HORST ANTES. EINE SAMMLUNG

Horst Antes is considered one of the pioneers of New Figuration in Germany. His iconic “head-footers” (“Kopffüßler”), his consistent exploration of the human figure in space, and his house archetypes have brought him international recognition since the 1960s.

The exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into the artist’s multifaceted body of work, ranging from early painterly experiments to later groups of works. At its core is the important collection bequeathed to the Sprengel Museum in 1988 by Wolf and Ursula Hermann and continuously expanded through the funds of their foundation. Today, it represents the most extensive public museum collection of works by Antes.

The exhibition features paintings, prints, and sculptures that vividly convey the quiet intensity, formal rigor, and lasting relevance of Antes’s visual language. All approximately 80 paintings from the collection are on display, spanning his artistic production from the early 1960s to the present day. The works have been arranged by Antes himself in a highly specific way, forming a kind of installation.

The presentation is complemented by the monumental seven-part sculptural ensemble Garden of the Seven Monuments of Pleasure, which Antes created for the Federal Garden Show in Karlsruhe in 1967 and which is now located in Aachen.