The maiden of the mist over the sea 1908

Ferdinand Hodler conjured this vision with oil on canvas; a blue mountain floating over an ethereal sea of mist. I can imagine Hodler standing before the canvas, brush in hand, trying to capture something so fleeting. Look at the gentle brushstrokes in the sky, how they blend and blur, like clouds dissolving into the atmosphere. The colours are restrained – pale blues, yellows, and whites – creating a hazy, dreamlike effect. And that mountain! The way he's rendered the jagged peaks with those confident strokes of blue paint – it feels solid and imposing, like an idea. The painting reminds me of Whistler’s atmospheric studies, but there’s something uniquely Hodler about it. He was trying to convey a feeling, an experience, more than just a literal depiction of the landscape. It’s a conversation across time and place. Hodler saw the world in his own way, and in turn, he inspires us to see the world anew.