One of his Horst Antes’ sculpture groups adorns the forecourt of the ZDF broadcasting centre in Wiesbaden’s neighbouring city of Mainz. Antes’ work Sommerbild from 1961 was produced around the same time as his ‘Kopffüßler’ sculptures (figures consisting of a head and legs) for which he would eventually become widely known. The picture’s dynamic stems from the contoured forms, lines and blocks of primary colours moving through the yellow space. This was the starting point from where he developed a figure inspired by children’s drawings with no neck or torso and through the eye motif created a new figuration which challenged Informel orthodoxy at the time.
Horst Antes (*1936)
Sommerbild, 1961
Currently exhibited: No
Material: Tempera on nettle
Size: 121 x 142 cm
Inv-Nr.: A_252
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Keywords:
Previous owner: Sammlung Deschler, Ulm (directly bought from Horst Antes, permanent loan by the Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig)
Acquisition: Reinhard Ernst Collection, Ketterer Kunst GmbH & Co KG, Munich, 2017
Solo-/ Group exhibitions:
2002
‘Figur Wolkenfänger. Horst Antes und der malerische Aufbruch in den 1960er Jahren’, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover
1961
‘Ausstellung V’, Galerie Rheintor, Basel, Switzerland
One of his Horst Antes’ sculpture groups adorns the forecourt of the ZDF broadcasting centre in Wiesbaden’s neighbouring city of Mainz. Antes’ work Sommerbild from 1961 was produced around the same time as his „Kopffüßler“ sculptures (figures consisting of a head and legs) for which he would eventually become widely known. The painting shows a yellow space through which a number of contoured lines and blocks of primary colours move. There does not appear to be any kind of scheme here into which the various components could fit. In this brief period of his work from 1960 to 1962, Antes sought something human in his colour forms and thus established the first figurative elements. From here, he developed a figure inspired by children’s drawings with no neck or torso and through the eye motif created a new figuration which challenged Informel orthodoxy at the time.
In 1967 Horst Antes accepted a teaching position at the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe and in 1968 a guest professorship at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. He took part in the documenta in Kassel and the renowned biennials of Venice (1966) and São Paulo (1991) on several occasions. From 1984 to 2000 he held a professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe. He lives and works in Sicellino, Italy and in Karlsruhe.
