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.
Chemin de Fer, Montreux-Oberland-Bernois, Suisse
1929
SoldMontreux-Berner Oberland, Bahn (M.O.B.) Schweiz
1929
SoldLes Pléiades s/Vevey - Ecole Suisse de ski
circa 1929
SoldGrand vin Valaisan, Montibeux, Orsat, Martigny
1929
SoldLeysin
circa 1930
SoldEngrais chimiques de Martigny
circa 1930
SoldVins du Valais
circa 1930
SoldCigares de Monthey, La partie de Jass
circa 1930
SoldCaux sur Montreux, Suisse
circa 1930
SoldValais, Suisse, Avant la lettre
1933
SoldValais, Suisse
1933
SoldMontana Vermala, Vallese Svizzera
1933
SoldValais Suisse
1933
SoldMontana Vermala, Skieuse en rouge
1933
SoldFête nationale des costumes suisses, Montreux
1934
CHF 1340.–
Fête cantonale valaisanne de chant, Martigny
1934
SoldValais, le raccard la paysanne et le mulet, texte français
1934
SoldNestlé Damak, Chocolat au lait aux pistaches de Damas
circa 1935
SoldCigares Valaisans, Von Der Mühll Sion
1935
SoldEngrais Produits Viticoles Agricola
circa 1935
CHF 670.–
Montana Vermala, Valais Suisse
1935
SoldL'inverno in Svizzera
1936
SoldVasenol, gut zu Fuss mit Vasenol-Fusspuder
circa 1936
SoldVasenol, gut zu Fuss mit Vasenol-Fusspuder
circa 1936
SoldWinter in Switzerland
1936
SoldWinter in der Schweiz
1936
SoldL'hiver en Suisse
1936
SoldWinter in Switzerland
1936
SoldL'Hiver en Suisse
circa 1938
SoldHôtels Seiler, Zermatt
1938
SoldLötschental, Station Goppenstein, Wallis, Schweiz
1938
SoldZermatt, Valais-Suisse
1938
SoldValais, Suisse
1938
SoldValais, Switzerland
1938
SoldValais, Suisse
1938
SoldLötschental, station Goppenstein, Wallis Schweiz
1938
SoldValais
1938
SoldValais Switzerland
1938
SoldZinal, Valais Suisse
1938
SoldWinter im Wallis, Schweiz
1938
SoldL'hiver en Valais, Suisse
1938
SoldHotel Monte-Rosa, Zermatt, Hotels Seiler
1938
SoldValais Switzerland
1938
SoldAgricola, Engrais pour toutes Cultures
circa 1939
CHF 670.–
Valais, Suisse (Prix de l'affiche suisse 1942)
1942
CHF 1650.–
Engrais de Martigny
1945
SoldValais, Suisse, la pause au près de l'arbre, Texte allemand
1946
SoldValais, Switzerland
1946
SoldRhone Valley, Switzerland
1946
SoldValais, Suisse
1946
SoldValais, avant la lettre
1947
SoldLötschberg, Switzerland Schweiz Suisse
1949
CHF 2430.–
Zinal, station d'été et d'hiver,
circa 1950
SoldZinal, station d'été et d'hiver
circa 1950
Sold