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Eric HERMES (Erich Hermès)

(1881 – 1971)

Eric Hermès was born on the 18th of January 1881 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. In 1888, his family moved to Heidelberg where they rented a house to the artist Guido Philipp Schmitt, the well-known portrait painter of the English aristocracy. Eric Hermès posed as a model and secretly began painting.
At the age of 15, his father decided to send Eric to Switzerland to start working, rather than stay in Germany and serve in the army.
Eric arrived in Lausanne in 1896 and followed an apprenticeship as a painter-decorator. This first training was crucial for his artistic career because it gave him a taste for monumental decorations, which became a very important part of his work.
On the 21st of June 1899, Eric Hermès moved to Geneva. He enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and followed the 5-year course, where he received several distinctions and scholarships. He is naturalised as a Swiss citizen in 1902.
From 1909, Hermès completed several paintings, sculptures and bas-reliefs for many public institutions in Geneva, his work being now acknowledged. In 1911 he had his first solo exhibition at the Musée Rath in Geneva.
During the First World War, Hermès and his family moved to the Canton of Valais, in the small village of Vérossaz. He travelled a lot around the canton and painted views of the mountain pastures and portraits of farmers. Back in Geneva, he continued to create decorations and stained glass windows, particularly at the Temple of Carouge and the Temple of the Madeleine.
From 1929, he gained a reputation as a poster artist with the creation of more than 20 tourist and advertising posters. In the canton of Valais, the "Les Caves Orsat" in Martigny and the cigar manufacturer "Von der Mühll" in Sion ordered him many posters. The first president of the Tourist Union of Valais (UVT), Pierre Darbellay, commissioned him a series of posters: Winter in Valais, Zermatt, Montana… The poster "Winter in Valais" became an international success. In 1942, Hermès was awarded in the competition of the best Swiss poster of the year, organised by the "Federal Department of Home Affairs" in Bern.
The simplicity of his designs, as well as the use of bright and solid colours led him to rediscover an old italien decorative technique: the "sgraffito", which he has used to decorate many more public buildings in Geneva.
The 21st of June 1971, Eric Hermès passed away in Geneva at the age of 90 years old.
Courtesy of Mr. Yves Hermès.

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Chemin de Fer, Montreux-Oberland-Bernois, Suisse

1929

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Montreux-Berner Oberland, Bahn (M.O.B.) Schweiz

1929

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Les Pléiades s/Vevey - Ecole Suisse de ski

circa 1929

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Grand vin Valaisan, Montibeux, Orsat, Martigny

1929

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Leysin

circa 1930

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Engrais chimiques de Martigny

circa 1930

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Vins du Valais

circa 1930

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Cigares de Monthey, La partie de Jass

circa 1930

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Caux sur Montreux, Suisse

circa 1930

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Valais, Suisse, Avant la lettre

1933

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Valais, Suisse

1933

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Montana Vermala, Vallese Svizzera

1933

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Valais Suisse

1933

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Montana Vermala, Skieuse en rouge

1933

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Fête nationale des costumes suisses, Montreux

1934

CHF 1340.–

Fête cantonale valaisanne de chant, Martigny

1934

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Valais, le raccard la paysanne et le mulet, texte français

1934

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Nestlé Damak, Chocolat au lait aux pistaches de Damas

circa 1935

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Cigares Valaisans, Von Der Mühll Sion

1935

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Engrais Produits Viticoles Agricola

circa 1935

CHF 670.–

Montana Vermala, Valais Suisse

1935

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L'inverno in Svizzera

1936

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Vasenol, gut zu Fuss mit Vasenol-Fusspuder

circa 1936

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Vasenol, gut zu Fuss mit Vasenol-Fusspuder

circa 1936

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Winter in Switzerland

1936

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Winter in der Schweiz

1936

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L'hiver en Suisse

1936

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Winter in Switzerland

1936

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L'Hiver en Suisse

circa 1938

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Hôtels Seiler, Zermatt

1938

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Lötschental, Station Goppenstein, Wallis, Schweiz

1938

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Zermatt, Valais-Suisse

1938

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Valais, Suisse

1938

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Valais, Switzerland

1938

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Valais, Suisse

1938

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Lötschental, station Goppenstein, Wallis Schweiz

1938

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Valais

1938

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Valais Switzerland

1938

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Zinal, Valais Suisse

1938

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Winter im Wallis, Schweiz

1938

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L'hiver en Valais, Suisse

1938

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Hotel Monte-Rosa, Zermatt, Hotels Seiler

1938

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Valais Switzerland

1938

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Agricola, Engrais pour toutes Cultures

circa 1939

CHF 670.–

Valais, Suisse (Prix de l'affiche suisse 1942)

1942

CHF 1650.–

Engrais de Martigny

1945

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Valais, Suisse, la pause au près de l'arbre, Texte allemand

1946

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Valais, Switzerland

1946

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Rhone Valley, Switzerland

1946

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Valais, Suisse

1946

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Valais, avant la lettre

1947

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Lötschberg, Switzerland Schweiz Suisse

1949

CHF 2430.–

Zinal, station d'été et d'hiver,

circa 1950

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Zinal, station d'été et d'hiver

circa 1950

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