FERDINAND HODLER | LANDSCHAFT MIT WIESE UND WALDRAND

Ulrich Diem, 1907 - 22th April 1955

Auktionshaus Galerie Vogler, Basel, 2012, lot 236 where acquired by the present owner

Oskar Bätschmann / Paul Müller, Ferdinand Hodler, Catalogue raisonné der Gemälde. Biografien und Dokumente, 2018, vol. 4 p. 300, no. 1700

Hodler’s early compositions are inspired by the classicism of late 19^th Century works. In the 1880s the artist played a central role in the first Symbolist Movement in Geneva. His decorative treatment of the floral motifs in the foreground, with different shades of green, is typical of the current Symbolist style. The 1880s also mark the beginning of Hodler’s international career and in 1887 he has his first solo exhibition in Bern. In this superb work, the division of the composition into three parallel bands - the meadow, the forest and the sky – prefigures his later emblematic style: parallelism. Hodler found symmetry and rhythm in nature and in all things.

This work is registered in the Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA) under no. 1206200004