Ebers; Emil
(1807 Wroclaw - 1884 Beuthen)

The Smugglers. Oil on canvas. Relined. 81 x 102.5cm. Signed lower right: E Ebers 1832. Framed.


Today no longer known to the wider public; the painter Emil Ebers was highly esteemed by his contemporaries. As a close friend of Carl Friedrich Lessing; who was of the same age and also born in Wroclaw; he became the latter's brother-in-law after marrying his sister Fanny in 1845.
Material independence may have allowed Ebers to interpret his subjects rather more critical of his times than convention would have it - especially in the beginning of his career.
His first paintings; which he made in Dusseldorf; were mainly concerned with 'covert sales' - a subject newly introduced to the arts by Ebers; and that is today known as smuggling.
His use of the motif of 'smuggling' was a variation on the popular genre of 'robbers'. In terms of content; he thus accomplished a shift in a double sense:
On the one hand smugglers were perceived more favourably than robbers. While the latters were a danger to each and every one; the smuggler - although undermining authorities - made claims to 'old rights'.
On the other hand this was a highly relevant topic in the face of the post-Napoleonic territorial fragmentation of the German Confederation:
Smuggling was a mass-phenomenon; and in view of 39 states and 1;800 customs borders it may well be compared to popular self-defence. The six smugglers fighting three mounted customs officers in this painting are recognisable by dress as farmers; craftsmen and students rather than as notorious criminals. Smuggling was a vital necessity to (almost) all classes and ages.

Temporally; Ebers' painting is directly connected to the uprisings; which - triggered by the French July Revolution - took place on the 24th of September 1830 in Hanau; where "a group of thirty persons destroyed the entire interior of the city's customs office amidst the rejoicing approval of some hundred protesters". This 'Mautsturm' (storming of the tolls) spread; and within just a few days almost all customs facilities of the province were destroyed. There was seething unrest. The town of H鯿hst witnessed tumultuous uprisings in 1831 after several smugglers were killed and wounded. These regional confrontations attracted great attention throughout the German Confederation.
In this painting Ebers thus depicts a highly relevant and - in times of censorship - highly charged topic; without explicitly taking sides.

Nonetheless; his choice of colours in the image centre is clearly reminiscent of the tricolour and thus a more than implicit reference to the French uprisings; as is the sans-culotte attire of the smuggler standing in the water with his back to the viewer. Probably a fortified customs post; the tall building in the background is damaged and blackened by smoke. The people strike back - if necessary with an oar against the sabre of the authorities. Even though the outcome of the battle depicted is unknown; new winds seem to swell the sails of the ship that will carry off the fleeing boy.



Cf. literature:
Landes; Lilian: "... ein neues Fach des Genres". Das sozialkritische Genrebild der D黶seldorfer Malerschule im internationalen Vergleich. In:
Baumg鋜tel; Bettina: Die D黶seldorfer Malerschule und ihre internationale Ausstrahlung 1819 - 1918; D黶seldorf 2011; vol. 1; pp. 200 ff.Art trade; Van Ham.