ALISON HOKANSON:
It was said that there was an image of “The Island of the Dead” in every middle-class home in Germany. Sigmund Freud apparently had a version of it in his office.

NARRATOR:
What made this painting so popular and widely reproduced?

Unlike his Impressionist contemporaries—who painted directly from nature—Böcklin created dream-like, fantastical scenes. Curator Alison Hokanson:

ALISON HOKANSON:
He’s taken inspiration from nature, in this case the Italian and Mediterranean landscape, but he’s transformed what he saw into an imaginary setting with deeper symbolic meaning.

NARRATOR:
Look at the shrouded figure accompanying a coffin in the rowboat, the tomb-like structures in the cliffs, and the dark cypress trees. They allude to death, mourning, and the afterlife. In addressing these themes, Böcklin appealed to the late-19th century fascination with spirits, séances, and mortality.

ALISON HOKANSON:
It addresses the ultimate mystery, the passage from life into death. And it takes us up to the very brink. We don’t know what awaits the figure in the boat, once they alight onto the island.

NARRATOR:
The cliffs and the boat appear dramatically spot-lit, while the rest of the picture is in shadow.

ALISON HOKANSON:
Böcklin has composed the picture like a stage set, so we’re able to project ourselves into the scene.

NARRATOR:
Perhaps this theatrical quality helps to explain why this scene struck a chord with playwrights, film directors, and composers.

[MUSIC begins: Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead]

Here’s an excerpt from Rachmaninoff’s 1909 “Isle of the Dead,” a piece inspired by Böcklin’s image.