Longing for distant shores / Sehnsucht nach Ferne – Die Solinger Künstlerkolonie
Shortly after the Second World War, an Artists’ Colony arose in Solingen that revived the old ideal of landscape painting. Against the trend towards abstraction in contemporary art, the artists painted figuratively and saw themselves in the tradition of classical plein air painting and the great Artists’ Colonies of the turn of the century. They soon attracted attention and acclaim for their idiosyncratic work, creating unique portraits, landscapes and cityscapes. The most important artist of the group, Bettina Heinen-Ayech, in particular, invented her own new style of painting. They always painted on location in order to capture what they saw and to capture the light and atmosphere in its entirety.
For almost two decades the artists travelled together throughout Europe – from Sylt to Norway, from Switzerland to Paris and North Africa – before scattering in all directions. Their starting point and recurring centre of creativity was the ‘Black House’ in Solingen, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals established in the 1920s.
Follow the three most important painters of the Solingen artists’ colony, Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937-2020), Erwin Bowien (1899-1972) and Amud Uwe Millies (1932-2008), on their journeys!