Hanny Fries
Born in 1918.
Died in 2009.
Hanny Fries (full name: Johanna Katharina Fries) is identified as a painter, draughtswoman and illustrator. Coming from a family of artists — the daughter of the painter Willy Fries and the maternal granddaughter of the painter Sigismund Righini — she developed a practice in which spectacle and movement recur. Her favourite subjects include dancers, the circus, horse races and theatre.
She worked with a range of supports and techniques: the available documentation records drawings for the theatre, wall-enamel works and lithography. For example, a lithograph entitled Akrobaten is listed for sale with an edition of 58/75 and a signature.
Her exhibition activity is documented from the second half of the 20th century, with recorded participations in Lausanne (Guilde du Livre, 1948) and at the Galerie du Capitole (Lausanne, 1954). Later, her work was presented at the Centro d'Arte in Ascona in 1974 and at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1980. Institutional recognition is reflected in the distinctions she received: the prize of the Canton of Zurich in 1974 and the City of Zurich Fine Arts Prize in 1981.
Entries and publications concerning her are documented in Swiss (Helveticat) and international catalogues and authority records (VIAF, ISNI, BnF), while the SIKART entry — identifier 4000043 — summarises biographical and technical information associating her with painting, drawing and illustration. Together with references to works offered for public sale and bibliographic entries, these sources provide factual points of reference for the study of an oeuvre oriented towards spectacle and movement.
