DACHAU.- By train to Paris, by boat to Luxor, by car through Algeria: The three main artists of the Solingen Artists' Colony, Erwin Bowien (1899–1972), Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937–2020) and Amud Uwe Millies (1932–2008), travelled the world in the second half of the 20th century, capturing cities, landscapes and everyday scenes. But they always returned to Solingen to live and work. They saw themselves in the tradition of the ‘landscapers’, the artists who, at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, went out of the cities into nature to paint the landscape ‘plein air’.
The Solingen Artists' Colony Schwarzes Haus (Black House) was founded in the 1920s as a meeting place for painters, writers and intellectuals, and remained a place for artistic and cultural exchange until the death of the last female artist-colonist Bettina Heinen-Ayech. It also stands for international dialogue and understanding – something that is becoming more and more important in our times.
Ina Brandes, Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: ‘I am delighted that the Artists’ Colony Black House, founded in Solingen in the 1920s, will be the subject of a special exhibition at the Dachau Picture Gallery in winter 2024/25. The works of the artists Erwin Bowien, Bettina Heinen-Ayech and Amud Uwe Millies deserve to be shown to people beyond North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The title of the exhibition ‘Travelling the world – the Solingen Artists’ Colony makes it clear that all three artists have gathered a multitude of impressions on their travels at home and abroad, which have been incorporated into their artistic work. This openness to new impulses and the willingness to engage in cultural exchange are reflected in their works and stand as an expression of a cosmopolitan and dialogue-oriented understanding of art. I wish you much joy, great pleasure and a stimulating time at the exhibition!"
Tim Kurzbach, Lord Mayor of the city of Solingen: ‘I am proud that our city has such a strong ambassador in the Artists’ Colony Black House. Even before the Artists‘ Colony was included in the Council of Europe's Impressionisms Routes and the European Association of Artists’ Colonies, this place was inviting art lovers from Germany and abroad to take an art-historical journey of discovery in Solingen.'
Contrary to the trend in contemporary art towards abstraction, the artists of the Black House painted representatively and saw themselves in the tradition of plein-air painting and the Artists' Colonies of the turn of the century. In addition to the fixed point of Solingen and the Bergisches Land, the paintings of the Solingen Artists' Colony are characterised by numerous travels and life experiences. They travelled a lot together and painted what they saw, places, landscapes and people from a wide variety of countries and cultures. Although they were very close friends, their artistic styles are very different, ranging from thick oil paintings and expressive, intensely coloured watercolours to translucent oil paintings, delicate pastels and quick sketches.
They travelled a great deal together and painted what they saw, places, landscapes and people from a wide variety of countries and cultures. Although they were close friends, their artistic styles reveal highly individual and concise forms of expression, ranging from impasto oil painting and expressive watercolours with intense colours to translucent oil painting, delicate pastels and quick sketches.
The exhibition 'Travelling the World - The Solingen Artists' Colony' presents numerous works by the three protagonists and their view of the world. As chroniclers of their time, they captured views that may no longer exist today - such as an almost car-free street at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
