Hans Erni

A work from the avant-garde to postmodernism

The work of the Lucerne artist and graphic designer Hans Erni, who died in 2015 at the age of 106, is impressive on the one hand for its enormous material diversity: painting in both small and monumental formats, drawing and printmaking, ceramics and relief, poster and book art. On the other hand, this richness corresponds to the stylistic breadth: from the realistic and cubist-inspired beginnings of the 1930s to purely abstract compositions and the virtuoso synthesis of the two forms of expression in the 1940s. Erni's impressive contributions to Surrealism, with their combination of informal ground and masterful representational depiction, paved the way for the works of the following decades. Now the previously politically reviled artist realised numerous public works that made him internationally known as one of the most important representatives of Swiss art in the 20th century. His ever-present interest in social, political and ecological issues, his commitment to peace, social justice and nature conservation are reflected in his pictorial and graphic work, as is his curiosity about foreign cultures, which he expressed early on in his paintings and books. This publication to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hans Erni Museum provides the first overview of the varied holdings of the Hans Erni Foundation's collection.