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Arnold Böcklin (16 October 182716 January 1901) was a Swiss
Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
. His five versions of the '' Isle of the Dead'' inspired works by several late-Romantic composers.


Biography

Arnold Böcklin was born in
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin (b. 1802), was descended from an old family of
Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...
, and engaged in the silk trade. His mother, Ursula Lippe, was a native of the same city. Arnold studied at the Düsseldorf academy under Schirmer, and became a friend of
Anselm Feuerbach Anselm Feuerbach (12 September 1829 – 4 January 1880) was a German Painting, painter. He was the leading neoclassicism, neoclassical painter of the German 19th-century school. Biography Early life Feuerbach was born at Speyer, the son of ...
. He is associated with the
Düsseldorf school of painting Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
. Schirmer, who recognized in him a student of exceptional promise, sent him to
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
and
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, where he copied the works of Flemish and Dutch masters. Böcklin then went to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, worked at the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, and painted several landscapes. After serving his time in the army, Böcklin set out for
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in March 1850. The many sights of Rome were a fresh stimulus to his mind. These new influences brought allegorical and mythological figures into his compositions. In 1856 he returned to
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, and remained there for four years. His first fiancée died young. A second woman declined to marry. In Rome, he married Angela Rosa Lorenza Pascucci in 1853. The couple had fourteen children, but five died in childhood and another three died before Böcklin. He himself nearly succumbed to typhoid in 1859.


Career

He then exhibited the ''Great Park'', one of his earliest works, in which he treated ancient mythology. Of this period are his ''Nymph and Satyr'', ''Heroic Landscape'' (Diana Hunting), both of 1858, and ''Sappho'' (1859). These works, which were much discussed, together with Lenbach's recommendation, gained him appointment as professor at the Weimar academy. He held the office for two years, painting the ''Venus and Love'', a ''Portrait of Lenbach'', and a ''Saint Catherine''. He returned to Rome from 1862 to 1866, and there gave his fancy and his taste for violent colour free play in his ''Portrait of Mme Böcklin'', and in ''An Anchorite in the Wilderness'' (1863), a ''Roman Tavern'', and ''Villa on the Seashore'' (1864). He returned to Basel in 1866 to finish his frescoes in the gallery, and to paint, besides several portraits, ''The Magdalene with Christ'' (1868), ''Anacreon's Muse'' (1869), and ''A Castle and Warriors'' (1871). His ''Portrait of Myself'', with Death playing a violin (1872), was painted after his return again to Munich, where he exhibited ''Battle of the Centaurs'', ''Landscape with Moorish Horsemen'' and ''A Farm'' (1875). From 1876 to 1885 Böcklin was working at
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, and painted a ''Pietà'', ''Ulysses and Calypso'', ''Prometheus'', and the ''Sacred Grove''. From 1886 to 1892 he settled at Zürich, after which he resided at San Domenico, near Florence. From this period are the ''Naiads at Play'', ''A Sea Idyll'', and ''
War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
''. Böcklin died on 16 January 1901 in
Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. ...
. He is buried in the Cimitero degli Allori in the southern suburb of Florence, Italy.


Symbolism

Influenced by
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, Böcklin's
symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...
use of imagery derived from mythology and legend often overlapped with the aesthetic of the Pre-Raphaelites. Many of his paintings are imaginative interpretations of the classical world, or portray mythological subjects in settings involving classical architecture, often allegorically exploring death and mortality in the context of a strange, fantasy world. Böcklin is best known for his five versions (painted 1880 to 1886) of the '' Isle of the Dead'', which partly evokes the
English Cemetery, Florence The English Cemetery in Florence, Italy (Italian, ''Cimitero degli inglesi'', ''Cimitero Porta a' Pinti'' and ''Cimitero Protestante'') is an Evangelical cemetery located at Piazzale Donatello. Although its origins date to its foundation in 1827 ...
, which was close to his studio and where his baby daughter Maria had been buried. An early version of the painting was commissioned by a Madame Berna, a widow who wanted a painting with a dreamlike atmosphere.
Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...
wrote in 1947 that Böcklin's work "is one of the most consummate expressions of all that is now disliked about the latter half of the nineteenth century."


Legacy

During his lifetime, Böcklin achieved considerable recognition, especially in central Europe, and influenced younger artists such as Hans Thoma.Clegg, Elizabeth (2003). "Böcklin, Arnold". Grove Art Online. After his death in 1901 his reputation declined rapidly as modern art styles made the literary character of his paintings seem old-fashioned. Despite this, his work was a significant influence on
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...
– who said "Each of Böcklin's works is a shock" – and was admired by
Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
painters such as
Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...
and
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
. A general revival of interest in Böcklin began only in the 1960s. When asked who was his favorite painter,
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
controversially named Arnold Böcklin as having a major influence on his art. Whether Duchamp was serious in this assertion is still debated. H. R. Giger created a picture called ''Homage à Böcklin'', based upon ''Isle of the Dead''. Museums holding several works by Böcklin include the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Kunsthaus Zürich.


