The publication brings together a number of significant works by Ferdinand Hodler (1835–1918). It presents a selection of the artist’s most important late works alongside a number of outstanding works on paper, demonstrating the role that series and variations play in Hodler’s oeuvre. Included are figure paintings, landscapes, self-portraits, and the moving series of works chronicling the illness and early death of the artist’s lover, Valentine Godé-Darel. A documentary section shows letters, sketchbooks, and photographs that illuminate the relationship between Hodler and Godé-Darel. The volume provides an opportunity to engage with some of the most central questions posed by modern art: serial works, the problem of identity, the quest for the absolute and essential work of art, and the relationship between human beings und nature.  Exhibition schedule: Neue Galerie New York, September 20, 2012 – January 7, 2013 | Fondation Beyeler, Basel, January 27 – May 5, 2013