Death in Arnold Bocklin's Art

This channel is too underrated

The pitch black forest in the middle of the isle adds so much to the composition. It really makes it mysterious, daunting and, in certain way, beautiful.
Also, my sense of humour is broken. I can't see a skeleton playing a violin and not think it's funny.

I'm familiar with Bocklin's work, as the Symbolists are one of my favorite schools of art. I think many in the developed world are so separated from death - we die in hospitals, are whisked away to a funeral home, with maybe a viewing of what has always looked to me like a wax doll, and then it's over with. We haven't truly experienced what it's like to be up close and personal with death. Yet, we all face it, and think about it from time to time. I think this painting, as well as the self-portrait, are fascinating to us, because they express what many find to be a 'distasteful' topic. Death is always just over our shoulders, and what happens after - we don't know.

I like to imagine that there was a violin student practicing badly and making horrible noises all day long, which annoyed Böcklin so much that he painted a selfportrait with a deathwish

Interesting, the violin the skeleton plays on only has 1 string instead of the usual 4- could this be implying the final thing left in life will always be death, that the sound of death is still and quiet, or that life itself is always 1 string away from ending at any time?

What about the detail in the self-portrait of the violin having JUST ONE STRING?? Somehow that speaks volumes to me. May it be a reference to the string that symbolised a human life in the hands of the Three Fates in Ancient Greece? If that's it, I mean, Death is literally playing with his life! And, on top of it, that string is the one with the lowest note... Amazing and terrifying.
Such a great and intense video ❤

aggressively philosophical, I love it

Excellent video! This channel is such a hidden gem!

Great video! He was a remarkable artist, that piece was ahead of its time.

That self portrait is stunning. Gave me chills

Brilliant, as always! A small fact: Böcklin lived in a villa halfway between Florence and Fiesole (just down the hill from me, as a matter of fact), and his initial inspiration for The Isle of the Dead was the English Cemetery in Piazzale Donatello in Florence.

I am a relative newbie here. I am not an artist. I just love to look at it. This channel is by FAR my favorite. You feature artists and works I never heard of. This one is great. I am sucked in, just like the widow. Thank you so much!

I remember seeing Bocklin's self-portrait and other works and started referring to him as "Death Daddy".
My "serious ART colleagues" were not amused LOL

Good stuff! I never saw that portrait before, and now it's among my favorites. There's a very thin membrane separating life and death, and I gather Bocklin was well acquainted with it. "The Isle of the Dead" is also a spectacular painting. I think part of its appeal to some people might be that we can envision going there in the boat, and exploring. And it really does have a very powerful dream quality in it. Quite an achievement.

I really enjoy the critiques on this channel because it backs it up with a history of the time and the artist. I used to never get art because people always spoke in flowery abstract language that didn’t resonate with me. This helps me understand the artist thus understanding the art without being pretentious. Well done.

Gotta love 19th century and prior art, everything was so thoughtful and had an elegance to it, whether it be poetry, literature, paintings or classical music.

As a swiss art history student, i just found out about your channel and i am a really big fan ! I can recommand you an another swiss masterpiece that might interest you. It's the "Tanz des Todes" (Dance of Death) of Niklaus Manuel that is a mix of religious and dark fresco with medieval and grimm poetry. Anyway... thanks a lot for your videos ! Keep the great work !

I feel like I should be paying for this Channel

This painting was and will ever be my big love. Can't say why but it makes me sad, grateful and all that weird stuff at the same time. I absolutely love this piece

This is a hidden gem of a channel. Congratulations on your content.

This is an excellent video of great quality!! what inspired me the most is the classical music in the background!

I'm starting a tradition of listening/watching at one of your videos each morning while cooking breakfast. Thank you for your content, man, is great.

Man love your uploads!
Just subscribed, hope the best for your channel!

Thanks, you always talk about the paintings I love the most!

Gosh, I love your videos! And this might be my favourite so far!
I hope you might do something on Bouguereau. He's one of my favourite painters.

Awesome video.
Congratulations and thank you for the work. 😊

Talking about the Isle of the dead, you could into the impact this painting had in culture in general, and how many reproduction/homage of the painting by many different artist.
If I remember, someone had a website with many of these homage paintings !
Discovered your content a couple of hours and im just devouring every video you put out, you're doing great !

I love his self portrait with the violin playing skeleton. It’s just a masterpiece!! So elegant! I love it!

Love the video. Just found your channel through your comment on the new nerdwriter video and I am so glad that I did :)
A suggestion: It would be perfect, and I think fitting to your style, if you could make a video essay about my favorite painter Alfred Kubin. His work gives me similar feelings to Böcklin's and and Dix's work in your other great video.
Best

One of the greatest artist, and the paintings of all time for me. I think that one string on the violin refers to his time which is not left much and it's actually the G string such that always be the note which is associated with depressive, saddest or the sorrowful melodies in the music.
He believes that the ultimate ending is death and you are always on a point where you realize how little time you have and how every second that death is just playing around with you closer and closer so how you're accepting to "deal with death" and make the agrement to be side by side with it and give into it's whispering and tempting inspirations.
So it will always be one of my favourite and unforgettable depiction in a painting I guess.
It's comforting and little bit unsettling at the same time.

