Antonio Erba
Born in 1914.
Died in 1986.
Antonio Erba (1914–1986), originally from Locarno, emerges as a distinctive figure at the intersection of technical training and self-taught artistic practice: after attending school in Locarno and completing an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic, he is known to have been selected to represent Switzerland in artistic gymnastics at the Helsinki Olympic Games, cancelled in 1940, before developing a career as a self-taught painter from the 1940s onwards.
His career was also marked by a significant involvement in associations: a founding member (1954) and subsequently president (1957–1967) of the Société des peintres et sculpteurs jurassiens, he is also identified as a member of the Club jurassien des arts and, later, as founder (1968) and president of the Pro Ticino association in Moutier.
In practical and public terms, Erba held recorded solo exhibitions in 1966 and 1977, participated in group exhibitions in Basel and Vira (TI), and exhibited individually in Moutier, Zofingen and Monthey; his study trips to Paris, Italy and the Netherlands are also documented, and it is reported that he took part in every exhibition organised by the SPSJ.
In his private life, the file indicates that he married in 1940 and was the father of four children, including Sylvano and Rémy.
The production and reception of his work were the subject of publications: monographs appeared in 1966 and 1977 under the auspices of the Club jurassien des Arts (Max Robert and collaborators), and a collective volume was published in 1987.
His local legacy is reflected in tributes: a film devoted to his career was made in 2001, and an Antonio-Erba path was inaugurated in 2007; posthumous exhibitions took place in Moutier (1987) and Locarno (1988).