In music

Böcklin's paintings, especially ''Isle of the Dead'', inspired several late-Romantic composers. *
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
's song ''Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt'' (St. Anthony's Sermon to the Fish) from his '' Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' song cycle, which also appears as the Scherzo movement in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Mahler) was inspired by Böcklin's 1892 painting, ''St. Anthony Preaching to the Fish''. *In 1891, Portuguese pianist José Vianna da Motta composed two pieces on Böcklin's paintings Meeresidylle and Im Spiel der Wellen. *
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
(see '' Isle of the Dead'') and Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen both composed symphonic poems after it. Rachmaninoff was also inspired by Böcklin's painting ''Die Heimkehr'' ("The Homecoming" or "The Return") when writing his Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10. * Andreas Hallén, a Swedish Romantic composer, wrote a symphonic poem ''Die Toteninsel'' in 1898. * In 1903, Austrian, later American, composer Karl Weigl composed a tone poem for piano "Die Toteninsel". * In 1913
Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...
composed a set of '' Four Tone Poems after Böcklin'' with the movements "Der geigende Eremit", "Im Spiel der Wellen", "Die Toteninsel", and "Bacchanal". * In Mark Robson's film '' Isle of the Dead'' (1945), Disney composer Leigh Harline's somber score makes use of Sergei Rachmaninoff's music. * Hans Huber's second symphony is entitled ''Böcklin-Sinfonie'', after the artist and his paintings. * Felix Woyrsch composed ''3 Böcklin Phantasies'' (Die Toteninsel, Der Eremit, Im Spiel der Wellen), Op. 53 (1910). * Fulvio Caldini composed ''L'isola di Böcklin'', his Op.85 for electronic instruments (2001).


Other

The Schriftgiesserei Otto Weisert foundry designed an
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
typeface in 1904 and named it "
Arnold Böcklin Arnold Böcklin (16 October 182716 January 1901) was a Swiss Symbolism (arts), Symbolist Painting, painter. His five versions of the ''Isle of the Dead (painting), Isle of the Dead'' inspired works by several late-Romantic composers. Biography ...
" in his honor.
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
was fond of Böcklin's work, at one time owning 11 of his paintings. Roger Zelazny's novel '' Isle of the Dead'' features a planet-building character inspired by the painting to create an Isle of the Dead on one of his worlds, and an Ace books edition features
cover painting
by Dean Ellis that is deliberately reminiscent of Böcklin's work. Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, opened his 1942 laudatory article on Dmitry Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony with an allusion to Böcklin's painting "War".


Works

File:Böcklin 1846 Bildnis Alexander Michelis (2).jpg, '' Alexander Michelis'', 1846 File:Arnold Böcklin - Mondscheinlandschaft mit Ruine.jpg, ''Moonlit Landscape'', 1849 File:Arnold Böcklin - Campagna Landscape - WGA3026.jpg, ''Campania Landscape'', 1851 File:Arnold Böcklin (11)Italien Landschaft.JPG, ''Italian Landscape'', 1858 File:Böcklin, Arnold - Die Klage des Hirten - 1866.jpg, ''The Shepherd's Lament'', 1866 File:Arnold Böcklin – Idyll.jpg, ''Idyll'', 1866 File:Böcklin Mädchen und Jüngling beim Blumenpflücken 1866.jpg, ''Boy and Girl Picking Flowers'', c.1866 File:Arnold Boecklin-fiedelnder Tod.jpg, '' Self-portrait with Death playing the fiddle'', 1872 File:Arnold Böcklin - Venus Anadyomene.jpg, ''Venus Anadyomene'', 1872 File:The Muse Euterpe by Arnold Böcklin.jpg, ''The Muse Euterpe'', 1872 File:Arnold Böcklin - The Deposition - WGA03027.jpg, ''Mourning under the Cross'', 1876 File:Arnold Böcklin - Die Gefilde der Seligen.jpg, ''The Elysian Fields'', 1877 File:Arnold Böcklin - Hochzeitsreise.jpg, ''Honey Moon'', 1878 File:Arnold Böcklin (15)Meeresbrandung.JPG, ''Ocean Breakers (The Sound)'', 1879 File:Arnold Böcklin - Summer Day - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Summer Day'', 1881 File:Arnold Böcklin 008.jpg, ''Odysseus and Calypso'', 1882 File:Arnold Böcklin - Das Irrlicht -1882.jpeg, ''Will-o'-the-Wisp'', 1882 File:Arnold Boecklin Spiel der Wellen 1883.jpg, ''Playing in the Waves'', 1883 File:Böcklin Einsiedler.jpg, ''The Hermit'', 1884 File:Arnold Böcklin - Das Heiligtum des Herkules (1884).jpg, '' The Sanctuary of Hercules'', 1884 File:Arnold Böcklin (3)Selbsbildnis m Weinglas.JPG, ''Self-portrait with the wine glass'', 1885 File:Böcklin Die Heimkehr 1887.jpg, ''The Homecoming'', 1887 Arnold Böcklin - Odysseus und Polyphemus (1896).jpg, '' Odysseus and Polyphemus'', 1896


References


External links

* * * *
Bocklin in "History of Art"






( ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091027112307/http://geocities.com/tommyzax/BocklinGallery.html Archived2009-10-25)
''German masters of the nineteenth century : paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany''
a full text exhibition catalog from the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, which contains material on Arnold Böcklin (nos. 5–10)
"Brahms, Böcklin, and the Gesang der Parzen"
by Eftychia Papanikolaou; article in ''Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography'' 30/1-2 (Spring-Fall 2005): 154–165. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocklin, Arnold 1827 births 1901 deaths Artists from Basel-Stadt Symbolist painters 19th-century Swiss painters Swiss male painters Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni Düsseldorf school of painting 19th-century Swiss male artists