A Swiss landscape painted in 1912-13 led the December 4 sale when it was sold for SFr3.5m (£2.9m), over double the estimate of Sfr1.2-1.8m, after a prolonged phone bidding battle. The 2ft x 2ft 10in (61.5 × 85.5 cm) oil on canvas, which is signed F Hodler lower right, depicts Lake Thun with the Niesen mountain.
The painting, which came from a Swiss private collection, had been purchased by the great-grandmother of the vendor at an exhibition in Solothurn in 1913 and had remained in the same family ever since.
A large head study by Hodler – Sfr850,00 (£708,335) at Koller.
A second, late work by Hodler, a large head study for his work View to Infinity, made the second-highest price of the auction.
The 2ft 3in x 2ft (70 × 61.5cm) oil on canvas, which is signed and dated lower right 1915 F. Hodler, came from a Swiss private collection and had a provenance back to the Grand Salon d’Art in Geneva in 1921.
It sold for Sfr850,000 (£708,335) against a guide of Sfr350,000-500,000.
£1 = Sfr1.20
