| Born February 21, 1909 died March 21, 2015. Hans Erni: An outstanding twentieth century painter, designer and illustrator, Hans Erni is today most highly sought after for his innovative original lithographs and etchings. First apprenticed to an architectural draughtsman, Erni studied at the Ecole des Artes Metiers in Lucerne. He lived in Paris in 1928 - 29 to further his studies at the Academie Julian, and finally completed his studies in Berlin in the following year. Erni's first exhibited art was mainly in the medium of painting. His earliest work bears the influence of Picasso and of some of the painters of the surrealist movement. Even these earliest works, however, exhibit a very personal style nourished by classicism and constant experimenting.
After the Second World War, Hans Erni turned almost exclusively to original printmaking. Geneva was quickly becoming a major international centre for graphic art and Erni was at the forefront. For the following forty-five years he created a fine oeuvre of over 750 original prints, most being colour lithographs. Unlike most contemporary artists -- Erni never confined himself to any style of movement. Rather, he permitted the subject to guide his method of working |
