Ferdinand Hodler

Date

1890

Description

Creator of the image: Ferdinand Hodler
Date of the image creation: 1890
Medium of the image: Oil on canvas
Person depicted: Ferdinand Hodler

This image resonates with a phenomena called sleep paralysis, in which a person transitioning into or out of sleep experiences a temporary inability to move or speak, while often being gripped by terrifying hallucinations. This most commonly takes the form of an intruder —specifically a supernatural malevolent being — which has immobilized the person by sitting on their chest. An astonishingly wide variety of cultures have folklore explanations for this nightmarish phenomenon, seeing the intruder as a kind of night hag, incubus, ghost or other form of monster. Hodler’s painting draws extra force by tapping into this universal fear.

Hodler completed Night In 1890, a haunting image that depicts ten figures lying in parallel across an ill-defined space. Eight of the figures are asleep, entwined with one another and naked beneath black blankets. Two of the sleeping women are portraits of Hodler’s former partners, thus giving the image an autobiographical element. The viewer’s eyes are immediately attracted to the central figures, one of which is a self-portrait of Hodler. A humanoid form has awakened him. It is cloaked beneath a black blanket, crouching between his open legs and leaning over his chest. It is a frightening form, perhaps representing death itself. Hodler looks at the dark shape in horror. The portrait reproduced here is cropped from the much larger painting and has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Hodler expression is contorted by fear. Mouth aghast, eyes wide, his face is drawn into a rictus of terror.

Born to a carpenter and a peasant, Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918) was the eldest of six children. Tuberculosis would eventually claim both his parents and five siblings, making the theme of death a powerful one in his work. His painting style adopted elements of realism, symbolism and art nouveau into a personal form that he called ‘Parallelism’. For Hodler, this went beyond the aesthetics of a painting and captured his philosophic outlook on life, seeing nature as based on order with a degree of repetition, emphasizing the symmetry and rhythm of the natural and social worlds. He attempted to make these ideas resonate with the visual composition his artworks.

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