Q131586086

Another 1895 canvas from Hodler's mature Symbolist period, this work belongs to the sustained creative burst that followed the international breakthrough of Night and the large allegorical series. By mid-decade Hodler was moving fluidly between figure painting and landscape, finding in both subjects the same underlying principles of rhythm, symmetry, and elemental grandeur. His Swiss contemporaries often found his symbolic ambitions overreaching, but foreign critics, especially in Germany and Austria, were enthusiastic. The Kunsthaus Zürich's multiple 1895 acquisitions reflect its recognition that Hodler was producing an exceptionally coherent and important body of work at this moment. The controlled, linear clarity of 1895 canvases would gradually soften in subsequent years as Hodler's colour sense brightened and his touch loosened slightly.

Hodler's 1895 canvases maintain the compressed, linear quality of his Symbolist peak. Paint is applied in measured, deliberate strokes that follow form rather than express spontaneous gesture. The palette balances warm earth tones against cooler passages of blue or grey, with occasional heightened colour serving an emotional rather than descriptive purpose.