Arnold Böcklin

Three years before the start of the 20th century, Arnold Böcklin celebrated his 70th birthday. This was a significant event in Europe; he received congratulations from around the world and was considered the greatest painter of the 19th century in German-speaking countries. Having spent much of his life in Italy, he rediscovered antiquity and mythology, allowing them to enter the realm of the unconscious. He became the painter of dreams, imaginary landscapes, and the fantastic. A key figure in the Symbolist movement in Europe, he played a crucial role in the early careers of Chirico and Max Ernst, and in his own way, he was an inspiration for Surrealism.