Hodler, Ferdinand 1853 Bern/Gurzelen - 1918 Geneva Berner Mädchen (portrait of a cousin of the artist). Around 1898. Oil on paper. Laid down on canvas. 24 x 18cm. Signed bottom right: F. Hodler. Framed. Provenance: Galerie Neupert, Zurich Exhibitions: Kunstmuseum und Kunsthalle Bern 1921, Gedächtnis-Ausstellung Bern, Cat.-No. 303, not ill. ("Berner Mädchen (Base des Künstlers in Gurzlen)". Exhibition label) Literature: C.A. Loosli, Ferdinand Hodler - Leben, Werk und Nachlass, 1921-24, vol. IV, p. 58, No. 142 Around 1890 Ferdinand Hodler starts developping his very own "monumental style" overcoming the impressionist style of his early works and modifying his realism. From now on, his painting displays the following characteristics: a powerful structure, firm outlines, symmetric compositions showing mainly parallel forms as well as a two-dimensional colouring which is often chosen according to symbolic values depending on the content. He doesn't only use these forms of expression in his representations of figures and landscape paintings, but also in his portraits. The present image of the artist's cousin is an impressive example in this context: the artist chooses a very close distance so that narrative details of the surroundings are not presented. He thus focuses exclusively on the young woman's delicately modelled face. She doesn't establish contact with the beholder; her large eyes' fixed gaze is rather introvert. The tranquility of this being-lost-in-contemplation is reflected in the strict composition and the almost gloomy contrast of her clothes' and the background's black and white colouring - it's only the stubborn strands of hair hanging loose that provide the composition with a certain liveliness. The small format also enhances the intensity of expression. Compared to other women's portraits by Hodlers there are no symbolic elements to be found in this one as for instance flowers which would underline the meditative contemplation of the portrayed. In this work the tranquility resulting from overmastered passion which usually emanates from Hodler's works is only symbolized by the contemplative gesture.