**J.M.W. Turner made the Rhine Falls the centrepiece of a famous painting in the early 19th century.** Wikimedia, MFA Boston

Capturing water on canvas

The Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen has been a popular subject matter in the art world for centuries. English painter J.M.W. Turner captured the power of the water on canvas particularly impressively in the early 19th century.

Barbara Basting

Barbara Basting worked as a cultural editor and currently heads the visual arts division in the City of Zurich’s Culture Department.

Countless artists have painted and drawn the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen. A very simple woodcut by Sebastian Münster, which was an illustration in his 1544 geographical work ‘Cosmographia’ is often cited as the oldest known depiction of the Rhine Falls. But the natural phenomenon was already depicted much more realistically a generation earlier. The painting ‘Taufe Christi’ (1521) by Flemish artist Joachim Patenier features a waterfall flanked by large rocks in the top left corner, similar to those found at the Rhine Falls. But Patenier’s ‘world landscapes’, as we can see here, are always like collages composed of various elements. The painter was not concerned with producing a recognisable portrayal of an existing topography. The artistic representation of nature as an end in itself was unusual in his day.

**Joachim Patenier’s ‘Taufe Christi’ of 1521. In the background the painter seems to have immortalised the Rhine Falls.** Wikimedia, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

From the late 18th century, there was a sharp increase in the number of depictions of the Rhine Falls. They reflected a growing interest in dramatic landscapes associated with the emergence of tourism. Many of the works were produced by little-known minor masters, like the compilation by collector Peter Mettler. One outstanding exception is ‘Fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen’ by J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851), painted in 1802. The English painter whose full name was Joseph Mallord William Turner, went all out with this work. At the centre of his large-format painting are masses of water breaking through a narrow gap in the rocks and crashing downwards. The two lumps of rock on the left look as though they are about to fall into the water, lending the painting an ominous air.

**Turner’s ‘Fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen’ was painted between 1805 and 1806.** Wikimedia, MFA Boston

Unlike many of his predecessors and contemporaries, when capturing water on canvas, the young Turner didn’t bother with meticulous attempts to capture a true likeness of the current and spray. He relied on bold, broad brush strokes and subtly flecked white areas. This enabled him to convey the force and constantly-changing colours of the water. The almost Impressionist, unusual and bold painting style that Turner uses for the water is not applied to the group of people in the foreground. Here, he resorts instead to the proven formulas of a realistic painting style. For example, we can even see the wickerwork of the baskets. This tension between the different treatments of the various zones of the picture increases the dramatic effect of the waterfall.

**The young Turner was fascinated by the power of water. Self-portrait, circa 1799.** Wikimedia

Turner was trying to say that water is so overwhelming and spectacular that even a classically-trained master like him had to reinvent and resort to unusual means. With his calculatedly temperamental brush strokes, he captures the raw power of the elements, to theatrical effect. And to top it all, he adds the hint of a rainbow and gathering storm clouds in the top left. He also overturns all the rules of perspective, making the water look as if it’s about to gush out of the frame like a tsunami. In violation of all physical laws, it then flows away tamely from the left of the picture, sparing both the onlooker and the group of people in the foreground.

**The power of the water goes beyond the scope of a ‘normal’ painting.** Wikimedia, MFA Boston

The group, by the way, looks so small that it seems further away than the waterfall in the background. The blurred brownish zone from which a tributary flows, adds further confusion. Nothing seems to add up here. There’s a laborious chaos in the composition – and that is precisely what makes us dwell over the picture to try and understand what’s going on. Through the anonymous figures (or staffage), Turner makes a connection between the power of timeless and untamed nature and the insignificance of human concerns. The tiny figures are dwarfed by eternal nature – this was a highly popular theme of Romanticism and one that Turner used to capture the spirit of the time. The servants, who are busying themselves with the luggage and animals, are a reminder of the tribulations of travel at that time. Before the invention of the railway, navigable rivers were the most important transport routes for those who wanted to avoid long journeys on foot, on horseback, or in the best case by horse-drawn carriage. Natural obstacles such as the Rhine Falls forced travellers to unload and transfer their luggage.

**Turner compellingly presents the power dynamic between humankind and nature.** Wikimedia, MFA Boston

Turner therefore not only shows the subservient staff in the foreground, but also – almost merging into the rocks – their masters, the adventure-seeking beneficiaries of the laborious loading operation. We can see three men, perhaps English travellers like the painter himself on a Grand Tour – an educational trip across Europe for those who could afford it – calmly admiring the sublime power of nature, as evoked by their fellow countryman Edmund Burke. The Rhine Falls was not necessarily a must-see stop on the typical route taken by gentlemen travelling up the Rhine via Basel to Italy, but it was a popular detour for those with plenty of money and time on their hands. The fact that Turner stopped off here on the first of his six trips across Switzerland is no coincidence. Considering his artistic interest in landscapes, which he had proven through watercolours and drawings of his previous walking tours in Wales and Scotland, the Rhine Falls was an obvious choice of destination for him at the time.

