Catalogue Raisonné
Hans Jakob Meyer
1903 · Zürich – 1981 · Feldmeilen
Life
Hans Jakob Meyer was born on 11 September 1903 in Zurich. After the Zurich School of Applied Arts he apprenticed as a sculptor with Otto Münch.
From 1923 to 1926 he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva and worked part-time in a plaster workshop under James Vibert, a master pupil of Auguste Rodin. Study stays in Paris, Rome, Florence and Athens followed, together with longer travels to South America, England and Spain.
After his marriage in 1937 he lived and worked as an independent sculptor in Feldmeilen. In 1939 his group "Senn und Stier" won first prize at the Swiss National Exhibition. From 1950 onwards he received public commissions from the City of Zurich and several municipalities.
Among his best-known public works are "Die Schreitende" (1971) at the Waid Hospital training centre, "Knabe mit Fisch" (1962) on the Pfäffikon ZH waterfront, the Schifferbrunnen in Eglisau (1960) and Hermann Hesse's gravestone (1963).
The Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Foundation honoured him with a prize in 1953; the Canton of Zurich awarded him a cultural prize in 1979. For several years he served on the canton's art commission. From 1959 to 1972 he taught modelling and life drawing at the Zurich School of Applied Arts. Hans Jakob Meyer died in Feldmeilen on 4 July 1981.
Awards
- 19391st prize "Senn und Stier" — Swiss National Exhibition
- 1953Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Foundation Prize
- 1979Cultural Distinction, Canton of Zurich
Selected exhibitions
- 1931Swiss National Art Exhibition
- 1936Swiss National Art Exhibition
- 1939Swiss National Exhibition, Zurich
- 1941Swiss National Art Exhibition
- 1943Kunsthaus Zürich
- 1946Swiss National Art Exhibition
- 1951Helmhaus Zürich
- 1954Atelier Hermann Haller
- 1957Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich
- 1961Kunsthaus Luzern
- 1967Galerie Orell Füssli Zürich
- 1977Kunsthaus Zürich (Foyer)
- 1980Galerie Wolfsberg Zürich
Animal sculpture, portraiture, female nude figures and portrait busts in plaster, bronze and stone; drawings, paintings, lithographs; architectural art, public art, fountain sculpture.
HJM · Family
Family
Family and personal environment of Hans Jakob Meyer.
The estate does not yet hold cleared content for this chapter. The section will be filled once verifiable material — dates, photographs, documents — has been curated.
HJM · Feldmeilen and Lake Zurich
Feldmeilen and Lake Zurich
The place where Hans Jakob Meyer lived and worked from 1937, on Lake Zurich.
A dedicated editorial piece on studio, place and surroundings will follow. Until then, please see the corresponding passages in the biography.
HJM · Writings by HJM
Writings by HJM
Hans Jakob Meyer's own writings and lecture texts — held in the estate so far only as photographed pages.
Further texts will be added once they have been curated and transcribed.
Original as facsimile, without transcribed full text.