Exhibition at the Kunstverein Coburg e.V.
January 25–May 11, 2025
Park 4a, Leopoldstraße
96450 Coburg
Germany
The painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937–2020) from Solingen attracted attention as early as the age of 18 when she was allowed to participate in the first major international art exhibition of the young Federal Republic of Germany. The plein-air painter developed a very unique watercolour style and, after extensive travels throughout Europe and an extended stay in Egypt, settled in Algeria. A life like something out of a novel—devoted entirely to painting and international understanding.
Bettina Heinen-Ayech was the daughter of the journalist and poet Hanns Heinen and Erna Heinen-Steinhoff, who held her art and literature salon in the houses of the Black House artists’ colony. It was here that Bettina met her most important teacher and mentor, the painter Erwin Bowien (1899–1972). She remained close to him throughout her life and undertook numerous art trips with him throughout Europe.
After training at the art academies of Cologne, Munich and Copenhagen, a stay of several months in Luxor, Egypt, led to an awakening that brought her closer to the desert and the light of the Orient. In 1963, the painter moved to her Algerian husband, the builder Abdelhamid Ayech, in his home town of Guelma.
Until her death in 2020, Algeria and Solingen alternated as the centre of her life. Bettina Heinen-Ayech’s exhibition record includes more than 90 major solo exhibitions in museums and important cultural institutions in Europe and North Africa.
