Draft:Amud Uwe Millies

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  • Comment: Each claim for an exhibition must be sourced.
    I don't know what the point is of listing "Literature". If an item of "literature" is reliable and informative, then summarize what it says and attribute the summary in a reference. If the item isn't reliable or isn't informative, why mention it at all?
    You appear to italicize the titles of magazine articles. This is strange. Whereas you write
    Luisa Reiblich: Amud Uwe Millies: Weltweit ein Suchender und ewig reisender Expressionist. In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 147, 2022, p. 44
    we'd write:
    Luisa Reiblich: "Amud Uwe Millies: Weltweit ein Suchender und ewig reisender Expressionist". In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 147, 2022, p. 44
    In places, this draft seems to be incompletely translated from the German. Not Heft for example (and indeed not "german"). Hoary (talk) 23:16, 22 July 2025 (UTC)



Portrait of Amud Uwe Millies in the Solingen artists’ colony, painted by Bettina Heinen-Ayech, 1955, watercolor on paper

Amud Uwe Millies (* Hamburg, January 7, 1932, as Uwe Millies; † Hamburg, November 10, 2008) was a German artist associated with late Expressionism. He became known for his paintings created during extensive travels, which depict nature, architecture, and people’s ways of life. He was an active member of the Solingen artists’ colony known as the Black House, a group founded after World War II that consisted of his mentor Erwin Bowien, Bettina Heinen-Ayech, and himself.[1]

Biography

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Uwe Millies was the son of Johannes Max Millies, who had established a bottle cap manufacturing company in Hamburg-Wandsbek.[2] The family's ancestors came from Emilia-Romagna in Italy and migrated to Protestant Mecklenburg after the Reformation. His father’s pacifist and anti-militarist stance, along with his Hanseatic merchant values, strongly shaped Millies’ character. His mother, Elsbeth Anne Marie (née Neven), combined Northern German roots from her father, a ship’s engineer who traveled the world, and the artisan legacy of her grandfather Friedrich Wilhelm Stock from Eisenach, a ducal armorer.

From 1939 to 1946, the family took refuge on a farm near Holzkirchen in Upper Bavaria, escaping the bombing of Hamburg during WWII.[3] In 1946, they returned to the devastated city. Millies attended high school from 1946 to 1950 and began painting trips in 1949 to Bavaria and Sylt, where he met painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech and his lifelong teacher and friend Erwin Bowien.[2][4] Bowien’s influence sparked Uwe’s desire to paint outdoors in nature, and his early works reflect Bowien's style.[3]

In 1953, he earned a journeyman’s certificate in mechanical engineering from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, complying with the wishes of his parents, who had planned for him to join the family business. From 1955 to 1967, he lived and worked in the Black House artists’ colony in Solingen with Heinen-Ayech and Bowien.[5]

During this time, he undertook numerous long painting trips across Germany and abroad – including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and Yugoslavia. In 1961, his daughter, Diana Millies, was born.

In 1973, Millies left Europe for the first time and painted in Turkey. Following a trip to Egypt, he adopted the name Amud Uwe Millies.[6] Many further journeys followed – some lasting several months. He saw himself as a preserver of the cultures he visited, frequently depicting cities and cultural landmarks as a form of documentation. One particularly evocative cycle is titled "Execution of a Barn", comprising ten pastel works showing the demolition of a medieval barn near Bad Oldesloe. In 1974, Millies purchased the so-called Swiss House at Tralau Castle near Bad Oldesloe.

His painting travels continued throughout Germany and abroad until his death, including trips to Yugoslavia (1972), Turkey (1973), Denmark (1977), Norway (1979), Mallorca (1980), Nepal (1982), Egypt, Denmark, and Norway (1984), Sri Lanka and Norway (1986), Bali (1987), France (1988), Gran Canaria (1989), Nepal (1990), Spain and India (1991), Peru and Alaska (1992), Ecuador and Peru (1993), Egypt and Mexico (1994), Nepal (1995), Peru (1997), Russia and Greece (1998), Denmark (1999), Greece (2001), Tunisia (2002), South Africa (2003), Tunisia (2004), Turkey and Greece (2006), Portugal (2007), and finally once again to Greece in 2008.[7]

Amud Uwe Millies died on November 10, 2008 in his home in Hamburg (Germany), surrounded by friends and his sisters. Alongside his artworks, he left behind many letters and travel journals, documenting and often critically reflecting on the transition from traditional rural societies to modernity

Art

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Millies worked with oil paints, pastels, and watercolors. Furthermore, he created graphic art, drawings and sketches, ceramic tiles, and pottery. In an era dominated by abstraction, Millies pursued a figurative style rooted in late Expressionism.[8] His subjects were drawn from his travels – landscapes, cityscapes, architecture, portraits, and paintungs of flowers. He was a proponent of bright, luminous plein air painting – often painting in the open air, akin to artists from colonies in Fontainebleau, Ahrenshoop, or Dachau.

