1853 -1918 · Swiss symbolism, parallelism and landscapes of Lake Geneva

Rhythmic figures, ordered mountains, powerful contours and solemn repetitions make Ferdinand Hodler a major architect of European symbolism.

Ferdinand Hodler was born in Bern in 1853 into a very modest family. Tuberculosis successively took his father, mother and brothers and sisters, confronting the artist very early with illness and death. After an apprenticeship as a landscape painter for tourists in Thun, he went to Geneva on foot in 1871. He copied Alexandre Calame and François Diday at the Rath Museum before following the teaching of Barthélemy Menn. He introduced him to the figure, the history of art and a structured observation of nature. He introduced him to the figure, to art history and to structured observation of nature. According to him, Hodler introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. He introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. He introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. He introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. He introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. This introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. This introduced him to the figure, to the history of art and to structured observation of nature. This introduced him to the figure, to the history of world. The Night, refused in Geneva in 1891 for obscenity, soon brought him international recognition. Reclining figures, dancers and aligned characters become elements of an almost ceremonial human architecture. In the landscapes of Lake Geneva, the Alps and the Oberland, banks, reflections and mountain ranges are organized into horizontal bands and calm symmetries. Hodler also received large public commissions, including Unanimity in Hanover. The illness and death of Valentine Godé-Darel gave birth to a series of portraits of overwhelming frankness. During his last months, weakened, he painted variations of Lake Geneva from his apartment. Died in Geneva in 1918, he united intimate experience, Swiss identity and monumental ambition in a language that announced expressionism. The "Ferdinand Hodler" selection notably compares Unanimity and Lake Geneva seen from Chexbres. His reading favors details.

Hodler transforms repetition and symmetry into vital rhythm: a body, a mountain or a bank become visible signs of a universal order.