Ferdinand HODLER (* 1853, † 1918)

1853
born in Bern, Switzerland

1860
Ferdinand Hodler’s father dies of tuberculosis.

1865
Ferdinand Hodler takes over the workshop of his alcoholic stepfather, who was a decorative painter, and from then on supports the whole family.

1867
F. Hodler’s mother dies, leaving behind six children, all of whom die of tuberculosis in the following 18 years.

1868-1870
apprenticeship as a landscape painter with Ferdinand Sommer in Thun.

1871
Ferdinand Hodler moves to Geneva and paints company signs.

1872
while copying paintings at the Musée Rath, Ferdinand Hodler is discovered by Barthélemy Menn and becomes his student until 1877. He develops new themes such as portraiture and self-portraiture under B. Menn.

1874
– wins first prize in the Concours Calame organized by the Société des Arts de Genève.

– Since Concours Calame, participates in national exhibitions and competitions.

1878/1879
travels to Spain to study painters such as Diego Velázquez, Peter Paul Rubens, José de Ribera, and Titian.

Between 1881 and 1885
exhibitions in London, Zurich, Geneva, and at the World’s Fair in Antwerp.

From the mid-1880s
separation from old artistic role models and development of the “parallelism” style as ideas about the “body-soul problem” were discussed by German psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt. Ferdinand Hodler discovered parallel patterns in nature.

1885
first solo exhibition in Geneva

1886
solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern

1889
– breakthrough with his painting “Die Nacht” (The Night), which was not exhibited at the Musée Rath in Geneva due to accusations of immorality, but was very successful at a private exhibition.

– marriage to Bertha Stucki.

1891
divorce from Bertha Stucki.

1897
– F. Hodler won a competition to decorate the armoury of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. However, the director boycotted his designs. Thanks to the support of a delegation from the Federal Council in Bern, Hodler’s designs were finally accepted.

– marriage to Berthe Jacques

1900
– gold medal for three of his works at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900; he became one of the leading painters in Europe

– member of the Vienna and Berlin Secession

1904
member of the Munich Secession

1908
encounter with Valentine Godé-Darel, who became his lover

1911
Zwei schweizerische Banknoten wurden mit zwei seiner Motive gedruckt

1913
– awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel

– birth of his daughter, who was raised by Hodler’s wife Berthe due to the early death of her mother, V. Godé-Darel. Hodler later adopted his daughter.

1914
excluded from almost all German artists’ associations due to a letter of protest against the bombing of Reims Cathedral by German artillery during World War I

1916
professorship at the Ecole des Beaus-Arts in Geneva, Switzerland

1917
major retrospective at the Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland

1918
– Honorary citizenship of Geneva, Switzerland

– died in Geneva, Switzerland