The works of Arnold Böcklin in the art of Alexander Benois

Abstract

The article is the first attempt to examine the question of the influence of Arnold Böcklin’s works on Alexander Benois in symbolic and mythological aspects. On the basis of the artist’s memoirs, the source of Benois’s acquaintance with the art of Böcklin was revealed and analyzed — the black-and-white reproduction of the painting “Isle of the Dead” in the Munich magazine “Die Kunst fűr alle”. Employing formal and stylistic analysis, the author came to the conclusion that this reproduction had an impact on such graphic works by Benois as “Castle”, “Castle. Two Towers”, “The tombstone of the Fool”. The images of the fauns in the paintings by Böсklin had an influence on similar images in the works by Benois (“Gardens of Diana”, the sketch for the cover of the collection “The Book of a New Theater”, “Apollo and Daphne”). Based on the complex method combining formal and stylistic observations with the analysis of Benois’s diaries, his works on the history of European art and archival documents (the inventory of Benois’ art collection), the author concluded that the images of fauns in Benois’s works were also influenced by similar images in the works by Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. The article also explores for the first time how Richard Muther’s views on Böcklin’s art (described in R. Muther’s book “The History of Painting in the 19 Century”) affected Benois’s perception of Böcklin. It has been established that it was Muther’s words about the mythological characters in the works of Böcklin that influenced the images of ancient mythology and even folklore in Benois’s art (sheets “Letter ‘L’: Forest, Moon, Lechy” and “Letter ‘O’: Lake” from “The Alphabet in the pictures of Alexander Benois”, “Apollo and Daphne”).