Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc before sunrise 1918

Ferdinand Hodler made this painting of Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc before sunrise with oil on canvas. I’m really drawn to the way Hodler stacks these horizontal bands. It feels so simple, but the colors are doing a lot of work. That yellowy-cream band at the top is so subtle, but it gives the whole piece this incredible glow. The way he’s built up the paint is really interesting. You can see these distinct strokes, almost like he was layering different emotions. Check out the mountain range. It’s this dark, looming presence, but the way he’s edged it with those delicate lines of purple and blue… it’s like he’s trying to capture the feeling of being on the cusp of something. I’m reminded of the work of someone like Agnes Martin, in the way that the apparent simplicity carries so much emotional weight. It embraces ambiguity over fixed meaning, leaving room for interpretation.