Luisa Reiblich noted in her essay “A Global Seeker and an Expressionist on Perpetual Travel” that Millies had a distinctive technique, applying oil paint in a delicate and thin manner to achieve a soft coloration. At first glance, his works often appear to be pastels, though most are in fact oil paintings.[9][10]

His artistic vision was shaped by a longing for international dialogue, which he sought and found on his travels. Millies saw himself as a global citizen – a perspective that deeply shaped his art and remains strikingly relevant today.[11][12][13]

Exhibitions (selection)

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Since the late 1950s, the artistic work of Amud Uwe Millies has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, both within Germany and internationally. His exhibitions span a wide geographical range, including venues across Europe and beyond. The breadth of his exhibition history is notably documented in the catalog accompanying the Dachau exhibition of 2025.[1]

Key museum exhibitions include:


Literature

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  • Luisa Reiblich: "Amud Uwe Millies: Weltweit ein Suchender und ewig reisender Expressionist". In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 147, 2022 (in German)
  • Cristina Streckfuss: "Künstlerkolonie und Zeitzeuge zugleich. Das „Schwarze Haus“ in Solingen". In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 148, 2022 (in German)
  • Zweckverband Dachauer Galerien und Museen (ed.): "In der Welt unterwegs. Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen." Exhibition catalogue to "In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen" at the Gemäldegalerie Dachau (31 Oktober 2024 bis 27 April 2025). 2024, ISBN 978-3-949683-07-7.
  • Thomas Hufnagel: "Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Das Schwarze Haus." In: Artmapp. Spring 2025. p. 96f (in German)
  • Gregor Schiegl: "Gemäldegalerie Dachau. Nächster Halt: Gegenwart." In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7 November 2024 (in German, available online)
  • Haroun Ayech: "Das Malerdreigestirn von Solingen", In: stiftungswelt.de, May 2023 (in German, available online)
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References

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  1. ^ a b Laura Cohen: "In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen", p. 7, In: Zweckverband Dachauer Galerien und Museen (ed.): In der Welt unterwegs. Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Exhibition catalogue to „In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen“ at the Gemäldegalerie Dachau, 2024, ISBN 978-3-949683-07-7
  2. ^ a b Luisa Reiblich: "Amud Uwe Millies: Weltweit ein Suchender und ewig reisender Expressionist". In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 147, 2022, p. 44
  3. ^ a b Laura Cohen und Haroun Ayech: "Amud Uwe Millies (1932–2008)" p. 72, In: Zweckverband Dachauer Galerien und Museen (ed.): In der Welt unterwegs. Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Exhibition catalogue to „In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen“ at the Gemäldegalerie Dachau, 2024</
  4. ^ Gregor Schiegl: "Gemäldegalerie Dachau. Nächster Halt: Gegenwart". Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7 November 2024
  5. ^ Cohen, ibid., 2024, p. 8
  6. ^ Reiblich, ibid., 2022, p. 46
  7. ^ Website of the artist, Vita
  8. ^ Reiblich, ibid., 2022, p. 45
  9. ^ Reiblich, ibid., 2022, p. 45 and following
  10. ^ Cohen und Ayech, ibid, 2024, p. 73
  11. ^ Haroun Ayech: Das Schwarze Haus – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen. In: Zweckverband Dachauer Galerien und Museen (Hrsg.): In der Welt unterwegs. Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Katalog zur Ausstellung „In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen“ in der Gemäldegalerie Dachau, 2024, p. 11ff
  12. ^ Thomas Hufnagel: Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Das Schwarze Haus. In: Artmapp. Spring 2025, p. 97
  13. ^ Cristina Streckfuss: "Künstlerkolonie und Zeitzeuge zugleich. Das „Schwarze Haus“ in Solingen". In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, issue 148, 2022, p. 51
  14. ^ Husumer Tageszeitung, 6 April 1957
  15. ^ Göttinger Tageblatt, 6 May 1958
  16. ^ "Reizvoll durch Gegensätzlichkeit - Neue Ausstellung mit Werken von Millies, Emma Stern und Wrabetz", in: Solinger Morgenpost, 20.05.1967 (in German)
  17. ^ The Rising Nepal, 14 Feb 1982
  18. ^ Solinger Tageblatt, 2 Nov 1985
  19. ^ "In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen". Museums and Galleries of Dachau. Association of Dachau Museums and Galleries. 21 March 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  20. ^ Christian Corvin (19 May 2025). "Solinger Künstlerkolonie im Museum Villa Stahmer". kunst-mag.de. kunst mag - das online kunstmagazin.