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Arnold Böcklin

Ruin by the Sea

1881
oil on fabric
111 × 82 cm (43.7 × 32.3 in)

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● On view now — 219 19th Century European

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · verified July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Who used to live in this crumbling villa on a lonely shore? Böcklin's eerie painting seems to beg the question of the building's history and the circumstances of its ruin. Haunted by the past, this scene also contains premonitions of future peril.

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