Painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937–2020) Included on pantheon.world in 2024 – The Global Who’s Who of Historical Figures
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s leading universities located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, has measured the global popularity of historical figures—a “Who’s Who” of historical personalities. The platform “Pantheon” visualizes this information at https://pantheon.world. More than 2,000 painters, spanning from antiquity to the present day, are listed there. Currently, some of the most famous living painters include Yayoi Kusama, Anselm Kiefer, and Gerhard Richter. Among the most renowned deceased painters are Vincent van Gogh, Michelangelo, and Pablo Picasso.
In 2024, painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech was inducted into this Hall of Fame. This marks Bettina Heinen-Ayech’s entry into the global “Who’s Who” of the world’s most significant painters.
Measured against all painters in history, the following HPI (Historical Popularity Index) was measured by the MIT for Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937-2020): Bettina Heinen-Ayech: HPI 56.81, rank worldwide 715, rank Germany 66.
Read more: https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Bettina_Heinen-Ayech
2025 will also be an important year for honoring Bettina Heinen-Ayech. A series of exhibitions will showcase works from this great painter’s oeuvre:
- On the Road Around the World – The Solingen Artists’ Colony, Gemäldegalerie Dachau, Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 3, 85221 Dachau
October 31, 2024, to April 27, 2025 - Bettina Heinen-Ayech – From Solingen to the Orient, Kunstverein Coburg e.V., Park 4a, 96450 Coburg
January 25, 2025, to May 11, 2025 - Longing for Distant Lands – The Solingen Artists’ Colony, Museum Villa Stahmer, Carl-Stahmer-Weg 13, 49124 Georgsmarienhütte
May 18, 2025, to June 29, 2025 - Between Worlds – Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937–2020), Städtische Galerie Schwalenberg, Marktstraße 5, 32816 Schieder-Schwalenberg
July 6, 2025, to September 7, 2025
Short profile of the painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech
Bettina Heinen-Ayech was the daughter of the journalist and poet Hanns Heinen and Erna Heinen-Steinhoff, who held her art and literature salon in the houses of the Black House Artists’ Colony. It was here that Bettina met her most important teacher and mentor, the painter Erwin Bowien (1899-1972). She remained close to him throughout her life and undertook numerous art trips with him throughout Europe.
After studying at the art academies in Cologne, Munich and Copenhagen, a stay of several months in Luxor, Egypt, led to an awakening that brought her closer to the desert and the light of the Orient. In 1963, the painter moved to her Algerian husband, the builder Abdelhamid Ayech, in his home town of Guelma. Algeria, together with Solingen, became the centre of her life until her death in 2020.
Bettina Heinen-Ayech’s exhibition list includes over 90 major solo exhibitions in museums and important cultural institutions in Europe and North Africa. Numerous museums own pictures of her. Bettina Heinen-Ayech is considered an outstanding artist, the most important protagonist of the Solingen Artist Colony ‘Black House’ and an ambassador for international understanding between Orient and Occident.
