DER NIESEN PAINTED BY FERDINAND HODLER

FERDINAND HODLER  (1853-1918)

Der Niesen  (2, 362m - 7,749ft) 

Switzerland

1. In Der Niesen bei Regen von Heustrich aus, oil, 1910, Kunstmuseum Basel 

2.  In Der Niesen, 1910, Private Collection  

The mountain 

The Niesen (2, 362m - 7,749ft)  is a mountain of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It overlooks Lake Thun, in the Bernese Oberland region, and forms the northern end of a ridge that stretches north from the Albristhorn and Mannliflue, separating the Simmental and Kandertal valleys. The literal translation of the German word "Niesen" is  "sneeze", but the Niesen because of its shape, is often called The Swiss Pyramid. Administratively, the summit is shared between the municipalities of Reichenbach im Kandertal, to the south-east, and Wimmis, to the west and north. Both municipalities are in the canton of Bern. The summit of the mountain can be reached easily by using the Niesenbahn funicular from Mülenen (near Reichenbach). The construction of the funicular was completed in 1910. Alongside the path of the Niesenbahn is the longest stairway in the world with 11,674 steps. It is open only once a year to the public for a stair run.
Since the 18th century, the Niesen was the subject of a number of paintings which will all be published in this blog, one by one. The Ferdinand Holder's paintings are the two first ones to be published.
Source : 
- Niesen official website 

The Painter 
Ferdinand  Hodler was one of the best-known Swiss painters of the 19th century. His early works were portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings in a realistic style. Later, he adopted a personal form of symbolism he called Parallelism. Hodler's work in his final phase took on an expressionist aspect with strongly colored and geometrical figures. Landscapes were pared down to essentials, sometimes consisting of a jagged wedge of land between water and sky...
- More about Ferdinand Hodler Biography