DOI issue:
No. 370 (January 1924)
DOI article:Taylor, Horace: Ferdinand Hodler
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21399#0022
FERDINAND HODLER
“SPANISH DANCER.” BY
FERDINAND HODLER
(By courtesy of Messrs.
Rascher & Co., Zurich)
in the fact that his Wrestlers received an
“ honorable mention ” in the Paris Salon.
The opposition to Hodler reached its
climax in 1891, when the authorities were
obliged to withdraw his picture Night from
the municipal exhibition owing to a storm
of protest on the ground that it was im-
moral. When exhibited the following Feb-
ruary, together with the Lebensmuden and
Enttauschten, the Geneva public flocked
toseethepicture they had banned. Night had
a great success in Paris, and was awarded
a gold medal in Munich a few years later.
4
The reception of Night by French critics
made a great impression in Geneva, and
from this time forward Hodler’s work was
treated with more respect in the press.
This despite the fact that it was in this
period, the eighteen-nineties, that his work
took on a more debatable form. His colour
became clearer and brighter, going almost
to the extreme of brilliance. He forsook the
painstakingly accurate imitative naturalism
of his early work and gave himself freely
to his imagination. His composition became
definitely formal, with a marked preference
for parallel, vertical and horizontal lines.
His subjects became mystical, vaguely sym-
bolic. Even his drawing, so masterly in its
subtle modelling, became simplified to a
bold outline. It is this period which has
made Hodler’s greatness among the artists,
but it can hardly have been more acceptable
than his realism to the Genevan public. 0
Recognition came to Hodler at last. A
small early picture was acquired by the
Geneva gallery in 1890, but it was not
until 1901 that Berne followed with Night,
Day, The Disillusioned and Eurhythmus—
four of his greatest works. The Day was
awarded a gold medal at the Exposition
Universelle in Paris (1900), and led to his
being honoured with the rank of chevalier
of the Legion d'Honneur in 1912. 0
Hodler died in May, 1918, at the age of
65. After a life of terrible hardship and
struggle he had achieved a success such as
he could scarcely have dreamed. 0
His output was enormous. The work is
generally divided into two periods—the
second manner dating from the painting of
Night in 1890. But the pictures fall more
easily into four groups—landscape, genre,
historical and symbolical. The second
group includes all the studies of village life
and village characters, the shoemaker, the
carpenter and other portraits ; the village
church and the cafe interiors. The larger
canvases, The Wrestlers and The Gymnasts’
Banquet, are painted in the same manner.
The lighting is generally flat, little or no
chiaroscuro, the colour restrained, and the
painting at its best suggesting Courbet or
even Manet. The Woodcutter is a much
later painting. 0000
Hodler painted landscapes all his life.
From the first he busied himself with
Man's relation to the Universe. But it
“SPANISH DANCER.” BY
FERDINAND HODLER
(By courtesy of Messrs.
Rascher & Co., Zurich)
in the fact that his Wrestlers received an
“ honorable mention ” in the Paris Salon.
The opposition to Hodler reached its
climax in 1891, when the authorities were
obliged to withdraw his picture Night from
the municipal exhibition owing to a storm
of protest on the ground that it was im-
moral. When exhibited the following Feb-
ruary, together with the Lebensmuden and
Enttauschten, the Geneva public flocked
toseethepicture they had banned. Night had
a great success in Paris, and was awarded
a gold medal in Munich a few years later.
4
The reception of Night by French critics
made a great impression in Geneva, and
from this time forward Hodler’s work was
treated with more respect in the press.
This despite the fact that it was in this
period, the eighteen-nineties, that his work
took on a more debatable form. His colour
became clearer and brighter, going almost
to the extreme of brilliance. He forsook the
painstakingly accurate imitative naturalism
of his early work and gave himself freely
to his imagination. His composition became
definitely formal, with a marked preference
for parallel, vertical and horizontal lines.
His subjects became mystical, vaguely sym-
bolic. Even his drawing, so masterly in its
subtle modelling, became simplified to a
bold outline. It is this period which has
made Hodler’s greatness among the artists,
but it can hardly have been more acceptable
than his realism to the Genevan public. 0
Recognition came to Hodler at last. A
small early picture was acquired by the
Geneva gallery in 1890, but it was not
until 1901 that Berne followed with Night,
Day, The Disillusioned and Eurhythmus—
four of his greatest works. The Day was
awarded a gold medal at the Exposition
Universelle in Paris (1900), and led to his
being honoured with the rank of chevalier
of the Legion d'Honneur in 1912. 0
Hodler died in May, 1918, at the age of
65. After a life of terrible hardship and
struggle he had achieved a success such as
he could scarcely have dreamed. 0
His output was enormous. The work is
generally divided into two periods—the
second manner dating from the painting of
Night in 1890. But the pictures fall more
easily into four groups—landscape, genre,
historical and symbolical. The second
group includes all the studies of village life
and village characters, the shoemaker, the
carpenter and other portraits ; the village
church and the cafe interiors. The larger
canvases, The Wrestlers and The Gymnasts’
Banquet, are painted in the same manner.
The lighting is generally flat, little or no
chiaroscuro, the colour restrained, and the
painting at its best suggesting Courbet or
even Manet. The Woodcutter is a much
later painting. 0000
Hodler painted landscapes all his life.
From the first he busied himself with
Man's relation to the Universe. But it