Ferdinand Hodler
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Ferdinand Hodler Details
Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler is one of Europe's best least-known artists. Though he remained in Switzerland for his entire life, his international reputation has been growing in the past several decades, beginning with a traveling retrospective in the early 1970s. Hodler, who kept up on the latest movements brewing in Paris, is considered a Symbolist who tempered that movement's flights of fancy with Realism. He is regarded as a bridge between the Modern period and the impulses of mid-1800s Realism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau. As may be expected with such a range of influences at the artist's disposal, Hodler's style fluctuated widely throughout his career. His most well known painting may be "The Woodcutter" (1908), which was commissioned as an illustration for the Swiss 50-franc note. "The Woodcutter" is a strange and engaging mixture of Expressionism--the subject is depicted mid-chop in vigorous brush strokes--and Symbolism, as the ghostly landscape behind the figure supports an odd, bright blue, orb-like cloud. More than two decades since his last retrospective, this fresh and extensive assessment of Hodler's paintings finds much new territory to uncover.
Reviews
If you like Hodler, this is an excellent book. Clocking in at over 400 pages, it is the one book on Hodler to own. The reproductions are excellent and profuse. Availability is a problem. As of Oct 2008, I purchased a copy through the german Amazon. $80 with shipping. Well worth it to me. This is an exhibition catalog, so there will not be many around. Get it while the gettin is good.
