At the beginning of the 20th century Hodler developed into one of the few great independent landscape artists in Europe. For more than a decade he occupied himself with motifs from the mountain and lake landscape of Switzerland. It was these paintings that perhaps more than his figural paintings, have been responsible for the ongoing appeal of his works to this day. They are precisely captured, but they are not plein-air pieces, which are only concerned with the reproduction of the subject. These are the works of an accomplished painter, who found his own expression of symbolic perception in the landscape. In these works Hodler was successful in uniting the portrayal of the landscape with spiritual expression.

The Grand Muveran was painted in 1912 in Chesières in Valais. The massif comprises the conclusion of the landscape at the back, and the mountain ridges staggered behind one another gradually lead the eye towards it. The mighty dull-edged peak appears to be lost in the distance. The gentle forms of the hills are executed in the fine pastel tones of pink, blue-grey and green, which absorb the diffused light of the overcast day. The transparently painted veil of mist in the bottom half of the picture softens the heaviness of the mountains.