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Isle of the Dead (Die Toteninsel) by Arnold Bocklin is one of those images that never dates. Our studio recreates it as a hand painted oil painting — textured, color-rich, and ready to hang as canvas wall art in a home office, study, or reception area.
1886
Oil on panel
80 cm (31.5 in.) x 150 cm (59.06 in.)
Museum der Bildenden Kunste - Leipzig, Germany.
Island of the Dead, oil painting on wood that was created in 1886 by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin, who was known for his landscapes and his sinister allegories. This is his fifth version of the enigmatic work, which has resisted facile interpretation but nonetheless fascinates. Prints of the work were quite popular in the early 20th century.
In the latter part of the 19th century, Symbolist painters reacted against the naturalistic aims of the Impressionists and their contemporaries. Instead of focusing on the everyday world, they preferred to dwell on themes of mystery and the imagination. Bocklin was one of the seminal figures of the movement.
This particular image haunted Bocklin for several years. He created both the original picture and, at the request of Marie Berna, whose husband had recently passed away, a second version in 1880, but he went on to produce no fewer than five versions of the subject in all, four of which survive. The title was suggested by his art dealer, Fritz Gurlitt.
Bocklin disapproved of titles; over the years, he described this painting as The Silent Island, The Island of the Graves, The Still Place, and, perhaps most aptly of all, “a picture for dreaming over.” He avoided depicting precise subjects wherever possible, encouraging spectators to find their own meanings in his paintings, but the starting points for his fantasies usually came from classical literature. Here, for example, the image of the hooded figure accompanying the coffin calls to mind Charon, the boatman who ferried the souls of the dead to the underworld.
Since Bocklin’s time, Island of the Dead has proved every bit as evocative as the artist might have hoped. It inspired a piece of music by Sergey Rachmaninoff; it fascinated Adolf Hitler, who reportedly owned one of the versions; it was used for the set of the 1945 horror film Isle of the Dead, starring Boris Karloff; and it inspired a modern interpretation by another Swiss artist, H.R. Giger, best known as the designer of the movie Alien.
Our artists reproduce this fine art composition in oil on canvas by hand, preserving the tonal range that makes fine art oil painting so sought after for a home office.
Oil on canvas remains the reference standard for traditional reproductions. Our artists apply pigment by hand, blending the fine art tones directly on the surface for depth that a printed fine art oil painting simply cannot match.
traditional canvas wall art is one of the easiest ways to warm a home office. Pair this piece with natural linen, dark wood, or brushed brass, and let the hand painted surface do the rest.
Browse our Arnold Bocklin Paintings selection for related fine art canvases, or commission this fine art image in a custom size. Every order is a hand painted oil painting, never a printed poster.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 20 X 40 in | $116.48 |
| 24 X 48 in | $172.48 |
| 30 X 60 in | $243.48 |
| 36 X 72 in | $313.48 |
The sizes shown are the reproduction canvas sizes we paint to order. The dimensions given in a work's description refer to the original artwork and will differ from the sizes offered here. Not sure? Read the size guide or e-mail us.
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Every canvas is painted by hand in oils on artist-grade stretched canvas, with an extra blank border left for framing. How to care for your painting.
Measurements are on the size guide, or e-mail [email protected] and we reply within one business day.