**The Rhine Falls was a formative location for J.M.W. Turner in later life. Watercolour painted in 1841.** Wikimedia, Princeton University Art Museum

By depicting the Rhine Falls, the young Turner seized on a subject matter that was hugely popular with both painters and the public. He thus joined the ranks of those serving the emerging tourism sector. At the same time, he clearly distanced himself from the artistic conventions of his time, setting new standards in landscape painting. This is very clearly shown by a brief comparison with the approach taken by an only marginally older contemporary, Austrian painter Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839) from Tyrol. Koch was an esteemed painter in his day, was considered the inventor of landscape painting, and loved waterfalls. As part of the group of artists known as the ‘Deutsch-Römer’, he settled in Rome and worked there successfully. It was during his travels in 1791 – a decade before Turner – that he stopped at the Rhine Falls. He produced four sketches of it from different perspectives. Koch seemed to be aiming for a depiction that was as faithful as possible.

**Sketch from the diary of Joseph Anton Koch, 1791** Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

But he didn’t use the sketches for a painting. According to his notes, he found the Rhine Falls to be less spectacular than he was expecting. Perhaps this is why Koch decided to focus instead on the smaller yet more powerful waterfalls of the Bernese Oberland. His painting ‘Schmadribachfall’ of 1805 is one of several drawings and paintings of this particularly impressive mountain waterfall. The differences compared with Turner’s painting style are striking: Koch’s landscape is so static, it almost seems like a stage prop. Apart from the tiny shepherd with his flock, which primarily makes the waterfall seem very far away, the scene is deserted. The cascading waterfall that gushes into an immeasurably deep hole is somewhat unsettling, and there’s no way we’d want to go anywhere near it. Even though it subsequently flows into a gentle stream, becoming part of an idyll, Koch does his utmost to increase our feeling of awe at the primal force of nature. His subject matter – the Schmadribach Falls – had previously been understood by his contemporaries as a painted declaration of the natural freedom of the individual in the context of the Enlightenment.

There are several versions of Koch’s Schmadribachfall. This one was painted in 1824. — **There are several versions of Koch’s ‘Schmadribachfall’. This one was painted in 1824.** Wikimedia, Neue Pinakothek

But precisely because of the symbolism that is tied to a particular era, today the painting leaves us somewhat cold. The sterile effect is partly due to the overly safe front-row seat we are given. There is no risk of being engulfed or even swept away by the water from the Schmadribach Falls. Why should we take the risk like Turner’s heroes and walk through dark forests to get as close as possible to the waterfall? It’s enough to shudder with fear from afar. Turner’s experimental, subjective painting style became increasingly established over the course of the 19th century. Since the triumph of Impressionism we’ve become so used to it that artists like Koch seem insipid and dull to our modern eye with their perfect Academic style. Even Turner himself became significantly more radical over time, as shown by his late work featuring expressive brushwork and hazy clouds of colour.

**Lake Lucerne was depicted by J.M.W. Turner in 1841.** Wikimedia

Another dimension of the fascination with the forces of nature in the 19th century is only really becoming apparent today. In the 1800s, just as painters were increasingly celebrating nature, the industrial revolution and activities to harness its force were beginning to destroy it. The industrial history of many countries, including that of Switzerland, is closely tied up with hydropower, which fuelled the boom, for example in the cotton industry and still plays a key role in power generation today – with implications for many rivers and streams. The exaggerated painterly depiction of the forces of nature indirectly underscored the achievements of humans, who had managed to tame them, or at least harness them for their own purposes. At the same time, the painters were creating an idealised counterworld to reality.

**The power of nature: reproduction of the painting by Ludwig Hess ‘Chute du Rhin dite Cataracte de Ruflen au pays des Grisons’, 1797.** Swiss National Museum

Today, one of the most criticised side effects of technical progress is the disappearance of waterfalls, due, for example, to dams or other interventions for the purpose of power generation. The Rhine Falls has also long been affected by this. If it often appears larger and more imposing on old pictures than it does today, this is not only due to the tendency of some painters to exaggerate the dimensions a little to show off. Until the Rheinau power station was built in 1952, the water level immediately after the Rhine Falls was around two meters deeper. This also explains why Turner’s travel party is located in a shore area that no longer exists, at least not in that form.

More of: Modern Age Tourism Culture Art

Further posts

Baroque gardens in Switzerland

Julia Burbulla 28.12.2022 In France the layout of the Baroque garden was subject to strict rules, and its purpose was to illustrate power and wealth. Here in Switzerland, too, members of the aristocracy and the wealthy merchant classes constructed their gardens based on the French model – albeit with good Swiss simplicity.

The Baroque garden of Schloss Waldegg near Solothurn, laid out by Johann Viktor I von Besenval in around 1700.

Karl Bodmer and the Native Americans

James Blake Wiener 22.12.2021 The Swiss artist Karl Bodmer took part in the North American expedition of Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied in 1832. Bodmer recorded his impressions in some 400 drawings and watercolours, which are still considered today to be the best and most important depictions of the vanished Native American culture along the Missouri.

"The interior of the hut of a Mandan chief". Illustration by Karl Bodmer from the publication Travels in the Interior of North America, around 1841.

Russian Egg Cult

Marina Amstad 14.04.2017 Most years, Western and Eastern Christianity celebrate Easter on different weekends. In Russia the decoration of Easter eggs looks back on a long tradition in which the luxurious Fabergé eggs stand out as a highlight.