Isle of the Dead

Title

Isle of the Dead

Also known as

Die Toteninsel; Island of the Dead

Maker

Arnold Böcklin

Nationality, dates

Swiss, 1827–1901

Date

1883

Version

Third of five versions, painted 1880–1886

Commissioned by

Fritz Gurlitt, art dealer

Medium

Oil on wood

Dimensions

80 × 150 cm (31 1/2 × 59 in)

Inventory no.

NG 2/80

Reproduced

Etching after this version by Max Klinger, commissioned by Gurlitt

Held by

Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Rights

The painting is in the public domain. Image source: Wikimedia Commons, photograph by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, adapted for the weave.

In the spring of 1880, a young widow named Marie Berna visited Arnold Böcklin’s studio in Florence and asked for “a picture to dream by.” He painted one for her, and at her request he added a draped coffin and a figure shrouded in white to the rowboat. Between 1880 and 1886 he painted the island five times.

This is the third version. The art dealer Fritz Gurlitt commissioned it in 1883 and had Max Klinger make an etching of it. Spread in countless prints and photographs, this version made the picture famous. Sergei Rachmaninoff first knew the picture from a black-and-white reproduction. In 1909 he wrote his symphonic poem Isle of the Dead. It opens in 5/8 time, a rhythm often heard as the stroke of oars.

Later he saw one of the paintings in color, and the coloring did not move him much. “If I had seen the original first, I might not have composed my Island of the Dead,” he said in a 1927 interview. Of the five versions, four survive. The one painted in 1884 was destroyed during the Second World War. Today it is known from a black-and-white photograph.

“I like the picture best in black and white.”

Sergei Rachmaninoff, interviewed by Basanta Koomar Roy, The Musical Observer, May 1927

• Woven blanket, 100% cotton, with colorful fringed edges
• Three sizes: 52 × 37 in (132 × 94 cm), 60 × 50 in (152 × 127 cm), 80 × 60 in (203 × 152 cm)
• Size tolerance ±2.5 in (about 6 cm)
• Hang it as a wall tapestry (hanging hardware not included), or use it on a sofa or bed
• Woven threads soften fine linework; colors and texture differ slightly from the screen image
• Catalogue N° 006 · The Noha Studio

• Machine wash cold, max 30°C / 86°F
• Gentle cycle, mild detergent
• Non-chlorine bleach only if needed
• Tumble dry low

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