BocklinGallery

Translated "Centaur at the Village Blacksmith." The mythological meets the ordinary. Nice form and setting. Notice the slightly-disgusted onlookers..

Translated "Spring's Hymn" or perhaps "Spring Song." As the cherubs show their glee, symbolic Spring begins to ready herself. A joy to behold.

Translated "Life is But a Dream." A commentary on the brevity (thus "breve") of life. Innocence is shown out front; love and separation and pain are poignantly rendered center; finally, the passing of generations, the loneliness &/or solitude of old age is set on a flippant monument. Death in the form of a lad. Stirring.

Translated "The Sanctuary of Hercules" (or "The Shrine of Hercules." Soldiers pray before battle. Well-executed. Heracles is the name proper for Hercules.

Almost always translated "Sacred Wood," a better translation might be "Sacred Grove." Stunning in purity, yet the bent trees connote something darker, turning the rite nearly-pagan. Fascinating.

Translated "Revelry in the Woods," the impact comes from the ugliness of the usually-elegant unicorn. The girl, also, is missing the Bocklin touch. Disappointing.

Translated "Naiads at Play" (or "Frolic of the Mermaids"), this has all the elements of top-notch Bocklin: movement, mirth, mythology, dynamism in form. The young mermaid in mid-air is spectacular.

Translated "Fauns and a Sleeping Nymph." Bocklin has captured the essence of forest myth--the spritely beauty and dainty strength of the wood nymph and both sides of the faun- the sexual bravado and the incurable romantic. Blatant sexuality is calmed further by the soft focus.

Translated "The Adventurer." A strikingly-realistic, albeit arrogant, delineation of the conquistadore. Note the skulls and bones that lay before him. An homage or a criticism?

This gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of my personal collection of 70 ARNOLD BOCKLIN engravings. These steel engravings, photogravures in different hues, were done by one Bruckmann. The publisher of the engravings was Kunstler (a rendering of one Mrs. Kunstler was done by Bocklin and that image is herein also) and the date of publication for the engravings was likely 1890 for the first 33 works and 1900 for the following 37. The German (sometimes Latin) titles are those shown on the engraving itself or on a covering page--the year it was painted is given, when known. I hope you will browse through the "museum" and e-mail me with comments or additional facts for any work. Copyright 2002 T. Wise.