The Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918) does not fall into any school or movement. His distinctive style abstracts types of art of his era (though the style is not abstract). Yet Hodler is neither an imitator nor a precursor. He's too distinctive to be either.
Though because of elements of his style, Hodler fits within his historical era, his uniqueness is such that he has a somewhat oblique relationship to and almost no effect on the history of art. Yet this relationship to his era and his society is not "conflicted," as this term has come to be used so often for modern artists' struggles, rejections, and seeking of new paths. Hodler did not, for instance, look back. Unlike French painters (e. g., Courbet, Manet) who would be seen as the first wave of Modernism, Hodler did not consciously or explicitly reject academicism; and in so doing move into a realism. He did though naturally and effortlessly transmute it so that he might as well have intended to move from it. Hodler's affinity with academicism--fading, but still influential in the earlier years of his career--is seen in the iconic, somewhat stiff, appearance of his human figures. But such formality as inhering in 19th-century academic paintings is so different in Hodler's that one sees primarily instead his figures as forerunners by several decades of the totemic-like figures and jazzy, though formal, motifs of art deco.
Hodler's paintings are like a mix of art nouveau and art deco; though art nouveau cleared of its normally crowded, intermingled parts representing the world of nature. As the subtitle denotes, he's symbolist - yes, but mostly coincidentally in style, not meaning particularly to promulgate a symbolist worldview, or else he would belong to this school. His paintings are closer to stylized illustration art than highly-worked paintings with layered elements and complex relationships. They can also be seen as incorporating decorative features such as accentuation, isolation, and clarity. As figures of Hodler's can be seen to be forerunner's of art deco figures, so can his landscapes of rocks and shorelines be seen to be forerunners of cubism. But these can be seen as more cubist than cubism the forms and their demarcations, partaking of stylistics of decorative art, are so clean and clear. This evident feature of Hodler's art, as essayists point out, bespeaks the artist's idealism; which sometimes drifts into a type of spirituality or myth. It is this more than anything which associates Hodler with symbolism.
The work is practically a catalog raisonne with its comprehensiveness; though organized thematically rather than chronologically, and with more critique, commentary, and analysis in its text. There's a great quantity of illustration going into the breadth, variety, and detail of Hodler's work. Captions of many illustrations are like pithy essays to be read, not simply skimmed over. Several essays, some with following commentaries, discuss the varied facets of the art. The voluminous, handsome, liberally illustrated, and studious work is a milestone regarding this artist who evades pigeonholing for his individuality, grandness of artistic vision, and uniqueness of stylistic detail in the paintings.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
Entartete Musik
View to Infinity
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2012