3033 - FERDINAND HODLER

FERDINAND HODLER (Bern 1853–1918 Geneva) Die kranke Valentine Godé-Darel, Halbfigur. 1914. Pencil on paper. Dated lower right: 23 Dec 1914. 31 × 46.5 cm. Provenance: - Estate of Berthe Hodler, Geneva (verso with estate stamp). - Estate auction of Berthe Hodler, Geneva, 14 April 1958, lot 26 (verso with stamp). - Private collection, Mr P. Magnenat, Lausanne. - Jura Brüschweiler Collection, Geneva. - By descent to the present owners. Exhibited: - Geneva 1963, Ferdinand Hodler. Dessins, Musée Rath, 18 January–17 February 1963, no. 200 (verso with label). - Tokyo and Kyoto 1975, Exposition Ferdinand Hodler, National Museum of Western Art, 5 April–25 May 1975; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 7 June–20 July 1975, no. 75 (verso with label). - Zurich, St Gallen, Munich and Bern 1976/77, Ein Maler vor Liebe und Tod. Ferdinand Hodler und Valentine Godé-Darel. Ein Werkzyklus 1908–1915, Kunsthaus Zürich, 9 April–23 May 1976; Kunstverein St Gallen, 5 June–11 July 1976; Villa Stuck, 23 July–10 October 1976; Kunstmuseum Bern, 23 October 1976–2 January 1977, no. 131 (verso with label). - Berlin, Paris and Zurich 1983, Ferdinand Hodler, Nationalgalerie Berlin, 2 March–24 April 1983; Musée du Petit Palais, 11 May–24 July 1983; Kunsthaus Zürich, 19 August–23 October 1983, no. 154 (verso with label). Literature: - Exhibition catalogue Ferdinand Hodler. Dessins, Geneva 1963, no. 200. - Exhibition catalogue Exposition Ferdinand Hodler, Tokyo and Kyoto 1975, no. 75. - Exhibition catalogue Ein Maler vor Liebe und Tod. Ferdinand Hodler und Valentine Godé-Darel. Ein Werkzyklus 1908–1915, Zurich, St Gallen, Munich and Bern 1976/77, no. 131. - Exhibition catalogue Ferdinand Hodler, Berlin, Paris and Zurich 1983, p. 482, no. 154 (ill. p. 382). Valentine Godé-Darel and Ferdinand Hodler first met in 1908. Their encounter marked the beginning of a passionate relationship, from which their daughter Paulette was born on 13 October 1913. By then, Valentine was already seriously ill with cancer. Hodler’s depictions of his gravely ill companion Valentine rank among the most moving and significant groups of works in his oeuvre. In this unique and unsparingly honest series of paintings, drawings and small sketches, Hodler initially recorded her motherhood and illness and, from November 1914 until her death on 25 January 1915, the final weeks of her life. Often dated to the very day, this sequence of images is among the most compelling explorations of illness, transience and death in the history of European art. Through profound empathy and close observation, the portrayal of his beloved becomes the setting for an intensely personal yet universal confrontation with the human condition. The present drawing, dated 23 December 1914, depicts Valentine lying in bed with her eyes closed and her head fallen back. While Hodler carefully models her face with vigorous hatching, he outlines her body, the blanket and the pillows in a few sweeping lines. ‘In drawings such as this, the artist succeeds in finding beauty even in physical decline and emotional suffering, and in setting against death something capable of enduring beyond it for all time’ (Jura Brüschweiler, 1997; translated from the German). The importance of the sheet is also reflected in its provenance and exhibition history. From the estate of Hodler’s wife Berthe, it later entered the distinguished collection of Jura Brüschweiler. Exhibited at the Musée Rath in Geneva as early as 1963, it was included in the landmark 1976/77 exhibition ‘Ein Maler vor Liebe und Tod’, which offered the first comprehensive appreciation of this exceptional cycle of works. The drawing was also shown in the major Hodler retrospective held in Berlin, Paris and Zurich in 1983.