3188 - Erni Hans

Erni Hans 1909 Lucerne 2015 Composition 34. 1935 Oil on canvas Monogrammed at the bottom center: h.e. Signed and dated on the reverse: erni 1935 Framed 40 × 32 cm “Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik,” Kunsthaus Zürich, June 13–July 22, 1936, no. 45 (in the exhibition catalog, p. 21); “Abstraction-Création.” Hans Erni. Art non figuratif 1933–38, Hans Erni Museum/Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne, 1982, no. 44 (illustrated in the exhibition catalog, p. 77); Hans Erni. Retrospective Marking the 100th Anniversary of His Birth, Kunstmuseum Luzern, May 24–October 4, 2009, no. 44 The years around 1935 are considered the high point of Hans Erni’s abstract work. Through close interaction with the international Parisian avant-garde and the artists’ association “Abstraction-Création,” he had developed a consistently non-representational visual language beginning in 1933. This “Composition 34” was created during this brief yet particularly significant period in art history, which differs fundamentally from his later, predominantly figurative work. Also in 1935, Erni organized, together with Konrad Farner, the groundbreaking exhibition “Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis” at the Kunstmuseum Luzern, which brought together leading figures of the European avant-garde. The abstract compositions from these years document Erni’s direct involvement in international developments in modern art. Auction date: November 28, 2026 Approximate auction time: 3:27 p.m. CET