An Award of European Dimension

Hendrik Wüst, Minister President of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany: "My heartfelt congratulations to the Solingen Artists‘ Colony "Black House"! Its acceptance as a Partner Member in the "European Federation of Artist Colonies" (euroart) is a well-deserved and honorable distinction of European dimension, which at the same time pays tribute to the rich cultural heritage of Nordrhein-Westfalen."

Tim Kurzbach, Lord Mayor of Solingen: "This award creates cultural significance and public visibility on a European level that enriches both the Bergisches Land and Rheinland regions and the city of Solingen. This is an important impulse for the cultural life of our city and the region. I would be delighted if the "Black House" were to develop into a centre of attraction for people interested in culture from near and far."

The inclusion of another German Artists‘ Colony is a process of national dimension and not only of regional significance, primarily also because the founder of the Solingen Artists‘ Colony, Erwin Bowien, was a Nazi-opponent who was persecuted.

The Solingen Artists‘ Colony "Black House" owes its origins to the commitment and attraction of intellectuals and free spirits. First and foremost to the work of the very educated and emancipated Erna Heinen-Steinhoff (1898-1969) – who, as the muse of the arts in Solingen, created a literary salon in the manner of the 19th century at the beginning of the 1920s, a meeting place for painters, literary figures, musicians and intellectuals. Together with her husband, the business journalist and art-loving lyricist Hanns Heinen (1895-1961), Erna Heinen-Steinhoff developed into an important patron of the arts. The literary protagonists of the "Black House" were joined by three painters: Erwin Bowien (1899-1972), Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937-2020) and Amud Uwe Millies (1932-2008).

Together, the three painters of the colony formed the "painter triumvirate" of Solingen. They created portraits, landscapes, cityscapes and captured everyday scenes in pictures. They found their motifs in the Bergisches Land and later on extended journeys together, which regularly took the artist colonists to Sylt, Scandinavia, Switzerland or Paris. The three artists painted on location, in nature "pleinair", as it was important to capture the respective light and atmosphere directly with oil paints, pastels and watercolors.

The art historian Cristina Streckfuss wrote about the colony: "If one then risks a glance as far as Murnau, the home of the "Blauer Reiter" (Blue Rider) group of artists around Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky, then the Solingen Artists‘ Colony is more spiritually related to the Avantgarde Parisian salons in the circle around Pablo Picasso, Gertrude and Leo Stein, with their regular meetings in the Rue de Fleurus".

But it was not only artistic creation that shaped the spirit of the Artists‘ Colony. The first painter of the Artists‘ Colony, Erwin Bowien, was always a convinced European, long before the idea became popular and thus far ahead of his time.

He always had the international dialogue of cultural workers and the cooperation across national and cultural borders in mind, especially in confusing and confused times that were marked by exile, expulsion and wars. Bowien left his homeland in 1933 due to political developments and went into exile in Holland. The Reich Chamber of Culture issued an exhibition ban and had his paintings confiscated by the Gestapo. After the occupation of the Netherlands by the Wehrmacht, he had to go into hiding and survived the war in hiding in the Allgäu region of southern Germany. After 1945, he founded the Artists‘ Colony and, as a European, campaigned for international understanding.

His most important pupil, Bettina Heinen-Ayech, was also very concerned with bringing cultures closer together, in her case the Orient and Occident, the two sides of the Mediterranean. The National Museum of Fine Arts in Algiers has an extensive collection of her works, and she received numerous honours. Amud Uwe Millies wanted to be a part of cosmopolitanism, to know and understand the life and culture of distant lands, and was fascinated by the Middle and Far East and both parts of America.

Even before the official acceptance of the Solingen Artists‘ Colony "Black House" as a Partner Member in the "European Federation of Artists‘ Colonies – euroart", another great and important recognition has taken place. Already in spring, the Artists‘ Colony "Black House‘ was included in the cultural route of the Council of Europe Impressionisms Routes©. The Impressionisms Routes© project aims to establish and promote a link in Europe between the sites that inspired the European Impressionists and pleinair painters from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, the places where they lived, the places where they founded artists‘ colonies and the sites that today exhibit their works in their museums or cultural institutions.

The European project euroart, the association of almost 50 Artists‘ Colonies from 16 European countries, as well as the network structure created by Impressionisms Routes© aim to preserve the European heritage built up over decades in the best possible way and to promote this heritage for all kinds of encounters through art and culture, with the aim of working towards a "lasting peace" in Europe. 

* euroart is the "European Federation of Artist Colonies". Currently, euroart, the European Federation of Artist Colonies, has recognized 49 artist colonies in 12 countries, including e.g. Worpswede or Murnau am Staffelsee. In February 2023, euroart was granted "Participant Status in the Council of Europe", which rates the association as a unique European network working for greater cultural understanding and cooperation. As a recognized representative of the cultural and creative sectors of civil society, euroart is mandated to participate in the work of the Council of Europe and to actively work to promote connections through art and culture with the aim of working towards a "lasting peace" in Europe.

** The Bettina Heinen-Ayech Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to preserving the legacy of the protagonists of the Artists‘ Colony of the "Black House" for future generations, as well as the important concern of the artists – to promote the international dialogue of peoples and cultures through the medium of art.