Niesen 1910

Curator: Let's spend some time looking at Ferdinand Hodler's "Niesen," painted around 1910. Hodler was a Swiss painter, and this is one of many versions he created of this iconic mountain. Editor: Wow, it’s... intensely peaceful, almost unsettlingly so. The mountain looks so solid, but the sky’s all swirling brushstrokes. Makes you wonder what kind of weather it brings. Curator: Hodler’s repetition of forms is really striking here. You see that rhythm repeated in the mountain's facets and the swirling clouds? It's a principle he called "parallelism," believing it reflected the underlying order of nature. Editor: It’s hypnotic! The color palette is also something to behold. Blue and green, you see, and they vibrate with this kind of wildness. It also is kind of interesting the cloud that seems like cotton at the bottom of the mountain. It's almost cartoonish! It feels deliberately simplified. Is it because he repainted Niesen several times? Curator: Exactly. The Niesen became a personal symbol for Hodler. Beyond being just a mountain, it signified permanence and spiritual grounding. Notice how he eliminates any sense of human presence to enhance the symbolism of natural monumentality. Editor: So, he stripped everything back to basics: earth and sky? It's fascinating how a landscape can feel so emotionally charged! Almost melodramatic, with its bold shapes and intense colours. And it makes you wonder about its message or intention. I wonder, did he suffer from SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder? Curator: He saw it as a motif reflecting essential harmony of form. The clouds and their formations become these recurring reminders of transience against the mountains' steadfastness, reflecting his concerns around aging, sickness, and resilience against grief. Editor: It also speaks volumes about how our understanding of "realism" shifted back then! Who decided that nature should appear to be naturalistic at first glance? Curator: An insightful question! Ultimately, the way Hodler frames it provides viewers with enduring ways of interpreting nature symbolically. Editor: Makes one reflect. I see it as both comforting and kind of terrifying because it is grandiose. Thank you.