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| c1899 Self-Portrait with Death chiaroscuro wood engraving printed in black and blue on wove paper 13.1 x 10.7 cm Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901). Böcklin’s art had little in common with Impressionism or the academic art of his time. Instead, his depictions of demigods in naturalistic settings interpret themes from Classical mythology in an idiosyncratic, often sensual manner. In the Sea, part of a series of paintings of mythological subjects, displays an unsettling, earthy realism. Mermaids and tritons frolic in the water with a lusty energy and abandon verging on coarseness. Occupying the centre of the composition is a harp playing triton. Three mermaids have attached themselves to his huge frame as if it were a raft; the one near his shoulder seems to thrust herself upon him. The work’s sense of boisterousness is tempered by the ominously shaped reflection of the triton and mermaids in the sea and by the oddness of the large-eared heads that emerge from the water at the right. In addition to imaginative, bizarre interpretations of the Classical world, Böcklin painted mysterious landscapes punctuated by an occasional lone figure. These haunting later works made him an important contributor to the international Symbolist movement. They also appealed to some Surrealist artists, particularly Giorgio de Chirico, who declared, “Each of (Böcklin’s) works is a shock. Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Part 1 of a 3-part series on the works of Arnold Böcklin:
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| 1862 The Hunt of Diana oil on canvas 188.5 x 34.5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| c1863 The Hermit oil on canvas 106 x 57.8 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| c1863 Roman Landscape with Fountain oil on canvas 32.4 x 46.1 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1863 Portrait of Angela Böcklin as Muse oil on canvas 70 x 57.5 cm |
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| 1863 Head of a Roman oil on canvas 46.5 x 36.5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| c1864 Villa by the Sea oil on canvas 62.1 x 74.3 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1864 Villa by the Sea oil on canvas 134.5 x 174.5 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1864 Portrait of Daughter Lucia oil on copper 26.3 x 21.8 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1864 A Shepherdess oil on canvas 62 x 52.8 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1865 Ancient Roman Wine Tavern in Spring oil on wood 63.8 x 94.4 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1866 Viola oil on slate 74.5 x 58 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1866 The Shepherd's Lament oil on canvas 137 x 100.4 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1866 Spring Nymph with Cornucopia (Flora) oil on walnut wood 48 x 41 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1866 Faun and Blackbird oil on canvas 46.5 x 36 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
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| 1867 Portrait of Sibylla Müller-Kleyling oil on canvas 54.5 x 46.5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1867 Petrarch at the source of Vaucluse oil on canvas 128 x 192.5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1867 Mourning of Mary Magdalene over the body of Christ oil on canvas 85.6 x 150 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1867/70? Rector Fritz Burckhardt-Brenner oil on canvas 55.5 x 46.5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
The frescos, transferred to canvas, adorned the back wall of a pavilion that Karl Sarasin-Sauvain had built in his garden between St. Alban-Vorstadt and St. Alban-Aniage in Basel. The commission for the wall paintings, featuring motifs from the Old and New Testaments, was probably arranged by Böcklin’s friend Jacob Burckhardt:
1868 The Walk to Emmaus
fresco1868 Rest on the Flight into Egypt
fresco1868 King David
fresco1868/69 Portrait of Professor Fritz Burckhardt-Brenner
oil on cardboard 27 x 21 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel1868/69 Portrait of Anna Elisabeth Burckhardt-Brenner
oil on cardboard 26.5 x 20 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel1869 Portrait of Hélène and Georgine Vischer
oil on canvas 72 x 59 cm1870 Portrait of Fritz Burckhardt, son of Fritz and Anna Elisabeth Burckhardt-Brenner
oil on canvas 27 x 21.5 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel1870 Italian Villa in Spring
oil on canvas 80 x 102 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich1870 Dragon in a rocky Gorge
oil on canvas 152 x 92.5 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich1870 Destroyed House near Keh
oil on canvas, mounted on cardboard 20.7 x 35.4 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel1870 A walk to Emmaus
oil on canvas 94 x 139.5 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich1870 A murderer pursued by Furies
oil on canvas 80 x 141 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich
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| 1871 Plaster cast of the design for the first mask 76.2 x 34.5 x 41 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| Plaster cast of the first mask 78 x 48 x 31 cnm |
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| Plaster Cast of the Second Mask 74.5 x 47.5 x 29.5 cm |
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| Plaster cast of the third mask 75.5 x 50 x 30.5 cm |
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| Study for the third mask plaster 37.7 x 26 x 17.2 cm |
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| Plaster cast of the fourth mask 74.5 x 47.5 x 30.5 cm |
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| Study for the fourth mask 36 x 24.5 x 14.7 cm |
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| Plaster cast of the fifth mask 76 x 48.5 x 33.5 cm |
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| Study for the fifth mask 37 x 24.5 x 16.5 cm |
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| Study for the sixth mask 36 x 26 x 16 cm |
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| 1871 Nymph and Satyr oil on canvas 108 x 154.9 cm Philadelphia Art Museum, PA |
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| 1871 Melancholy oil on canvas 73.5 x 59 cm Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| 1871 Ideal spring landscape oil on canvas 73.5 x 59.6 cm Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich |
