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°° C’est une collection de brefs épisodes pour découvrir l’art contemporain avec curiosité et légèreté.
°° C’est un rendez-vous avec une œuvre d’art contemporain suisse, regardée, expertisée et questionnée par des jeunes, auxquels répondent à leur façon les artistes qui ont réalisé les œuvres.
°° C’est des invitations à des rencontres, parfois inattendues, entre des œuvres exposées en Suisse… et vous!
ART'S COOL presents “Happy Views”, a journey into the heart of a private art collection. Join us today as we explore the Nestlé Collection! This art collection is one of the region’s key heritage assets, featuring works by renowned artists from the 16th to the 21st century.
Today Maxime and Vanessa continue their exploration; after conversing about Christo in the last episode they are now discovering an artwork by Ferdinand Hodler, in a very secret room, in the basement of Nestlé headquarters!
RENÉ CIOCCA: Now, I suggest we move from the 20th century to the 19th century with another artwork. But to see it, we’ll need to walk across the building, from B Building to E Building, and head down to the second basement level.
MAXIME: Oh, that sounds interesting. Let’s go right away.
VANESSA: Okay, let's go!
RENÉ CIOCCA: We're now in the A Building staircase. What’s interesting here is that it's one of the few places untouched by renovations. The linoleum floor and original wall colors are still intact.
MAXIME: Oh wow, I didn’t know this part of the building existed.
THE ART EXPERT: Oh, nice.
VANESSA: It’s like discovering a secret passage.
MAXIME: Exactly. Just for context, we’ve just opened a door into a dark room lit from above, revealing dozens of trays with artworks we didn’t even know were here. It’s a wonderful discovery.
RENÉ CIOCCA: You might hear some background noise from a nearby security system—it’ll stop shortly, so don’t worry. Now, here is the painting I wanted to share with you. Most people associate Ferdinand Hodler with large-scale landscape works. But this one is smaller than expected, and the technique is quite different. Let’s take a closer look.
Can you describe what you're seeing?
VANESSA: I’ve seen some of Hodler’s works before, but this one has more vivid colors. Usually, his palette feels more faded. Here, the blues and greens blend beautifully, giving depth to the mountains. There’s also a mix of light blue and yellow, showing how sunlight touches the peaks, but it doesn’t feel like direct sunlight. The way the light is rendered is really intriguing.
And the lake—it’s not just painted blue like a child might do. You can tell he added movement using yellow and white, creating the illusion of waves, though the scene feels completely calm. There’s a peaceful, almost silent atmosphere in this piece.
MAXIME: What a beautiful description, Vanessa. I’m not yet very familiar with Hodler, but as a photographer, I also noticed the light first. The shadows have this cool, bluish hue. The composition leads the eye from the lake in the bottom third of the canvas up to the mountains.
The sun seems to be positioned to the right of the painting: you can’t see it, but the angle of the shadows suggests it’s sunset. The mountain tips are tinged with orange and red, and the grass has a soft yellow tone. It gives the impression of a bright day slowly fading into dusk, in a very gentle, balanced way.
RENÉ CIOCCA: Since you work at Nestlé, you might recognize this landscape: it’s the same one we see from the office every day: the Alps and the lake. How does the painting compare to the real view?
VANESSA: That’s a great question. For many people, this artwork is striking and beautiful, and it is. But I was born and raised here in Vevey, so I know this landscape by heart. I’m used to it; it’s part of my daily life. Still, seeing it captured in this way reminds me how special it is. Art has a way of grounding us, of reconnecting us with what we might take for granted.
MAXIME: Can we know more about the title and the artist?
THE ARTWORK: Good day to you. Well I go by the rather long name of “Lac Léman avec Alpes savoyardes à l’aube”, which means “Lake Geneva with the Savoy Alps at Dawn” in English. I’m an oil painting created by renowned Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler. Although I’m undated, I was born in the early 20th century. I’m 40 centimeters by 49 centimeters in size.
RENÉ CIOCCA: As Vanessa said, we’re used to this view, and we watch the sun rise and set over it. Honestly, I’d bet the title is a little misleading; it looks more like sunset than dawn. The light and shadows suggest an evening scene. That’s the beauty of art, though: sometimes the title says one thing, but the painting tells another story.
MAXIME: I had the same thought, based on the colors and lighting. The sun sets right behind the mountains outside our office, just beyond the frame of the painting. It looks exactly like that moment.
RENÉ CIOCCA: What I also love about Hodler is how his work anticipates abstraction. He often divides his landscapes into three horizontal bands: lake, mountains, and sky. In this painting, the lake takes up nearly half the canvas and has a beautiful vibrancy. The mountain is delicately painted, quite different from his usual broader brushwork. And the sky transitions from blue to yellow: a classic Hodler palette. It’s a lesser-known, but stunning, example of his style.
THE ART EXPERT: As you said, this little gem has its mysteries. It’s part of a series of four canvases Hodler painted in Chambésy in 1906. Interestingly, it developed cracks soon after it was finished, possibly leading Hodler to rework it. Also unusual is his use of an oil-based colored pencil, especially the deep blue used to enhance the mountain relief.
Hodler loved geometry: he saw landscapes as arrangements of forms. He’d sketch outside, then simplify and align the composition in his studio, sometimes altering reality. For instance, the clouds reflected in the lake don’t actually appear in the sky above.
One final detail: the painting is symmetrically divided. The upper half is sky and mountain, the lower half is lake and reflection. Hodler was meticulous, yet his mastery lies in making it all look so natural.
VANESSA: This painting is incredible and clearly significant. Why isn’t it displayed in a museum?
RENÉ CIOCCA: It’s currently resting. After years of exposure to light, it’s being preserved under optimal conditions: no light, controlled temperature. It may stay here for a year or longer. Sometimes museums request it for exhibitions, but for now, it’s best kept safe.
VANESSA: Thank you so much, René, for the tour and all the explanations. This was really enlightening.
MAXIME: Yes, thank you. I feel grateful to engage with this art, especially through the lens of my photography. It’s great to see Nestlé preserving and sharing these works, not just for display, but as something living within the company.
RENÉ CIOCCA: Thank you both for your thoughtful observations. Let’s continue exploring! There are over 300 more artworks in the collection. I’ve learned a lot today too. Thank you!
ART’S COOL, aka "art is cool"! An informal get-together around contemporary art, where curious minds meet unique artworks. Simple, right?
From time to time, ART’S COOL takes you on a “HAPPY VIEWS” experience. And that was the case today with Maxime and Vanessa, who looked at the artwork “Lac Léman avec Alpes savoyardes à l’aube“ by Ferdinand Hodler.
These artworks form part of the Nestlé Art Collection.
Commentary on them came from René Ciocca, Head of Corporate Identity & Design at Nestlé, and Julie Enckell Julliard, Head of Cultural Development at HEAD.
With the voices of René Ciocca, Nicolas Julliard, Ellen Ichters, and Andrew Nimmo.
You can see photos of the artworks as well as portraits of the contributors from this episode at www.artscool.ch.
Concept and production by Patrick Comte, Florence Grivel, and Nadja Imhof.
English translation and narration by Andrew Nimmo.
Music and sound design by Christophe Gonet.
This episode has been produced and broadcast thanks to the generous support of Nestlé.
It’s a Young Pods production.