3035 - FERDINAND HODLER

FERDINAND HODLER (Bern 1853–1918 Geneva) Taker of the oath, Unanimity. 1912/13. Oil on paper laid on canvas. Signed lower right: F. Hodler. 34.5 × 21 cm. Provenance: - Probably auction Galerie Pro Arte, Peseux, 28 June 1951, lot 343. - Private collection, until 1954. - Auction Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, 12 November 1954, lot 497. - Important private collection, Switzerland, from 1975. - Private collection, Switzerland. - Auction Koller Zurich, 2 July 2021, lot 3037. - Private collection, Switzerland, acquired at the above auction. Exhibited: Geneva 1918, Exposition Ferdinand Hodler, Galerie Moos, 11 May–30 June 1918, probably no. 93 or 107 (verso with stamp). Literature: - Jura Brüschweiler: Ferdinand Hodler. Sammlung Steiner, Zurich 1997, p. 94, no. 243 (ill.). - Oskar Bätschmann and Paul Müller: Ferdinand Hodler. Catalogue raisonné der Gemälde, ed. Swiss Institute for Art Research, vol. III-2, Die Figurenbilder, Zurich 2017, p. 471, no. 1584 (ill.). Between 1911 and 1913, Hodler employed this pose of a man taking an oath in various compositional studies, adapting it for different positions in preparation for the large mural in Hanover Town Hall. It first appears at the far right of the composition in designs dating from 1911. The motif of the individual figure wearing slit trousers is documented in pencil studies probably executed between 1911 and 1912. In the 1912 state of the Hanover version (catalogue raisonné no. 1495), the figure can be identified as a man taking an oath immediately to the right of the speaker, his movement slightly altered. In the final state of the same version, Hodler incorporated him as a secondary figure into the group to the right of the speaker, where he is, however, largely obscured by figures in the foreground. * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.