Ferdinand HODLER (1853-1918)

Portrait of Madame Adèle Roy-Joos, 1917 Oil on canvas signed lower right. Titled and dated on the back with a label of provenance on the frame. Dimensions : 61,5 x 53,5 cm Adèle Roy-Joos, a Swiss citizen, was the wife of François Roy, mayor of Mareuil in Charentes between 1900 and 1919 and a generous patron of the arts. Hodler painted portraits of the couple in Geneva in 1917 (Nos. 1036 and 1037 in the catalogue raisonné), portraits that are now separate. In the portrait of François Roy, the artist chose rigidity, symmetry and severity, while the portrait of his wife, wearing a blue dress with a large pendant, has different, even opposing, features. The gentle expression on her face and the slight inclination of her head give the impression of a modest and warm person. Hodler had captured the essential contours of the figure in a drawing illustrated in the catalogue raisonné. Documentation: Catalogue raisonné "Hodler, the paintings, the portraits", by Oskar Bätschmann and Paul Müller, Swiss Institute for the Study of Art. Text and illustration no. 1037, page 339 with preparatory drawing. Letter from the Swiss Institute for the Study of Art dated 11 May 2011 to the owner: "... The Swiss Institute for Art Research has published the catalogue raisonné of Ferdinand Hodler's portraits. We are in the process of checking and completing the inventory of the paintings... About the portrait of Madame Roy by Ferdinand Hodler, we unfortunately only have a black and white photo... If you are the owner, would we be allowed to take a digital photo of the portrait? This painting is listed in our catalogue of works, but without any information on the current owners. Document: Purchase slip from Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, 18 November 1973. Provenance: Kornfeld und Klipstein, auctioneers Bern, November 1973 Since then, private collection Aarau Switzerland and Monte Carlo. Condition reported: Very good overall condition. Biography: Considered the most influential Swiss painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a friend of Klimt and Jawlensky, admired by Puvis de Chavannes, Rodin and Kandinsky, Ferdinand Hodler was one of the main drivers of modernity in Belle Époque Europe. His powerful work navigates between realism, symbolism and expressionism. In the course of his career, he touched on all genres, favouring portraits, landscapes, historical and monumental paintings and figure compositions. Born in Bern but established in Geneva, he introduced abstraction and expressionism into his art. His first paintings were inspired by the Swiss realism of painters such as Albert Anker or Koller. But it was when he turned to symbolism that he really made a name for himself. His masterpiece "La Nuit" in 1890 attracted the attention of the French painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and was a great success at the Salon du Champ de Mars in Paris in 1891. The painting was then banned from exhibition in Geneva for obscenity. Hodler was influenced by Puvis de Chavannes in the creation of large mural compositions and painted paintings of paradisiacal groups with nude figures or those dressed in the antique style. Hodler received important public commissions, especially from the cities of Zurich and Geneva. By the end of the 1890s, he had established himself as the Swiss national painter. A fabulous landscape painter, he gave his lakes and mountains a dimension of eternity. The death of his mistress Valentine Godé-Darel made him reflect on death and inspired him to paint a series of abstract views of Lake Geneva. An innovative portraitist, he left several unfinished paintings at his death in 1918.