Swiss born artist Hans Swansee was born under the name Schwansee. After an apprenticeship as a woodcarver he studied in Dresden and emigrated to Los Angeles, California in 1928, where he Americanized his name to Swansee. In 1938 Swansee became a United States citizen, and became a woodworking instructor in public schools in the US and was active in the artists’ colony Eagle Rock. It is not clear from the catalog of the art exhibition, whether Swansee participated in sculpturing or painting, but it can be assumed that it was sculpturing because he was particularly known for his wood carvings.