Bettina Heinen-Ayech

Bettina Heinen-Ayech (3 September 1937 – 7 June 2020) was a German painter. She became known for her colorful landscape views of Algeria. Between 1955 and 2017 she had many exhibitions worldwide and won several prizes. Heinen-Ayech died on 7 June 2020.

Biography Bettina Heinen was the daughter of Johann Jakob Josef "Hanns" Heinen (1895–1961), a journalist born in Bauchem, Germany. For many years he was editor-in-chief of the Solinger Tageblatt and the industry newspaper Eberswalder Offertenblatt. He was also active as a lyricist and playwright. In Algeria, however, Heinen-Ayech was not able to paint portraits or still lifes.

In Algeria, however, not only her technique changed, but also her personality, according to Bettina Heinen-Ayech. She moved away from her "European prejudices" and "listened" to the beautiful nature in Guelma: "The southern mountain, the Mahouna, its fields, captivate and captivate all my senses and preserve my fantasies. I paint this region in spring, while the green of the fields dotted with red - poppies - glows in all its tones, far from the dense green of Europe; in summer, when its blue and purple peaks rise above the wonderful gold of its wheat fields; in winter, when the red of the earth has an incredible power that is so difficult to represent!"

"Black House" Artists' Colony In 2020, a memorial plaque to her and her friends from an Artists' Colony was placed on her parents' house, the so-called "Black House". In January 2022, the non-profit Bettina Heinen-Ayech Foundation for Art, Culture and International Dialogue was established. The Foundation looks after the artist's legacy.

Since Bettina Heinen-Ayech's death, her son, the Munich doctor Haroun Ayech, has been working to honour her memory and that of her artist colleagues. The artist herself lived until the end of her life in the so-called 'Black House', the former mine head's house of the Höhscheid lead mine, which Heinen's father had bought in 1932. After the Second World War, Erwin Bowien moved into the neighbouring house, the "Red House". Ayech established the Bettina Heinen-Ayech Foundation - Foundation for Art, Culture and International Dialogue. The foundation in turn initiated the "Black House" Artists' Colony project in Solingen.

In February 2023, the "Schwarzes Haus" Artists' Colony was accepted into the "European Federation of Artists' Colonies" and shortly afterwards into the "Impressionism Routes" of the Council of Europe.

Exhibitions (selection) 1955 Kursaal of Bad Homburg 1957 North Frisia Museum. Nissenhaus Husum; Copenhagen, German Club 1958 Guelph Castle Münden 1961 Bern, Gallery Schneider 1962 Cairo, German Cultural Institute 1963 Solingen, German Blade Museum 1966 Düsseldorf, International Educational Institute Die Brücke 1970 Tunis, exhibition at the Salon des Arts 1972 Hamburg, Gallery for Contemporary Art 1973 Springe, Museum at Burghof; Rabat, Goethe Institute; Casablanca, Goethe Institute 1976 Gladbeck, Museum Schloss Wittringen 1980 Remscheid, Municipal Museum, Museum of Local History Museum Hasten 1984 Damascus, Goethe-Institut; The National Museum Damascus makes purchases; Aleppo, Musée National 1986 El Oued, Maison de la Culture 1990 Würzburg, Otto-Richter-Halle, Freunde Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte e. V.; Paris, Centre Culturel Algérien 1992 Arundel, Little Gallery 1993 Algiers, Large retrospective with over 120 paintings at the Musée National des Beaux Arts d'Alger. The museum makes purchases 1998 Solingen, August-Dicke-Gymnasium, for its 125th anniversary 2000 Solingen, Baden Art Museum; Paris, City Hall 2002 Algiers, German-Algerian Society 2003 Aachen, Centre Culturel Français in the framework of the Algerian cultural year in France 2004 Algiers, second large retrospective of 100 paintings at the National Museum of Algiers under the patronage of the Minister of Culture Khalida Toumi 2008 Angers, Angers Castle 2013 Algier, Musée National des Beaux-Arts d’Alger: „Equinoxe féminin“ 2017 Georgsmarienhütte, Museum Villa Stahmer 2022 Algiers, Musée National des Beaux-Arts d´Alger: „Algerien im Blick internationaler Maler“ 2024 Gemäldegalerie Dachau (31 October 2024 to 27 April 2025): In der Welt unterwegs: Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen - together with Erwin Bowien and Amud Uwe Millies 2025 Kunstverein Coburg (25 January to 11 May): Bettina Heinen-Ayech von Solingen in den Orient 2025 Georgsmarienhütte, Museum Villa Stahmer (18 May to 29 June) - together with Erwin Bowien and Amud Uwe Millies 2025 Städtische Galerie Schwalenberg (6 July to 7 September): Zwischen den Welten – Bettina Heinen-Ayech

