Hermann Werner

Born in Biberach to a Vaud mother and a German father, he decided from an early age that he wanted to become a painter. In 1909 he moved to his mother’s homeland and settled in Saubraz to take over a farm. The family obtained Swiss citizenship before the Second World War, and Werner remained in Saubraz until his death at the age of 102.

Painting accompanied his entire rural life. His spacious studio allowed him to work on very large canvases, while his subjects ranged across landscapes, buildings, people, flowers and still lifes. He also travelled abroad with a painter friend, but the environment around Saubraz and the canton of Vaud remained central to his imagery.

Lake Geneva and the landscapes of western Switzerland form an important part of his output.

Works documented on the market confirm this link with Saubraz. In 2026 Catawiki offered « Geranio rosso sul Lago Lemano », a 1938 oil on panel bearing the handwritten reverse inscription « H. Werner, Saubraz, Vaud, Schweiz ».

Swiss Art Gallery also holds a large 1937 view of Lake Geneva consistent with this period and geographical context.

The secondary market remains modest but identifiable. A 1945 work sold for EUR 450 at Michael Zeller in September 2017, while other oils located in Saubraz appear periodically in Swiss and European auctions.

The works by Hermann Werner presented by Swiss Art Gallery extend this artistic journey and take their place naturally within this corpus.