View of the Horn of Fromberg from Reichenbach 1903

Ferdinand Hodler made this painting of the Swiss Alps, with oils, at an unknown date. Look at how the blue-grey mountains are set against the yellow of the fields. You can almost feel the sun beating down, making the scene radiant. Hodler repeats and simplifies forms: see the triangular shapes, the way he flattens the landscape, and the dark outlines, like stained glass. I imagine Hodler standing en plein air, his feet planted on the ground, squinting into the sun as he paints. He must have felt so lucky to find this view, and the need to reproduce what he saw. But it isn't a reproduction at all. It's like he's asking: How can I make this experience for real? How can I share this feeling with others? Artists are in a constant dialogue. Hodler was looking at other painters, and they were looking at him, and we are looking now, so the conversation continues. With painting, there is always a new way of seeing.