Böcklin, Arnold

PAINTER (SWITZERLAND)
BORN 16 Oct 1827, Basel - DIED 16 Jan 1901, San Domenico, Toscana (near Fiesole, near Firenze)
GRAVE LOCATION Firenze, Toscana: Cimitero Evangelico Agli Allori, Via Senese 184, Galluzo (6PPsSA VII 02s)

Painter of romantiscism. Böcklin studied at Düsseldorf as a pupil of Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (One of his fellow students was Anselm Feuerbach). From 1847 until 1850 he stayed at Basel, Geneva and Paris and from 1850 until 1857 he lived in Rome, where he married Angela Rosa Lorenza Pascucci on 21 Jun 1853. Until 1866 Angela was his major model.

In 1857 he returned to Germany and after a period of serious poverty he was supported by Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack, who turned into the major collector of his works for the next fifteen years. He exhibited his huge painting "Pan" in 1857 at the Kunstverein in Munich and it was bought by the Pinakothek.

From 1862 until 1866 he lived in Rome again and he became close friends with Anselm Feuerbach and Hans von Marées. Like Böcklin they had turned their backs to the salon art of their time and together they were called the Deutschrömer. Böcklin painted subjects like old ruins of villa's near lakes and ancient worlds full of nymphs and fauns.

Böcklin left Italy during the war with Austria and lived in Basel from 1866 until 1871. In 1871 he served in the German army during the Franco-Prussian War. His work reflected his war experiences and in 1873 he won a bronze medal at the World Exhibition in Vienna for "Kentaurenkampf". He moved to Munich (1871-1874) where Hans Thoma became a friend and he was in contact with the Leibl-circle. In 1872 he was made a honorary member of the Academy in Munich..

From 1874 until 1885 he lived in Florence and during this period his work gained wide recognition, which was more than his friends Feuerbach and Von Marées could boast of during their lifetimes. In 1885 he moved to Zurich where he remained until 1892. In 1893 he went to Fiesole, where he died in 1901.

Family
 • Son: Böcklin, Hans

Related persons
 • was a friend of Achenbach, Oswald
• was a friend of Beckmann, Wilhelm
• was written about by Bierbaum, Otto Julius
• was pupil of Calame, Alexandre
• was a friend of Feuerbach, Anselm
• was a friend of Haider, Karl
• was a friend of Keller, Gottfried
• knew Klinger, Max
• was a friend of Koller, Rudolf
• knew Kurz, Isolde
• has a connection with Lenbach, Franz von
• was a friend of Marées, Hans von
• influenced Stahl, Friedrich
• influenced Stuck, Franz von

Events
0/3/1875Festival in honour of Richard Wagner at Makart's studio in Vienna. It had the form of a costume ball and he cooperated with Franz von Lenbach. Franz Liszt played the piano. Apart from Richard Wagner, his wife Cosima, Gottfried Semper and Arnold Böcklin were present. [Lenbach, Franz von][Liszt, Franz][Makart, Hans ][Semper, Gottfried][Wagner, Cosima][Wagner, Richard]

Images

Plaque for Arnold Böcklin in Basel.
Picture by Androom (02 Sep 2008)
 
The grave of Arnold Böcklin at the Cimitero Evangelico Agli Allori, Florence.
Picture by androom (04 Feb 2011)
 
The grave of Arnold Böcklin at the Cimitero Evangelico Agli Allori, Florence.
Picture by Androom (23 Feb 2018)
 

"Triton and Nereid".
(München: Schack-Galerie)
 
'Bildnis der Tragödin Fanny Janouschek'.
   (1861, Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut)
 
"Amaryllis".
   (1866, München: Schack-Galerie)
 

"Traum der Magdalena an der Leiche Christi".
   (1867/1868, Basel: Kunstmuseum)
 
'Euterpe'.
   (1872, Darmstadt: Hessisches Landesmuseum)
 
"Kentaurenkampf auf beschneiter Bergkuppe".
   (1872/1873, Basel: Kunstmuseum)
 

"Flora".
   (1875, Leipzig: Museum der bildende Künste)
 
"Schlafende Diana von zwei Faunen belascht".
   (1877, Düsseldorf: Museum Kunstpalast)
 
'Flötende Nymphe'.
   (1881, Darmstadt: Hessisches Landesmuseum)
 

"Odysseus und Kalypso".
   (1882, Basel: Kunstmuseum)
 
"Selbstbildnis im Atelier" (Self portrait in the studio").
   (1893, Basel: Kunstmuseum)
 
'Der Krieg'.
   (1896, Dresden: Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister)
 

"Die Pest" ("The Plague").
   (1898, Basel: Kunstmuseum)
 
'Vestalin'.
   (c1874, Darmstadt: Hessisches Landesmuseum)
 

Sources
 • Aubert, Joachim, Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmten Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 1973
• Baedeker's Rhine, Baedeker, Stuttgart, 1985
• Holst, Christian v. (ed.), Staatsgalerie Stuttgart 19. Jahrhundert, Malerei und Plastik des 19. Jahrhunderts, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 1982
• Schmidt, Katharina e.a., Arnold Böcklin, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel/Kunstmuseum, Basel, 2001
• Ehrhardt, Ingrid et all, Seelenreich, Die Entwicklung des deutschen Symbolismus 1870-1920, Prestel, München, 2000
• Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909


Böcklin, Hans

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 08 Mar 2022