Erni, Hans (1909- ) - 1941 Icarus-Lilienthal II (Museum of Art Lucerne, Switzerland)
Tempera and pastel on paper; 187 x 150 cm
Swiss painter, draughtsman, sculptor and stage designer. He took an apprenticeship as a draughtsman-architect (1924–7) and then studied at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Lucerne (1927–8). Between 1928 and 1929 he stayed for the first time in Paris, where he attended the Académie Julian. He continued his training at the Vereinigte Staatschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst, Berlin (1929–30). The works of this period are signed François Grècque, a pseudonym that shows his admiration for ancient Greek art, traces of which are found in his works. In the course of many visits to Paris between 1932 and 1934, he had contacts with many artists, including Brancusi, Alexander Calder, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Henry Moore, and he was strongly influenced by the works of Braque and Picasso. In October 1933 he joined the Abstraction–Création group. In 1935 he collaborated in the exhibition Thèse, antithèse, synthèse at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, and in the same year he won a competition organized by that city, which involved the creation of a fresco, The Three Graces of Lucerne, to decorate the railway station. Many official commissions for frescoes or mural reliefs followed.
Erni, Hans (1909- ) - 1941 Icarus-Lilienthal II (Museum of Art Lucerne, Switzerland)
Tempera and pastel on paper; 187 x 150 cm
Swiss painter, draughtsman, sculptor and stage designer. He took an apprenticeship as a draughtsman-architect (1924–7) and then studied at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Lucerne (1927–8). Between 1928 and 1929 he stayed for the first time in Paris, where he attended the Académie Julian. He continued his training at the Vereinigte Staatschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst, Berlin (1929–30). The works of this period are signed François Grècque, a pseudonym that shows his admiration for ancient Greek art, traces of which are found in his works. In the course of many visits to Paris between 1932 and 1934, he had contacts with many artists, including Brancusi, Alexander Calder, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Henry Moore, and he was strongly influenced by the works of Braque and Picasso. In October 1933 he joined the Abstraction–Création group. In 1935 he collaborated in the exhibition Thèse, antithèse, synthèse at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, and in the same year he won a competition organized by that city, which involved the creation of a fresco, The Three Graces of Lucerne, to decorate the railway station. Many official commissions for frescoes or mural reliefs followed.