Artists’ stories

Ferdinand Hodler — Figures d’Eurythmie — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Figures d’Eurythmie · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « Figures d’Eurythmie ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Figures d’Eurythmie · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

Five walkers, a movement nothing hurries

With Eurhythmy, Hodler turns human movement into a composition of great slowness. Completed in 1895 and acquired in Bern in 1901, the work asks us to follow differences at the heart of a group.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Vieillard assis, étude pour Les Âmes déçues ou Les Las de vivre — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Vieillard assis, étude pour Les Âmes déçues ou Les Las de vivre · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « Vieillard assis, étude pour Les Âmes déçues ou Les Las de vivre ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Vieillard assis, étude pour Les Âmes déçues ou Les Las de vivre · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

Souls brought together without consolation

The Disappointed Souls presents a group of old men whose attitudes answer one another. This 1892 painting, acquired in Bern in 1901, makes the proximity of bodies an experience without an easy solution.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Le petit platane — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Le petit platane · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jl FilpoC
Ferdinand Hodler — « Le petit platane ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Le petit platane · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jl FilpoC
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

The walker entering the order of the trees

Around 1885, Hodler painted a walker among tree trunks. This small scene invites us to follow the passage between an individual presence and the rhythm of a forest, long before the great Symbolist decorations.

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Ferdinand Hodler — L’Élu, seconde version — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · L’Élu, seconde version · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « L’Élu, seconde version ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · L’Élu, seconde version · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

The little boy at the centre of a circle of expectation

In The Chosen One, Hodler gives a child a singular place amid figures arranged around him. The 1893–1894 work lets us look at how a symbolic title becomes an organisation of bodies.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Regard dans l’infini, version Hahnloser — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Regard dans l’infini, version Hahnloser · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Paradise Chronicle
Ferdinand Hodler — « Regard dans l’infini, version Hahnloser ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Regard dans l’infini, version Hahnloser · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Paradise Chronicle
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

A great painting prepared down to the fingers

View into Infinity grows out of a monumental commission and numerous studies. A hand painted on paper lets us approach the precise work supporting the figures’ grand deployment.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Femme morte sur son lit de mort — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Femme morte sur son lit de mort · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Paradise Chronicle
Ferdinand Hodler — « Femme morte sur son lit de mort ».
Ferdinand Hodler · Femme morte sur son lit de mort · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Paradise Chronicle
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Ferdinand Hodler · 4 min read

The day after Valentine

In January 1915, Hodler paints Valentine Godé-Darel after her death. In Solothurn, a canvas from the cycle preserves an unflinching presence, where precision of looking compels us to encounter a person before seeking a symbol.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Le Bûcheron — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Le Bûcheron · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Fernidand Hodler (1853 - 1918) – Painter (Swiss) Details on Google Art Project
Ferdinand Hodler — « Le Bûcheron ».
Ferdinand Hodler · Le Bûcheron · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Fernidand Hodler (1853 - 1918) – Painter (Swiss) Details on Google Art Project
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

The Woodcutter leaves the wallet

Designed for a fifty-franc note, The Woodcutter gains a different breadth on canvas. Between official commission, changes of format and replicas, Hodler turns a working gesture into a monumental presence.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Le lac Léman vu de Chexbres — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Le lac Léman vu de Chexbres · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « Le lac Léman vu de Chexbres ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Le lac Léman vu de Chexbres · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 5 min read

Fifteen days to give Lake Geneva a rhythm

In spring 1904, Hodler stays in Chexbres after his success in Vienna. Before a familiar panorama, he begins a series in which the lake becomes a vast coloured form, immediately welcomed into a public collection.

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Ferdinand Hodler — Le Hallebardier — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · Le Hallebardier · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « Le Hallebardier ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Ferdinand Hodler · Le Hallebardier · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 2 min read

Ferdinand Hodler: the warrior on the 1917 Zurich exhibition poster

From 14 June to 5 August 1917, the Kunsthaus Zurich presented the largest exhibition devoted to Ferdinand Hodler up to that time. The artist designed the poster, dominated by a kneeling Swiss warrior. Any association between this figure and the controversy surrounding The Retreat from Marignano, however, is a matter of interpretation, not of documented intent.

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Ferdinand Hodler — La Nuit — Image creditsFerdinand Hodler · La Nuit · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Ferdinand Hodler — « La Nuit ».
Ferdinand Hodler · La Nuit · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Ferdinand Hodler · 1 min read

Hodler: when exclusion opens the way to Paris

In 1891, The Night is excluded from an exhibition in Geneva. Hodler finds another way to show it. The rejection becomes a turning point.

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