Jun 5, 2026 – 11.55amSwitzerland is a country of mountains and lakes, and Ferdinand Hodler, one of its favourite artistic sons, is famous for painting exactly that. His blues are soft, his shading is precise. Above all, he is the master-conjurer of a certain dreamy haze, the kind that settles over the alps in the summer afternoon.Lake Thun with Blüemlisalp and Niesen has all these qualities. It is a middle-period masterpiece in oils, started in the 1870s, finished in the 1880s, depicting two peaks of the soaring Bernese Oberland. To look at, it is serene, peaceful and simple.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Janek DrevikovskyLegal affairs reporterJanek Drevikovsky is the Financial Review’s legal affairs reporter.Fetching latest articles