Swiss painter and engraver
Hans Erni
|
---|
1967
|
Born
| (
1909-02-21
)
February 21, 1909
|
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Died
| March 21, 2015
(2015-03-21)
(aged 106)
Lucerne, Switzerland
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Occupation(s)
| Painter and sculptor
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Hans Erni
(February 21, 1909 ? March 21, 2015) was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor.
Born in
Lucerne
, the third of eight siblings, to a cabin cruiser engineer, he studied art at the
Academie Julian
in
Paris
and later in
Berlin
,
[1]
and admired artists such as
Pablo Picasso
and
Georges Braque
.
[2]
He is known for having illustrated
postage stamps
, his lithographs for the Swiss
Red Cross
, his participation on the
Olympic Committee
as well as his activism.
[3]
His 1939 works and first major public success was a mural titled Switzerland: "Vacation Land of the People" was commissioned and displayed for the national exhibition in
Zurich
.
The Hans Erni Museum, situated in the grounds of the Swiss Museum of Transport in
Lucerne
, contains a large collection of artwork, he also designed ceramics and theatre costumes and sets. He did the art for Swiss bank notes, in the 1940s but, after the notes were already printed they were never published, because a member of the State Council of Lucerne criticized that Erni was deemed as a
communist
. However, Erni was never a member of any political party. In 2004, he was awarded the
honorary citizenship
of the city of
Lucerne
. On 10 January 2009 he received the
SwissAward
for lifetime accomplishment.
In his career, he realized about 300
posters
and several
murals
— including for the 1980
Salon international de l'automobile
,
Red Cross
,
IOC
,
United Nations
and
ICAO
.
He illustrated about 200 books and created 90 postage stamps and 25
medals
.
[4]
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
Erni was commissioned by the Lucerne Museum Fine Arts to organize an exhibit about
Pablo Picasso
. The Spanish artist remained grateful for that opportunity to show his art in Switzerland. In 1936 Erni started to work with
abstract art
. From 1940 to 1945 he was a soldier in the Swiss army and was engaged as a
camouflage
painter because of his experience with large-size murals. In 1948, he was a competitor in the 1948 Summer Olympics'
painting competitions
.
[6]
[7]
Between 1950 and 1952 he participated to exhibitions in
Latin America
. However, his participation in the
Biennale
of
Sao Paulo
was not authorized by
Federal Councillor
Philipp Etter
. After a stay in
Mauritania
and
Guinea
he painted African topics. In 1960 he organized with Alfred Pauletto,
Celestino Piatti
, Hugo Wetli and Kurt Wirth an exhibition in
Olten
about
graphic design
and painting. He participated to the 1964
Documenta
exhibition in
Kassel
, in the
graphic design
department.
[8]
[9]
On 15 September 1979 the
Swiss Museum of Transport
opened a large personal collection of Erni's works. He realized a 30 meter long mural for the Museum. Erni was very interested in sport and received the
United States Sports Academy
award of sport artist of the year in 1989. In 1993 his works were exhibited at the Pence Gallery in
San Francisco
.
He celebrated his
100th birthday
in 2009. His sister, Maria Strebi-Erni (January 14, 1907 ? January 29, 2014), died at the age of 107.
[10]
Erni died on March 21, 2015, aged 106. His first wife,
Gertrud Bohnert
, had died in a horse-riding accident. They had one daughter, artist Simone Fornara Erni. With his second wife, Doris, he had a son and two daughters.
[11]
Apart from the Swiss Museum of Transport, his work is held in several other museums worldwide, including the
Museum of Modern Art
,
[12]
the
American Sport Art Museum and Archives
,
[13]
the
Smithsonian American Art Museum
,
[14]
the
Rose Art Museum
,
[15]
the
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
,
[16]
the
Minneapolis Institute of Art
,
[17]
the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
,
[18]
the
Dallas Museum of Art
,
[19]
the
Brooklyn Museum
,
[20]
the
Ackland Art Museum
,
[21]
the
Harvard Art Museums
,
[22]
the
Hammer Museum
,
[23]
and the
Cleveland Museum of Art
.
[24]
Resources
[
edit
]
- Ramuz, C.F. Histoire du soldat, illustree de lithographies originales par Hans Erni. Lausanne: Andre et Pierre Gonin, [1960]. 326 copies signed by author and artist. 73 black-and-white
lithographs
within the text and 2 on the wrappers. 100 pages + 2 leaves. A livre d'artiste printed on
Arches paper
and housed in a vellum and board folder and matching slipcase.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- (in German)
Konrad Farner,
Hans Erni, Weg und Zielsetzung des Kunstlers. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 1931 bis 1942
. Amstutz, Herdeg & Co. 1943,
Zurich
1943
- (in German)
Konrad Farner,
Hans Erni. Ein Maler unserer Zeit
. Mundus (Erbe und Gegenwart 48),
Basel
1945
- (in German)
Josef Rast,
Grafiker als Maler, Hans Erni, Alfred Pauletto,
Celestino Piatti
, Hugo Wetli, Kurt Wirth
. Kunstverein Olten,
Olten
, 1962
- (in French)
Claude Roy,
Hans Erni
, La Guilde du Livre, num. H. C.,
Lausanne
, 1964
- (in French)
Catalogue raisonne de l'œuvre lithographie et grave de Hans Erni
, Caillier,
Geneva
, 1969
- (in French)
Jot Singh,
Hans Erni
, Editions de la Tribune, Geneva, 1979
- (in French)
Walter Ruegg,
Hans Erni
, peintures
, Editions Erpf,
Bern
, 1980
- (in German)
John Matheson,
Hans Erni. Das zeichnerische Werk und offentliche Arbeiten
, Ex Libris, Zurich, 1983
- (in French)
Fondation Pierre Gianadda
,
Erni, vie et mythologie
,
Martigny
, 1989
- (in German)
Hans Erni. Werkverzeichnis der Lithographien
, ABC, Zurich 1993,
ISBN
3-85504-141-5
- (in German)
Jean-Charles Giroud,
Hans Erni. Die Plakate 1929?1992
, Benteli, Bern, 1993
- (in German)
Enrico Ghidelli,
Kunst im Kleinen. Die philatelistischen und numismatischen Werke von Hans Erni
, Multipress,
Reinach
, 1995,
ISBN
3-9520837-0-4
- (in French)
Jean-Charles Giroud,
Hans Erni. Catalogue raisonne des livres illustres
, Geneva, 1996
- (in English, French, and German)
John Matheson (Hrsg.),
Hans Erni gestaltend ? Hans Erni a l'œuvre ? Hans Erni at work
. ABC, Zurich, 1996,
ISBN
3-85504-161-X
- (in German)
Karl Buhlmann,
Geachtet ? geachtet. Die Geschichte des Hans Erni-Museums im Verkehrshaus der Schweiz in Luzern. Eine Dokumentation
, Hans Erni-Stiftung,
Lucerne
, 1997
- (in German)
Andres Furger,
Ateliergesprache mit Hans Erni
,
NZZ
, Zurich, 1998,
ISBN
3-85823-739-6
- (in German)
Karl Buhlmann, Marco Obrist,
Hans Erni. Dialog. Arbeiten im offentlichen Raum
, Benteli, Bern, 2002,
ISBN
3-7165-1285-0
- (in German)
Karl Buhlmann,
Zeitzeuge Hans Erni. Dokumente einer Biografie von 1909 bis 2009
,
NZZ
, Zurich, 2009,
ISBN
978-3-03823-505-7
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Hans Erni
.
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