$10,455
Hans Erni (Swiss, 1909-2015) Mother and Child Signed and dated "Jee 58 Erni" l. r. Tempera on canvas, 39 x 19 in. (99.0 x 48.3 cm), framed. Condition: Slight canvas deformation l.l., surface grime. Provenance: A California estate to current owner. N.B. Painter, sculptor, illustrator, and stage designer Hans Erni was Switzerland's most important 20th century artist. He trained at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Lucerne, the Académie Julian in Paris, and the Vereinigte Staatschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst in Berlin. During his early career Erni was deeply inspired by ancient Greek art, and often signed his paintings using the pseudonym François Grècque. However, by 1933, he joined the Abstraction-Création group, a loose, international association of artists based in Paris comprised of Joseph Albers, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandisky, László Moholy-Nagy, and Sophie Tauber-Art, among others. At the end of the 1930s, Erni return to his hometown of Lucerne and worked on a number of public commissions, including the fresco The Three Graces of Lucerne that decorates the railway station and for the Landesausstellung in Zurich. Although it is a later work, we can still see both a classical and abstract quality in this painting. The figure's elegant posture recalls the harmonious poses of Hellenistic sculpture, and the sweet expression of both the mother and child brings to mind the paintings of the Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, who at the time was rediscoveri
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2016-09-23
