Horst Janssen - Art Prize

Art Prize

In 1964, Horst Janssen was awarded the Darmstadt Art Prize. In 1965, a retrospective of his drawings and graphic works appeared in the kestnergesellschaft in Hanover. Wieland Schmied, the director of the kestnergesellschaft praised him as "der größte Zeichner außer Picasso. Aber Picasso ist eine andere Generation" ("the greatest draftsman besides Picasso. But Picasso is a different generation"). His works were seen in the tradition of Goya, Ensor, Klinger, Munch, Redon and Kubin. Titles included "Totentanz" (Death Dance), "Idiot", "High Society", "Im Suff" (Sloshed), a self-portrait, "Twist tanzende Nutten" (Twist dancing hookers), "Klee und Ensor, um einen Bückling streitend" (Klee and Ensor, arguing over a kipper, "Bückling" carrying the double meaning, both a smoked herring and a bowing) and "Peter Lorre oder einer, der aus Berufung die schöne Aussicht versperrt". The collection, the first major public display of his work, was also shown in Hamburg, Darmstadt, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich and Basel.

His position as a respected artist was bolstered by winning Hamburg's Edwin Scharff Prize in 1966. The following year, two of the most important people of his youth died, his Aunt Anna and his teacher Alfred Mahlau. Janssen moved to Mühlenberger Weg in Blankenese. The following year, he was divorced from his third wife. His art now dealt with the losses of these years. He won first prize for graphic art at the 1968 Venice Biennale. He began a love affair with Gesche Tietjens. A trip with her to Svanshall, Skåne County, in southern Sweden led to many beautiful drawings of the coastlines. His concentration on landscapes was supported by his return to etching. In 1972, he separated from Tietjen, then pregnant with his child, Adam. In 1973, he had a love affair with Bettina Sartorius. In 1975, he won another prize, the Schiller Prize of the city of Mannheim, where his large drawing retrospective was organized in 1976. In 1977, his work was shown at the documenta VI in Kassel, in 1980 at the Art Institute of Chicago, in 1982 at Vienna's Albertina.

In 1990, the balcony of his house collapsed and he suffered injuries to his eyes. The city of Oldenburg made him an honorary citizen in 1992. Horst Janssen died in Oldenburg on 31 August 1995 and was buried there in Gertruden Cemetery.