I've been waiting for a new video!

You have made videos on those artist whom i never heard, Thank you So much_ love your work, Love Art ( from India 🇮🇳)

THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL.

Just found this artist thanks to you. Great essay!

Please never stop making videos!

Very well explained, and in a beautiful way. I just discovered your chanel, but I'll stay for sure!

Bonjour thank you very much for this precious sharing.this artist is amazing 👏👏👏👏👏👏

It is ultimately his most successful "death" picture because - unlike most of the others - it is subtle and trusts the viewer to fill in the gaps.

This painting has inspired the castle where David lived in the Alien Covenant movie. Do check it out.
I have seen this painting in a Berlin museum. I loved it back then in 2010. I somehow thought that the painter looked like Gary Oldman, the actor.
After watching your video, I learned its past and other details. Big fan of your work 🙏

Nice work cleanses my Mind

The portrait is excellent....its really fascinating!

I have always been fascinated by depictions of death in art. One of my favorites is albrecht durer, id be interested in hearing your opinions on his art someday

Duude, I'm addicted to your channel!!!

Thank you so much; wow, so much information.

I didn't know about this painting. It works so well, I immediately sketched it in order to paint it tomorrow and have a version of mine. Holy shiy.

the canvas, vox, hochelega, veritasium, and many more (cant remember the names) one of the greatest youtube channel I came across.

Excellent content.

Some great facts that never heard before. Thanks!

Thank you for this!

Awesome content thank you

The Canvas: this is REALLY INTERESTING!

I saw The Isle of the Dead in TV randomly. A news piece about an art exhibition it was, I think. I wouldn't actually know because the moment I saw the painting I went "Wow..." I'm not an art person at all, but this just hit, somehow.
It made me think of something like Shadow of the Colossus. Like, you're about to step into a world from which you won't return. A world that is familiar, because it's composed of known elements, but mysterious, because you have no idea what you'll encounter, and because those familiar elements are arranged in a new way. I mean, the forest in the middle of an entrance? What is this?
I don't know nothing about art tbh. But Isle of the Dead is surely something.

amazing video!

I find "Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle" to be really really funny. It really cracks me up, something about a playful skeleton Death with Bocklin looking so sombre is just, so funny.
Love love the video, even if I wasn't expecting to laugh.

I find the painting to be both awesome (as in striking "awe") and haunting, it left a lurching feeling in my chest and an awareness of my breathing, it is beautiful and contains the feelings of brightness and darkness. There is a hint of adventure and fantasy but also of what is lost to ruin and time and memory. The ruins that are now surrounded by water and with plant life in its center give the feel of excitement that you would get on an adventure discovering a once lost and forgotten place. The darkness in bits and the figure with the coffin draw emphasis on the lost and forgotten part of the ruins. They have decayed and what they once were has died, maybe even with the people that were once associated with it. The figure is just that, a figure, which gives mystery and unknown. It brings in the curiosity of what are they doing there and what IS this place as to what that place once WAS and who might have been there. The one little detail connects to what was already there but changes the interpretation and perspective of it.

It worked for my 64-bit PC. Thanks a lot.

Has any other painting inspired quite so many imitators as 'The Isle of the Dead'?

I've seen them in the old national gallery in berlin. Its awesome

Thank you for this introduction to Böcklin's work. I wonder if he considered his self-portrait as part of the long tradition of memento mori in art.

Any painter will recognise that expression in the self portrait, he’s looking into a mirror and moving his face around to reacquaint himself with himself, and as we all do when looking into a mirror with a more than a casual glance, he sees mortality patently at work…

It always facinates me when you learn about things like This through other media that reference it. Arnold Bocklins work Sound intriguing through the connecting theme of death.

Thank you!

Great video

Superb video. You have inspired me to start my own KRplus channel. Thank You!

Böcklin is one of my all time favorite Painters. If you want to see the artworks featured on display, visit:
,,Self-portrait accompanied by death playing a fiddle" - old national gallery in Berlin
,,Isle of the dead" - Mdbk Leipzig; old national gallery in Berlin
,,Plague" - Albertinum (new masters) in Dresden

Merci pour cette magnifique vidéo cher ami canadien

Thank god a analytical video that doesn’t last over 3 hours. Great work man

As a kid without any sense of existentialism, I didn't really see the spookiness of Bocklin's Isle of the Dead painting, though nowadays it does feel very oppressive and foreboding. I must admit though, despite his excellent depictions of mortality, my favorite Bocklin painting doesn't involve death at all. My fave ends up being "Saint Anthony Preaches the Fish". Despite older centuries having little opinion of animals that weren't immediately useful (ie. farm animals), the way he paints the shark is downright adorable. It looks like it's being scolded by Saint Anthony for kicking a football into his yard.

