Horst Antes

Painter, graphic artist, and plastic artist, born in Heppenheim, SWC Germany. Since the early 1960s the ‘Kopffüßler’ (cephalopod) - an imaginary being created by himself - has featured centrally as a form of signature in his works. He is one of the first representatives of the Neue Figuration.

Horst Antes (born 28 October 1936 in Heppenheim, Germany) is a German artist and sculptor.

After his Abitur he studied under the important woodcutter HAP Grieshaber at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste (today known as the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe) in Karlsruhe from 1957 to 1959. Already in 1959, the artist's work was honoured with two prizes, art prize of the city of Hanover and the Pankofer prize on the occasion of the German Youth Art prize. Around 1960 Antes discovered his 'Kopffüßler' (literal translation: Head-Footer), a form which preoccupied the artist in numerous variations and artistic techniques. The artist was given several scholarships and awards in the 1960s, including the Villa-Romana-Prize in Florence in 1962 and the Villa Massimo scholarship in Rome in 1963. Three years later, aged only 29, Antes accepted a teaching post at the Akademie in Karlsruhe. This was followed by a post as a professor also in Karlsruhe which he held from 1967 to 1973, as well as a one-year guest-professorship at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. The artist resumed teaching at the Akademie in Karlsruhe in 1984 and continued teaching there for another 16 years. Since 1990 the artist has been living and working in Karlsruhe, Florence and Berlin. Antes' oeuvre includes not only paintings and graphic art, but also sculptures in public spaces.