View Into Infinity, Single Figure
1913
Ferdinand Hodler created this striking figure as a study for his monumental mural 'View into Infinity,' intended for the Geneva Art Museum. The woman stands tall in a flowing blue-green gown, gazing upward with an expression of awe that captures Hodler's fascination with the infinite. Notice the faint grid lines behind her? They reveal this was a preparatory sketch, meant to be scaled up into a massive, sweeping composition. Hodler called his style 'Parallelism,' using repeating shapes to create rhythm, and this single figure embodies that serene, upward-reaching energy perfectly.