View of the Horn of Fromberg from Reichenbach 1903

Ferdinand Hodler painted "View of the Horn of Fromberg from Reichenbach," likely in oil, with a way of working that feels both precise and intuitive. Look at the color – that intense yellow-gold that dominates the fields. It's not just about what the landscape looks like, but more about how the artist felt, how he experienced the light. The mountains behind are worked with layers of blues, greys and ochre, the brushstrokes laid down in such a way that suggests both the solidity of the rock and the shifting atmosphere. Notice how the foreground is built up with these small brushstrokes, a kind of rhythmic, almost meditative mark-making. I'm reminded of Cezanne, but with an added dose of Swiss romanticism. Hodler wasn't just recording a scene, he was trying to capture something essential about our relationship to nature. This is what makes art so interesting; we can never say for sure what it means, but we can always feel its presence.