Genfersee mit Jura

Ferdinand Hodler, the Swiss painter who lived from 1853 to 1918, made this view of Lake Geneva with the Jura around 1911. It is an oil on canvas, 45 by 71 centimetres, which Koller catalogues in English as Lake Geneva with the Jura and in German under the title Genfersee mit Jura. The view runs across the canvas in horizontal bands: the shoreline, water reflecting clouds, and the low, flat chain of the Jura mountains in the distance.

The painting belonged to Victor Mettler-Salzmann in St. Gallen until 1958, and then to his heirs, who held it until 1989. In that year it entered an important private collection in Switzerland, where it remained until 2024. The provenance shows Mettler-Salzmann's collection in St. Gallen throughout the years 1933 to 1945.

Koller sold it in Zurich on 21 June 2024, as lot 3044 of its Swiss Art sale, A209. The estimate was CHF 1,600,000 to 2,400,000. The painting sold for CHF 5,142,000, including the buyer's premium, as Koller's lot page states. At the exchange rate on the day, that is about $5.76 million.