Kick back and enjoy a day at the beach reinterpreted through a lense of Greek fantasy.

Artist Arnold Böcklin was on vacation with his marine zoologist friend, Anton Dohrn, off the Italian island of Ischia when inspiration for this work struck. Dohrn disappeared under the water, staying beneath the waves long enough to worry his family before resurfacing a good distance away next to his female family members.

Perhaps Dohrn was simply testing how long he could hold his breath but more likely he had devised a not so funny prank to sneak up on the women in his family. Either way, he gave them quite a shock. The look of surprise on their faces, likely juxtaposed with a carefree expression on Dohrn’s, stuck with Böcklin. 

Böcklin was a huge fan of marine life and Greek myth, both were themes seen often in his work, such as In the Sea. Characters such as Triton and Nereids appeared often in his work. But while he found much inspiration in classical sources, he was not above injecting his own irreverent humor into the themes of antiquity.  In this iteration, the wreath-wearing sea god’s likeness is based off of his friend Dohrn. Some sources disagree and say that Dohrn is represented as the super creepy centaur in the back, but, considering they were good enough buddies to vacay together, that’s unlikely. 

The likeness of the main nereid in the center of the piece is based off of Böcklin’s daughter Angela. She’s also said to represent Iphigenia, which may sound odd if you’re familiar with Greek myths leading up to "The Iliad." Her mythos is mostly limited to being sacrificed by her father, Agamemnon, for favorable winds for the Greek army to sail to Troy. Perhaps Böcklin had a fondness for her character and imagined a second life for her as a sea nymph. 

When the painting first premiered, it outraged Catholic politicians because, well, nudity and hedonism. His hedonist friends were fans though. Others, such as composer Max Reger, clearly found meaning in it. The painting inspired part of a set of four tone poemd called Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin, meant to evoke the play of the waves in the sunlight for the listener.