Ferdinand Hodler was an early expressionist painter, which meant he painted scenes to represent how he felt rather than what he observed. In addition to creating paintings based off of expressions, Hodler's work also depicted parallelism (symmetry and rhythm as the constructive principles of human society achieved through horizontal layering- composition) and symbolism (personal exploration of the close relationships between the realism of sex, death, and slumber- content). Hodler uses parallelism in the composition by layering the figure on top of each other, by doing this he allows viewers to read the painting like an ancient Egyptian relief, starting from the top and reading the painting down. Hodler incorporates symbolism through the content of his painting. The painting shows all of those random thoughts that fill your mind at night; thus, the painting depicts himself in a battle with a black figure at the center of the painting, two women on either sides of the painting, and then himself exhausted at the top right of the painting.
Here is a link to a video that discusses Ferdinand's painting further:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpissKS8iuM
No comments:
Post a Comment