Exposition Art Blog: Horst Janssen

Horst Janssen

Horst Janssen (14 November 1929 – 31 August 1995) was a German draftsman, printmaker, poster artist and illustrator. He had a prolific output of drawings, etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and wood engravings.
Janssen was a student of Alfred Mahlau at the Landeskunstschule Hamburg. He first published in the newsweekly Die Zeit in 1947. In the early 1950s, he started working in lithography, on an initiative of Aschaffenburg paper manufacturer Guido Dessauer, using the technical facilities of a coloured paper factory. The first retrospective of Janssen's drawings and graphic works was shown in 1965, first in the kestnergesellschaft Hanover, then in other German cities and in Basel. In 1966, he was awarded Hamburg's Edwin Scharff Prize. International exhibitions followed. In 1968, he received the Grand Prize in graphic art at the Venice Biennale; in 1977, his works were shown at the documenta VI in Kassel.
The Horst Janssen Museum in his hometown of Oldenburg is dedicated to his legacy. His work is shown internationally in major museums.
His life was marked by numerous marriages, outspoken opinions, alcoholism, and selfless dedication to the art of printmaking.Wikipedia








Horst Janssen was a prominent German lithographer, printmaker, and illustrator. Characterized by his inventive line work and delicate imagery, his early drawings consisted of portraits of famous figures such as Edgar Allan Poe, drawn in webby-ink lines similar to the technique used by contemporary illustrator Ralph Idris Steadman. Born on November 14, 1929 in Hamburg, Germany, he studied at the city’s School of Fine Arts and first published his work in the weekly publication Die Zeit in 1947. The first retrospective of Janssen's drawings and graphic works was shown in 1965 in the Hanover gallery Kestnergesellschaft, and in 1966, he was awarded Hamburg's Edwin Scharff Prize. Numerous international exhibitions followed, yet his rising professional fame was contrasted by a tumultuous personal life, marked by multiple divorces and citations for public drunkenness. The subject of his work began to shift toward more abstracted drawings, such the fractured, intricate Für Friely drawing. In 1968, he received the Grand Prize in graphic art at the Venice Biennale. Janssen died on August 31, 1995 in Hamburg, Germany, and the Horst Janssen Museum in Oldenburg is dedicated to his legacy.(artnet.com)






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