Artwork
Der Schwingerumzug
Der Schwingerumzug is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Ferdinand Hodler. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich.
About this work
Overview
Ferdinand Hodler’s 1894 oil painting Der Schwingerumzug captures a lively Swiss wrestling celebration. Executed during the artist’s mature period, the work exemplifies his turn toward Symbolist ideas while retaining a post‑Impressionist sensibility. It is part of the permanent collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a group of wrestlers and onlookers gathered around a stone pavilion. Central figures include a flag‑bearer displaying the Swiss red cross on a yellow field and a combatant in red pressing a sword to the throat of an opponent dressed in white, suggesting the ritualized violence of traditional Schwingen contests.
Technique & Style
Hodler employs a restrained palette punctuated by vivid reds and yellows that cut through the muted earth tones of the surrounding crowd. The figures are rendered with simplified, almost block‑like forms, reflecting his “parallelism” approach, which emphasizes rhythmic alignment and flatness over naturalistic depth.
History & Provenance
Created in the late nineteenth century, the painting entered the Kunsthaus Zürich’s holdings where it remains on public display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s focus on Swiss modernism and Hodler’s status as a leading national artist of his era.
Context
Der Schwingerumzug was painted at a time when Hodler was moving away from detailed portraiture toward a more symbolic visual language. The work records a popular folk sport, Schwingen, situating the painting within broader Swiss cultural traditions and the growing interest in national identity among artists of the period.
![Obwaldner Landsgemeinde [fünftes Bild, rechts]](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/wilhelm-balmer--obwaldner-landsgemeinde-funftes-bild-rechts--1ab158e48af8254b-w320.webp)
Artist & collection
Artist
Ferdinand Hodler (March 14, 1853 – May 19, 1918) was a Swiss painter. He is one of the best-known Swiss painters of the nineteenth century. His early works were portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings in a realistic…
Rückzug von Marignano. Karton II
The Last Contingent
The Shattered Statue of the Duke of Alva Being Dragged Through the Streets
Bourgeois swines
Folk scene – king among peasants
Barricade, the Paris Commune, May 1871
Der als Minnesänger verkleidete Herzog Friedrich IV. gibt sich auf der Flucht aus Konstanz seinen treuen Tirolern zu erkennen
Students Leaving Krakow in 1549