The Night

Ferdinand Hodler's The Night (1889) is one of the most significant Swiss paintings of the nineteenth century — a monumental work that shocked Geneva and established Hodler's reputation when it was initially censored for its nudity before public outcry secured its exhibition at the 1891 Salon du Champ-de-Mars in Paris. The Night depicts a group of male figures in various states of sleep surrounding a central figure from whom a dark, cloaked figure of Death recoils — Hodler himself, confronting the horror of death's approach. The painting inaugurated the Symbolist-Parallelism style that would define his mature work.

Hodler organizes The Night through the principle he called Parallelism: repeated similar forms — the sleeping figures — arranged symmetrically to create a decorative and symbolically charged rhythm. The palette is dark and austere — the night setting allows near-monochrome treatment in deep blues, blacks, and the pale flesh tones of the sleeping figures. The central confrontation between the awakening figure and the shrouded Death form is compositionally emphasized. The handling is precise and sculptural, giving the figures a timeless, archaic monumentality.