Grand Muveran 1912

Ferdinand Hodler painted this landscape, "Grand Muveran", probably with oil on canvas. Look at the way he’s built up the colours – it's not about perfection, but the actual, physical process of painting. The texture is smooth, but you can still sense the hand of the artist in the application. Hodler used thin layers, so that the light is allowed to bounce off the surface, which creates a sense of depth and atmosphere. Take a look at the blues in the mountain range: there are soft greys and turquoises gently brushed in to create different spatial planes. It's a bit like how Cézanne constructed forms, but here, Hodler is making a mountain range. Hodler reminds me a little of Courbet in his earthiness and his subject matter, but his painting also has something in common with Symbolism. So much for art history! Mostly, though, Hodler reminds us that painting is a slow, ongoing conversation, full of possibilities and surprises.