Bildnis Werner Miller
Ferdinand Hodler
Bildnis Werner Miller
en 1899
peinture à l'huile sur toile
H. 56 ; L.46,5 cm.
Achat en vente publique, 2018
© Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais
/ Patrice Schmidt
Ferdinand Hodler,
Bildnis Werner Miller,
en 1899,
peinture à l'huile sur toile,
H. 56 ; L.46,5 cm.,
Achat en vente publique, 2018,
© Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais
/ Patrice Schmidt
Copy caption
Ferdinand Hodler
(1853 -
1918)
Niveau médian,
Pavillon amont niveau 4
Aged seven in this portrait, Werner Miller (1892-1959) later became a painter. He was the son of Oscar Miller, a manufacturer from the Swiss canton of Solothurn who was also a keen collector of Hodler’s works.
The painting is a realist, lifelike portrait of Werner, yet also a symbolist oeuvre.
The boy’s gaze is entrancing as he sits in a meadow dotted with flowers, symbols of life, springtime and awakening that reflect the child’s youth and innocence.
In each hand, he holds a flower, which, in Holder’s works, represents fusion and harmony with nature. The portrayal's rigorous symmetry echoes nature’s parallelism, one of Holder’s favourite notions.
