Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)
ANNUAL REPORT • A 2008. ÉV - PÉTER ÚJVÁRI: Ferdinand Hodler—A Symbolist Vision
third dimension of the whole pictorial and intellectual complex. Chronology was still kept as a guideline and each room approximately represented one decade, but the arrangement of w r orks wdthin the rooms was to support the recognition of artistic and thematic cross-references, as well as to provide an undisturbed, optimal view of the object. For the same reason a generous mid-space was left over to allow visitors to experiment with the viewing distance and to perceive how the same painting may make different visual impressions —resembling those scientifically created hybrid images that show Albert Einstein from close up and Marilyn Monroe from a distance (cf. the two landscapes reproduced under cat. nos. 82 and 87). Visitors were also encouraged to utilise the whole exhibition space as it topographically mapped the matrix-like character of Hodler's art insofar as related works in adjacent rooms visually communicated with each other through the openings, and there were special areas which offered, like a look-out on a mountain crest, a panoramic view of all related works despite their different dates. The exhibition was accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue comprising of some four hundred pages and published in German, English, and Hungarian. 3 This catalogue, edited by the curator Katharina Schmidt, can be read as an extended exhibition guide commenting on the works and sections in the sequence as they are shown at the exhibition. However, it can also be read in its own right, that is, as a monograph or a collection of informative essays focusing on the most important aspects of the artist's œuvre. The essays provide both analytic close views and contextualising broad views. To the latter belongs László Földényi's essay which summarises the reminiscences of Romantic thought in Hodler's landscapes —a question that is also addressed by Werner Busch, who discusses the concept and imagery of transcendence within the "Northern Tradition" (Rosenblum) together with their relevance for Hodler. The context of ideas is shifted to a biographic level by Oskar Bätschmann, who surveys the role of artistic models and patterns of thought in the creative process in particular, systematically recapitulating Hodler's artistic ideas and thus providing a complex introduction to his art. Two essays are devoted to the genres Hodler excelled in: a discussion on the various aspects of landscape painting (by Paul Müller), and a brief account of the genesis of the artist's monumental historical compositions (by Katharina Schmidt). Three essays focus on certain groups of paintings and their historical background: one on the large symbolistic figurai paintings now in Berne (by Matthias Frehner); another on a related group that Hodler painted for the Paris Salon de la Rose+Croix (by Sharon Hirsh); and a third one on the portraits of the sick, dying and dead Valentine Godé-Darel (by Katharina Schmidt). Finally, three further essays address certain artistic problems: Verena Senti-Schmidlin reviews the contemporary theories
