Wicked symbols and a bleak world in Arnold Böcklin's paintings

Hello all steemians friends
Today I want to talk about Arnold Böcklin - a Swiss painter, a remarkable representation of symbolism in the nineteenth century European art.

In nature, 1896

The artist was born in 1827 in the city of Basel. His father was a successful merchant, who first traded fabric, and then real estate.

Arnold's first art education was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dusseldorf, where his teacher is the historical painter Ferdinand Hildebrandt and landscape painter Johann Schirmer. Then he continued his studies in Munich.

Self-portrait with death, 1872.

In his youth, painters traveled widely throughout Switzerland, the Netherlands and France. The new towns with beautiful scenery inspired Arnold especially to create a romantic landscape.

Summer day, 1881

After receiving his education, the artist spent about a year in Paris, then moved to Rome. Here, at the age of 26 he married. Together with his family, Arnold often had to change his residence: from Rome to Basel, after to Hanover, to Munich, to Weimar, then back to Rome, again to Basel, again to Munich, from there to Firenze, then to Zurich ...

Permanent transfers have been attributed primarily to the necessity of getting a permanent job because in Böcklin it is not, but it is often battered large order-paid as in the picture, and interior decoration with frescoes. Several times he was invited to work as a painting teacher. The last nine years of family life were spent in Italy.

Fame came to the painters only in the 70-ies, but mostly occurred after the appearance of his most famous paintings, below.

[

Island of the Dead, 1886](

It is interesting that Arnold created 5 different versions of this work, one of which, unfortunately, was destroyed in Rotterdam during World War II. In this case, the artist does not copy the web, and every time the re-inventing plot, leaving its headquarters, but changes in technology, dimensions, colors and contrasts by displaying various nuances of mood - from the gloomy despair enlightened tragedy.

The theme of death is one of the most important in the work of painters. Seeking to escape from the image of reality, he creates his fictional works, often a mysteriously deliberate world. The main character is a mythological and fantastic creature: nymphs, naiads, newts, unicorns and centaurs.

The Villain

Game in the waves, 1883.

Ness and Dejanira, 1898

Paintings by Böcklin are distinguished by strange and eccentric colors. They reflect the vision of someone who is unsure of the true reality of his world.

The artist died in 1901 in Fiesole.
The composition Arnold invented in the later years of his life influenced the formation of German symbolism and yugendstil. In it, fantastic symbolism is very realistic and intertwined with the authenticity of its details.

The painter influences many famous representatives of surrealism. In addition, he is the favorite artist of Adolf Hitler, who has 16 works by Böcklin, including the third version of the painting "Island of the Dead".

Source : 1 23