There’s also one string left in the violin. He definitely liked symbolism.

The thing about the self portrait that stands out to me is that there is only one string on the violin. The G, if I'm not mistaken. That is the deepest string. It makes a wonderful droning. Food for though.

I like the little detail in the portrait, that there's only a single string on the violin. Almost, as if death is playing or toying with Böcklins life.

I only know of Bocklin from the font that bears his name, which is one of my favorites.

My God,my tears flow while i watching this video

I actually shivered when this painting appeared after the Isle of the death painting.
It was just...
Idk
Fear?

About the self portrait, what could be the meaning of the violin having only one string?

For French people or people who understand french, ALT236 made a really interesting video about The isle of the dead. It’s quite a long video but the mood you get while watching this video is amazing!

Max Reger wrote a suite of four tone poems based on Bocklin's paintings, which includes Isle of the Dead..

this reminds me of Serbian painter Stevan Aleksić and his self-portraits... pretty similar. oh, it would be a blast if you did video on Dado Djurić or Vladimir Veličković. they are geniuses but not a lot of people know about them.

The Forrest's elusiveness to me is almost a poetic connection to death's elusiveness and mystery.

I would listen to Death while painting too, great band.

Every time I click on one of your videos, I get a new wallpaper for my phone😂👍🏽

With the Isle of the Dead, the eyes can easily be drawn towards the center due to how everything was structured towards it. And as if a reminder to the theme, the figure and the coffin on the boat were colored in stark contrast to all else, further pulling you in. Outward going in, letting your mind wander at the final destination of a life. That's how I see it, at least.

His stare to me almost feels like he is proud that he's gotten to 'know' death while being fully aware he is alive. 'Death' playing the fiddle with a grin behind him is an old joke to Bocklin. Rest of us, most of us choose to ignore the most cruel joke constructed ever until the very end. Call it a fiddle but as an instrument, very complicated, it probably is the worst choice for a skeleton to play. Music as torture for life. Yet Bocklin's look is telling me personally... He figured out it is a poor attempt. He can't be fooled by 'Death'. Amazing video....

o maybe he painted his owl skeleton after he's dead.
because the composition of the skulls eye hole lines perfectly with Arnolds left eye shows a continuation, maybe as a reference for the life after death.

The violin has just one string. Do you think it has a meaning?
(Great Video btw! As Well as all your other Videos!)

he was listening to "reborn" by colin stetson

I can't help but see the island as a representation of the human brain - the encircling walls being the ego, desperate to maintain order and societal obedience, but in the core, a wild, uncontrollable id. Perhaps the coffin symbolises the brains inherent need to self-destruct.

There is no mention that there is only one single string on death's violin. That means only one single note basically. That is pretty evocative as well.

AS AN ARTIST THE IMMORTALITY OF OUR WORK IS OUR GREATNESS LEGACY AND JOY

great

The first painting has elusiveness imbued because, without realizing the Patreon and the Bocklin created the version of Six of Swords from a classic tarot card. If you look at the Six of Swords from Raider - Waite Tarot deck, you will see a ferryman carrying two passengers to the land. There are six swords stabbed into the boat. In Bocklin's painting, there are many trees, but the biggest trees count six. Also. Swords suite represent wind. These trees are still like swords, but I bet they could swing with the winds. One of the interpretings of Six of Swords Indicates "A new beginning after mourning."
Now, I am not arguing if the tarot readings are true or false. However, the symbolism and the stories in the tarot deck have existed since humans started to walk upright. Hence, whenever these symbols show up, they trigger our intuition, and we start to enter a conscious state that defies our verbal abilities. That's why many people, including me able to associate with this painting.
You have a really nice channel. Thank you for your videos.

Not sure if anyone else has said this before me, but one aspect of the painting that stuck out to me was how the violin only has one string. Thinking that this could possibly represent the straight forward nature of death but I'm not sure. Just food for thought.

Excellent analysis and back grounds story of such master of art.
(Only issue is the English pronunciation of Böcklin that annoys me - but the video is good nevertheless) cheers!

0:24 kind of unrelated, but this is why i like the game destiny 2. its basically entirely recreated artwork as the maps and lore. this is 1/1 the newest final boss area and theres endless comparisons to artwork in that game. came here just to confirm and there it is.
also the titans goblet is an entire map

The piece played by the skeleton: *Hollow Hunger*

A great artist

these videos are so gas

In his self portrait he draw the death's violin with only one string .. I think the string represent his soul and . That tension between begining and the end , is our destiny . death is the player because it is the most primitive motive of life.and when we die simply that vibrations stop..

Mad we all are

I just realised there's only one string on the violin 😳