Ferdinand Hodler, Was die Blumen sagen, um 1893, Öl auf Leinwand, 100 x 50 cm, Liestal, Kunsthistorische Sammlung, Archäologie und Museum Baselland, ©Serge Hasenböhler
This exhibition explores, for the first time, the connections between the paintings of Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918) and religion. In his youth, the Swiss painter was an avid reader of the Bible. He depicted rare biblical scenes in his paintings, particularly that of the Good Samaritan. A native of Bern and a Protestant by faith, he also created a painting that links him to the Reformation and the city of Geneva: Calvin in the Courtyard of the College. Several church interiors and scenes of prayer are also known.
Exploring Ferdinand Hodler’s religious roots, this exhibition focuses above all on how the painter made the idea of creation his own, transposing it onto nature and developing, through his artistic theory, almost a form of pantheism. The belief that the order of nature expresses a higher unity guided the creation of Hodler’s most important works, particularly his final major Symbolist compositions, such as Gaze into Infinity, and the landscapes he termed “planetary,” which invite meditation and spiritual elevation. Through some twenty-five paintings, the exhibition traces Hodler’s various artistic creeds and the spiritual stages of his journey.
