Work in the collection: Horst Antes, Gray figure between yellow and blue, 1971, acrylic on canvas, 89.5 x 67 cm.

Horst Antes is a German painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Influenced by informal post-war painting, he was one of the first to try representational painting, looking for new perspectives on figurative painting. He found an expression inspired by de Kooning in the use of informal and figurative elements. As a co-founder, he significantly influenced the new German figurative painting. Particularly well-known are his cephalopods (so-called “art figures” without a neck; head and feet seem to merge into one another), created from 1962 onwards. This motif was inspired by the Kachina dolls of the Pueblo Indians.

born 1936 in Heppenheim
1957-1959 studied painting with HAP Grieshaber at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe
1962 stay in Florence
1966 Design for metal sculptures for a “Garden of the Seven Monuments of Earthly Delights”, which Antes exhibited in 1967 on the occasion of the Federal Horticultural Show for the Botanical Garden in Karlsruhe
Since 1967 professor of painting and head of a painting class at the Karlsruhe Academy
1968 visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin (today University of the Arts)
Since 1983 member of the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg
lives and works in Karlsruhe, Berlin and Castellina in Chianti, Italy

Exhibitions (selection)

1963 First exhibition of a three-dimensional “cephalopod” at Villa Massimo, Italy
1964 Participation in the 3rd documenta, Kassel
1968 Participation in the 4th documenta, Kassel
1977 Participation in the 6th documenta
1993 Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich
2002 Sprengel Museum, Hanover
2003 Host Antes. Works on paper and graphics 1969–2002, Kunsthalle Villa Kobe
2004 Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Itami City Museum of Art, Iwate Museum of Art; Iwaki City Art Museum; The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, each Japan
2004 Interiors, Art Museum Bayreuth
2006 Kunsthalle Würth, Schwäbisch Hall
2013 Martin Gropius Building, Berlin

Collections (Selection)

Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main
Sprengel Museum, Hanover
New Pinakothek, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
ZDF broadcasting center, Mainz