With Japan and Switzerland celebrating the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations, there have been a few Swiss-themed events in town, such as the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Kunsthaus Zurich" at the National Art Center, Tokyo, reviewed earlier this month. That exhibition contained some paintings by Ferdinand Hodler, who is also the subject of "Towards Rhythmic Images," a major exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art.
While Switzerland has been the home of several world-famous artists, including the sculptor Alberto Giacometti and the painter Paul Klee, it would be hard to pick a better artist to represent Switzerland — at least within the modern period — than Hodler, whose work has much more of a flavor of the country than the thoroughly international art of Giacometti and Klee.
One reason for this is that Hodler was very much a man of the people, coming from a humble background, and became an artist through a series of fortunate chances that propelled him toward the profession he was ultimately suited for. After he became successful, he also remained in Switzerland and continued to paint Swiss people and scenery throughout his career, even though he was strongly drawn to the mysticism of Symbolist art.