The Wake-Up Spring 

Curator: Good morning, I’m keen to talk about a unique artwork, Arnold Böcklin's "The Wake-Up Spring." Editor: Just glancing at it, it strikes me as a really odd blend of serene and slightly unsettling. Is it the pale figures against that murky landscape? Curator: Indeed. Böcklin, a Swiss symbolist painter, wasn't afraid to blend disparate elements. He presents a scene suffused with classical allusions, note the satyr playing the pipes, and yet there's something about the representation of the figures that pushes against tradition. Editor: Absolutely, and this potent iconography has everything to do with the cultural associations that are coded in these visual symbols. What’s with the red drape in this depiction? What associations come to mind when you examine the symbol-narrative around it? Curator: It draws heavily on a reimagining of Arcadia, really taking advantage of these figures, especially nudes as stand-ins. The composition does a lot to place the painting firmly into its contemporary culture of imagining classic myths in the image of contemporary artistic values. Editor: Right. And I read this “Wake-Up Spring” as symbolic—Böcklin might have intended this landscape not just as an escape, but as an active and possibly regenerative space, where these symbolic figures can act in defiance of modernity’s cultural restrictions. Curator: Precisely! He gives us access to these timeless myths with such immediate visual language, he creates this allegorical image to access new modes of engaging the contemporary viewer. And what of that interplay between these figures as the key point, a stage for contemporary drama to play out through allegory. Editor: Well, by juxtaposing these figures so jarringly with a conventional landscape, Böcklin evokes this curious feeling that we see repeated often, the re-emergence of archaic ideals and dreams with pressing contemporary values, giving “The Wake-Up Spring” much more power than a typical Arcadia representation. Curator: I completely agree; seeing the image now really sharpens my appreciation of it as both a commentary and an alternative, which goes far to reveal his intention for the viewer. Editor: Well, thanks to our discussion, this odd, enchanting artwork feels quite a bit less ambiguous and all the more potent to the psyche!