My favourite artists no 1

I would like to tell you about one of my favourite artists. Not the most common choice, nor is he a "teen fave" who got attention by being showcast on a tv series or anything like that. There is something grimly beautiful about the works of Arnold Böcklin. 

Arnold Böcklin was a Swiss symbolist painter of the 19th century. Influenced by Romanticism his painting is symbolist with mythological subjects often overlapping with the Pre-Raphaelites. His pictures portray mythological, fantastical figures along classical architecture constructions (often revealing an obsession with death) creating a strange, fantasy world. 

Böcklin is best known for his five versions (painted in 1880-1886) of Isle of the Dead, which partly evokes the cemetery 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 dream-like atmosphere

What draws me in, is the magical feeling, the sense of creativeness and fantasy that erupts from the painting. It is a painting to dream of, to create stories around. Böcklin has left so many loose ends not giving the story behind the piece. This is what makes it truly remarkable - it sparks interest and allows us create our own tales around what this great man has given us. 

Isle of the Dead is also a symphonic poem composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It was inspired by the very same painting by Böcklin.

The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars of Charon as they meet the waters of the river Styx. In contrast to the theme of death, the piece also depicts breathing, creating a holistic reflection on how life and death are intertwined.

One way to see the painting is through mythological allusions and stories from Greek mythology as did Rachmaninoff. Charon was the the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx (the very same which made Achilles immortal with it´s holy water) and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.

In the world which revolves around media, movies and action us, the kids of the generation, might associate the painting more with some contemporary fantasy tales such as The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. There is no arguing though - Böcklin was an amazing painter!