Letter from Ferdinand Hodler to Franz Servaes (2 sheets, written on both sides and folded once), 30th Dec. 1904

The last two vertical pages of the Letter from Ferdinand Hodler to the Cologne-born art critic and journalist Franz Servaes (1862–1947), who lived in Vienna and worked for the Freie Wiener Presse – one of the most important daily newspaper in the capital and seat of the empire around 1900 – were also created by folding a brownish sheet of paper in half. In his quick and slightly irregular handwriting with rounded letters, Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918) uses warm, heart-felt words to cultivate his friendship with Servaes, an important representative of the press. The friendly closing phrases also include warm regards to Servaes’s wife, complemented by personal words in the elegant, curved handwriting of Hodler’s wife Berthe. In 1904, Hodler joins the Vienna Secession, as well as the Berlin and Munich Secessions. The Bern-born artist, who has lived and worked in Geneva since he was 18 years old, becomes an important inspiration for many artists in the Vienna Secession. Despite ardent debates about his oeuvre, Hodler is soon considered Switzerland’s “national painter” and his radiant reputation reaches far beyond the boundaries of the Swiss Confederation.

MH, 2021