Ruin by the Sea
1881 · Oil on fabric · Cleveland Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901)
- Year
- 1881
- Medium
- Oil on fabric
- Original size
- 111 × 82 cm
- Collection
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Movement
- Symbolism
The shell of a red-brown villa stands on a rocky shore, its empty arched windows open to a storm-grey sky, while tall dark cypresses bend in the wind behind it and a flock of black birds wheels over the broken wall. Light breaks through the clouds above a dark sea at left, and fallen stones fill the foreground. The Cleveland Museum of Art, which bought it in 1979, calls the painting eerie and links it to Böcklin's debt to German Romantic art and his preoccupation with dreamlike images suggestive of death. It was shown in Berlin in 1897–98 at the Royal Academy's exhibition for his seventieth birthday.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Rust-red stone, black cypresses and a storm-grey sky suit a study, library or hallway with dark green or deep grey walls. Pair it with Friedrich's The Abbey in the Oakwood and hang this one at 24×36 in a black frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1881)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Ruin by the Sea in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Ruin by the Sea painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