Honors 1976 Bettina Heinen-Ayech receives the Grand Prix de la ville d'Alger 1993 Culture prize of the Bürgerstiftung Baden, Solingen 1998 The city of Constantine in Algeria honors the artist with a Prix d'honneur 2003 Algerian State Prize, presented by the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Khalida Toumi, as a tribute to the artist's entire body of work 2006 Official honor by the Algerian Ministry of Culture 2024 Honoured in the FrauenOrte NRW project FrauenOrte NRW

Publications (editor) Hanns Heinen: From the Fullness of Life. Poems. U-Form, Solingen (editor) Erwin Bowien: The Beautiful Game between Spirit and World - My Painter's Life. ISBN 3-88234-101-7 (editor) Erwin Bowien. Catalog Raisonné - List of works, U-Form, Solingen 1999, ISBN 3-88234-103-3

Literature Eduard Fallet-von Castelberg: Bettina Heinen, Kleiner, Bern 1967 (German/French) Ali Elhadj-Tahar/Hans Karl Pesch: Bettina Heinen-Ayech. U-Form Verlag, Solingen 1982 Marianne Kopatz: Bettina Heinen-Ayech, Watercolors and Drawings from Algeria. Published by: Stadtsparkasse Solingen. 1985 Malika Bouabdellah/Diana Millies/Bernard Zimmermann: Bettina Heinen-Ayech Retrospective 1951–1992. Ed.: Stadtsparkasse Solingen, 1992 Malika Bouabdellah: "Bettina" Catalogue for the retrospective at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts, 1993 Hans Karl Pesch: Bettina, Collection Klaus Wiens. 1999, ISBN 3-88234-106-8 [transfer title to Citavi project using this ISBN] Dalila Mahammed Orfali: "Bettina". Catalog for the retrospective at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts, 2005 Taieb Larak: Bettina, la rencontre d'un peintre et d'un pays. Bettina Heinen-Ayech et l'Algérie, 2007 Ali Elhadj-Tahar/Dr. Haroun Ayech: "Bettina". Galerie Dar El Kenz, Alger, 2016. Taieb Larak, Bettina. Die Begegnung einer Malerin mit einer Landschaft. Bettina Heinen-Ayech und Algerien. En-Nakhla, Algier, 2018, (ISBN 978-9947-0-5382-9) Dr. Claudia Schöning-Kalender; Bettina Heinen-Ayech: Bewegung, Farbe, Licht. Das Künstlerische Vermächtnis einer Malerin. Art Profil, Magazin für Kunst, Heft-Nr. 144–2021

Movies 1992 Bettina Heinen-Ayech, Lettre à Erwin Bowien, artist portrait. Hassan Bouabdellah, Visualis Production, Algiers 1992. German version : Bettina Heinen-Ayech, Letter to Erwin Bowien. Visualis Production in collaboration with Avalon Film+TV-Produktion, Solingen 1992 2002 Bettina Heinen-Ayech, Hymne à la nature. Boualem Aissaoui, CYM Audiovisuel, Algiers 2010 Vanishing Point in the Allgäu - The Art of Memory, Erwin Bowien in the Kreuzthal. 2015, Bavarian Radio, Director: Georg Bayerle