Arnold Böcklin -part 1

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:

Self Portrait 1873
oil on canvas 61 x 48.9 cm
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

c1846 Country Road at the Edge of a Forest
etching 8 x 11.5 cm

1846 Two Little Girls Picking Berries on a Hillside
etching 8 x 11.4 cm (plate)

1846 Portrait of Alexander Micheli
oil on cardboard 33 x 31.1 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1846 Portrait of Alexander Micheli
oil on canvas 55.5 x 46 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1845 Reed
oil on canvas, mounted on cardboard 14.8 x 26 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1847 The Megalithic Tomb
oil on canvas 60.2 x 77.5 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1847 Mountain Lake with Seagulls
oil on canvas 45.6 x 64.7 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1848 Portrait of Jakob Mähly as a Student
oil on canvas 32.6 x 24.4 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1849 Rocky Slope with Weather Pines
oil on canvas 39.1 x 54.4 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1849 Mountain Landscape with Waterfall
oil on canvas 32.8 x 40.8 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1849 High Mountain Landscape with Chamois
oil on canvas 32.5 x 41 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1849 Weather Pines
oil on canvas 76.8 x 74.6 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1849 Portrait of Wilhelmine Wiggenhauser (widowed Lippe-Rumpf), Aunt of the Artist
oil on canvas 35.5 x 27.5 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1849 Portrait of Louisa Schmid
oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1849 Landscape at Sunset
oil on canvas 21.4 x 27.1 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1850-55 A Cliff Face 
oil on paper laid on canvas 23.1 x 32 cm
The National Gallery, London

1852 Roman Landscape
oil on canvas 74.5 x 72.4 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York

1853 On the edge of the Forest
oil on canvas 68 x 95 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1853 Landscape near Palestrina
oil on canvas 16 x 24.4 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1855 Nymph at the Spring
oil on canvas 129.6 x 112.8 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich

c1855 Forest Landscape with resting Pan
oil on canvas 89.8 x 75.2 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1858 Pan in the Reeds
oil on canvas 199.7 x 152.7 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich

1859 Pan frightens a Shepherd (Panic Terror)
oil on canvas 78 x 63.8 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1860 The Abandoned Venus
oil on canvas 120 x 95 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

c1860 Pan Frightens a Shepherd
oil on canvas 134.5 x 110.2 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich

c1860-62 Bagpipers
oil on canvas 49.6 x 73.7 cm
Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich

1862 Spring (Sketch)
oil on canvas 33.4 x 56.9 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1862 Sappho
wax paint on canvas 56.5 x 45.5 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

1862 Sappho
oil on canvas 94.9 x 73.7 cm
Philadelphia Art Musem, PA