Erwin Bowien

Erwin Johannes Bowien (3 September 1899 – 3 December 1972) was a German painter and author.

Biography Bowien was a born in to a family of a construction engineer from East Prussia. His mother also came from there and was descended from a family that had moved to East Prussia in the 18th century.

Bowien went to school in Berlin, attended a gymnasium and studied at the "Ecole professionelle" in Neuchâtel (Switzerland). After the First World War he studied at the Munich Art Academy, the Dresden Art Academy, and the Berlin Art Academy. He then taught himself for four years and gave lectures on art history for the Volkshochschule in Solingen.

After the Nazi seizure of power, Bowien who was an opponent of the party, left for the Netherlands. He lived from 1933 to 1942 as a freelance artist in Egmond aan den Hoef, North Holland, in the former home of the philosopher René Descartes. When Princess Beatrix was born in 1938, Bowien came up with the idea of portraying children in Egmond aan den Hoef who saw the light of day in 1938. The paintings have been transferred by the municipality of Egmond to the Royal Household Archives. On October 20, 1976, the Erwin Bowien eV Friendship Association was founded in the Deutsches Klingenmuseum in Solingen.

Exhibitions Throughout his life, Erwin Bowien exhibited widely both in Germany and abroad. His first documented exhibition took place in 1917 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, at the Rose d’Or gallery. In 1927, 1928, and 1929 he presented works at the Solinger Casino-Gesellschaft. From 1933 to 1941 he held a series of exhibitions in the Netherlands (Hoorn, Egmond, Gorinchem, Schoorl, and The Hague). testify to his lasting artistic significance. Exhibitions followed at Museum Villa Stahmer in Georgsmarienhütte (2015 and 2025), at the Gemäldegalerie Dachau (2024), at the Museum van Egmond (2025), at the Städtische Galerie Schwalenberg (2025), and at the Kunstraum Churfranken in Klingenberg (2026). These presentations confirm his artistic significance in Germany and internationally well into the present day.