Painted a picture that was deemed "grossly indecent" and became a national hero of his country. The stunning works of Ferdinand Hodler.

Ferdinand Hodler; 1853 — 1918 — a Swiss artist who became famous in his homeland is a rare case, most painters from this country became famous abroad, where they lived. He created his own artistic direction - parallelism, often used all sorts of symbols and allegories, and his paintings were subject to a certain rhythm, like in music, which was achieved by alternating human figures and landscape elements.

A look into infinity

Thus, Hodler wanted to reflect in his works the general order, which, in his opinion, was inherent in all living things on earth and was part of cosmic harmony.

Switzerland in those years, unlike Paris or London, was not the center of artistic life. All the famous artists tried to leave this well-fed wilderness for France or England, lived in Montmartre, visited dens of vice, such as Theophile Steinlen, and created, inspired by the paintings of old masters and new modernist works, since there was an excellent opportunity to see both with their own eyes.

Day

Hodler lived his entire life in Switzerland, where he studied, worked, staged provocative performances, fell in love with beautiful women, and achieved fame and recognition. For the Swiss, he is the most iconic artist, a national hero, much like Pushkin is for us in literature.

Self-portrait

Hodler's childhood was hardly happy. At the age of 7, he lost his father and two brothers, who died of tuberculosis, his mother remarried, but seven years later she died too. So at 14, Hodler was left an orphan, he was raised by his stepfather, who worked as a decorator - he painted signs, drew posters and panels. The boy had no choice but to study the art craft and try to earn a living - of course, he had no inheritance.

Lumberjack

When Hodler grew up a little, he moved to the town of Thun, which had become a tourist center, and drew simple postcards with views of the lake and local beauty, which he sold to visiting tourists - a kind of prototype of modern magnets that are attached to the refrigerator.

Le Gramont Mountain

But as soon as Hodler turned 18, he went to Geneva – there was an art academy, museums, and real life was in full swing. Hodler lived his entire life in Geneva, eventually becoming a national hero.

Woman in ecstasy

Hodler began to copy paintings of famous artists that he saw in the museum and soon achieved notable success in this business. That is why he was noticed in the museum by the famous artist and director of the Geneva School of Art Barthélemy Menn. He offered the talented young man to attend his educational institution for free, and later Hodler wrote with gratitude: "I owe everything in my life to Menn." After studying, Hodler went to Spain for new impressions, where he studied the paintings of Velazquez and Titian, what he saw helped him to paint one of the most provocative and scandalous works - "Night".

Night

It was refused to be exhibited in Switzerland, considered too indecent, but the artist organized a private show, and with the money raised he went with his work to Paris, where he presented it at an exhibition. There, the morals were simpler, there were more connoisseurs of art and lovers of innovation in painting, and that is why the painting was a resounding success.

The public and French artists admired her, Hodler was talked about as a talented painter and decorator, and he was invited to all sorts of exhibitions in all major European cities. There was no shortage of highly paid orders.

Eurythmy

For twenty years Hodler lived in hunger, painted for food and now, finally, recognition, although for this it was necessary to invent an artistic direction, develop his ideas about the structure of the world, which he would embody on canvas, paint in a way that no one had done before. Indeed, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.

Tired of life

True, his old age was unhappy - having earned huge amounts of money and achieved widespread recognition, Hodler spent the rest of his life in a hospital ward, but despite everything, until the last days of his life he continued to paint his amazing and talented paintings.

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