Born on February 21, 1909, Hans, who
still works in his studio daily, lives in Lucerne with his second
wife Doris Kessler who turns 90 this year.
He is known for his figurative motifs,
such as horses and doves, and has created artworks for organisations
including the UN, the Swiss government, the Red Cross and the Swiss
Broadcasting Corporation. Last year he created the colour scheme for
a new aeroplane for Pilatus.
I have posted a few of his comments
from interviews published in Zurich’s Tages-Anzeiger and Blick on
Saturday (forgive my few translation discrepancies)
When asked how he viewed the concept
and development of age when he was 20, he said he had “always
instinctively avoided excess – smoking and boozing were far from my
thoughts when I was young. I was much more focused on competition
with other young people – artistically but also concerning sport.
In those days movement was my passion. It still is – as a painter
and observer.
“One of my most important
realisations is that personality is expressed through movement, that
every movement hides a variety of stories.” He points to footprints
in the snow in his garden. “They bear witness to the movement of a
person. Looking at them closely, you can learn a lot about the person
who made them. In addition they tell stories: why are the footprints
there today? Why are they there and not further over? What is their
relationship with the neighbouring houses?”
“Every form of immigration is a
renewal, it brings movement into the country. Trying to stop this I
think is wrong.”
“...we are part of the natural cycle,
we can develop and change through thoughts, words, pictures. Everyone
has to decide whether he is real or fake in his heart itself. There
is good in people and in a society that must always evolve. It starts
with each individual who is willing to change, and it comes to the
social and economic realities that we must rethink and build anew. So
away with the boundaries in your head! We need dialogue, and to
further accommodate ourselves to each other. Only in this way we can
change the world again and again.”
When asked whether time still had a
meaning for him, Erni replied that he didn’t divide his time into
days or weeks “but rather into drawings, which I start and finish”.
Erni's elder sister died last year aged
107. Coincidentally, Erni shares a birthday with Jeanne Calment, who
had the longest lifespan ever recorded. She died in 1997 aged 122.
Erni is still a decade or so younger
then the oldest person alive today which is Japanese lady Misao Okawa
who will be 117 on 5th March.
