Homage to Böcklin

I just became Facebook friends with Pascal Lecocq today. Pascal is an artist ("the Painter of Blue") and runs a web site dedicated to the Isle of the Dead painting by the Swiss Symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901). The Isle of the Dead is a haunting, atmospheric picture depicting an island with rock-hewn tombs, cypress trees & an approaching boat with a shrouded figure, an oarsperson, and a casket, presumably bearing a body to be interred in a tomb on the island. It's always been a favorite painting of mine, despite Böcklin perhaps not being in the first rank, artistically speaking. He painted 5 versions of the image, of which 4 survive, and, perhaps more importantly, inspired many other artists (Dali, de Chirico, Max Ernst, to name a few) & composers (Rachmaninoff, Reger, Huber) to create works based on or inspired by the Isle of the Dead.


Homage to Böcklin, 2002, brush & ink on paper, 9" x 7".

A few years ago, I sent Pascal a drawing entitled "Homage to Böcklin", for possible inclusion on his web site. For some reason, the drawing languished in a pile of things to do. However, today, after we became Facebook buddies, I resent the image, & it is now on his web site here. So, please visit his site, & see the work of Böcklin, as well as many interpretations by Pascal himself, and many other artists. Thanks again to Pascal for putting my drawing on his site.