The Architecture of Mortality Born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1853, Ferdinand Hodler’s early years were defined by a quiet, persistent grief. Before he reached adolescence, the tuberculosis that claimed his father and two younger brothers left a void in his household. This early encounter with loss became a recurring motif in his work, a shadow that would follow him from the modest beginnings of his apprenticeship to the heights of his professional career. He began his training as a decorative painter, assisting his stepfather with commercial sign-work, a practical education that instilled in…
A chart of Ferdinand Hodler's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.
Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.
Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.
Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.