At present, the most famous living painters include Yayoi Kusama, Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter. Among the most famous deceased painters are Vincent van Gogh, Michelangelo and Pablo Picasso. In 2024, Bettina Heinen-Ayech was inducted into this Hall of Fame. This means that Bettina Heinen-Ayech has now been included in the worldwide Who’s Who of the world’s most important painters.

Measured against all painters in history, the following HPI (Historical Popularity Index) was measured by the MIT for Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937-2020): Bettina Heinen-Ayech: HPI 56.81, rank worldwide 715, rank Germany 66.

In Germany, Bettina Heinen-Ayech was appointed to the exclusive circle of the 50 most important historical women of North Rhine-Westphalia by the NRW Women’s Council on 7 June 2024. This honour is given to women who have played a decisive role in the history of the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany, who have achieved great things and who have paved the way. This underlines their importance.

More at: https://pantheon.world/…

Short profile of the painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech

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 studying at the art academies in 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. Algeria, together with Solingen, became the centre of her life until her death in 2020.

Bettina Heinen-Ayech’s exhibition list includes over 90 major solo exhibitions in museums and important cultural institutions in Europe and North Africa. Numerous museums own pictures of her. Bettina Heinen-Ayech is considered an outstanding artist, the most important protagonist of the Solingen Artist Colony ‚Black House‘ and an ambassador for international understanding between Orient and Occident.