Die Wahrheit

1902

Ferdinand Hodler1853 Bern – 1918 Genf
We have 150 artworks by Ferdinand Hodler online.
We have 1824 paintings online.
The composition of 'Truth' can be seen as a Symbolist realization of the early history painting 'Calvin und die Professoren' (1883/84; Geneva, Musée d'art et d'histoire). It develops in the environment of the Symbolist compositions of the 1890s and detaches itself in definitive form from the compositional ideas for the 'The Day' in 1898/99. The first painted version is created in 1902, the second, decidedly more intense and stylized, follows in the fall of 1903 for the exhibition at the Vienna Secession in 1904. For Hodler, the woman represents the truth from which the dark men flee (cf. Ferdinand Hodler. Vom Frühwerk bis zur Jahrhundertwende. Zeichnungen aus der Graphischen Sammlung des Kunsthauses Zürich (Zürich 1990; = Collection Booklet 15), 1990, pp. 147-165).
Also known as
Truth Die Wahrheit. Erste Fassung [historic]
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
image: 196 x 273 cm
Inventory number
1173
Credit line
Kunsthaus Zürich, Donated by Alfred Rütschiʼs heirs, 1929