painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault. The two paintings have similar triangular compositions created by the oars, sailors, masts, and rafts. Brion’s and Géricault’s paintings give off the same sense of impending doom with their ominous backgrounds. Of course, Brion focuses on the sailors while Géricault puts more effort in his scenery. The end result of Brion’s fusion happens to be the more realistic and sympathetic sailors and the harsh depiction of their laborious task.

Brion may have looked back to the Romantic Movement because of his own feelings for the Rhine River. Around 1855 (the year Wood Rafts on the Rhine was painted), Brion started visiting the Alsace-Lorraine area on a regular basis. He fell in love with the province, and soon most of his paintings could be tied to Alsace-Lorraine. Brion’s love of the area coincided with Emperor Napoleon III’s attempts to install French Nationalism in Alsace-Lorraine, so Brion’s paintings were widely circulated. Sadly, the Emperor’s attempts would fail. Germany took back Alsace-Lorrain in the Franco-Prussian War. Brion had lost his home away from home. He then slipped into seclusion and died soon after. Brion’s romance with Alsace-Lorraine led to him create a blend of the Romantic and Realist movements.