concept:era modern

The Night

Name: Provenio Provenance Knowledge Graph
License: https://provenio.art/terms

Oil on canvas by Ferdinand Hodler (1889-1890). Several sleeping figures; one awakened by a dark shrouded figure (Death/Nightmare). An allegory of mortality expressed through Hodler's Parallelism theory. Rejected in Geneva, triumphant in Paris. Kunstmuseum Bern.

Scholarly Significance

Anchor Swiss Symbolist painting with Hodler's The Night.

Notes

·Rejected by the Geneva Artists' Society in 1891 on grounds of indecency and disturbing imagery.
·Exhibited independently by Hodler in Geneva, then sent to Paris Salon du Champ de Mars 1891; triumphant there.
·The dark shrouded figure pressing on the sleeping man is interpreted as Death, Nightmare, or the unconscious.
·Multiple sleeping figures arranged in Parallelism — Hodler's compositional theory of universal human experience.
·The central awakened figure is a self-portrait — Hodler confronting mortality.
·Earned him Vienna Secession membership invitation (1900).