Draft:Amud Uwe Millies

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

Amud Uwe Millies (* January 7, 1932 in Hamburg, born as Uwe Millies; † November 10, 2008, also in Hamburg) 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.

Biography

Uwe Millies was the son of Johannes Max Millies, who had established a bottle cap manufacturing company in Hamburg-Wandsbek. 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. 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. Bowien’s influence sparked Uwe’s desire to paint outdoors in nature, and his early works reflect Bowien's style.

In 1953, he earned a journeyman’s certificate in mechanical engineering from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, complying with his parents’ wishes 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.

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.” 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.

Amud Uwe Millies passed away 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

Artistic Work

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. 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. His atmospheric light effects recall William Turner’s work, while his floral paintings evoke parallels with Expressionist Erich Heckel.

His artistic vision was shaped by a longing for international dialogue, which he actively 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

Exhibitions (selection)

• 1957 Husum, Nordfriesland Museum. Nissenhaus Husum, together with Bettina Heinen-Ayech
• 1957 Kopenhagen, Deutscher Club, together with Bettina Heinen-Ayech
• 1958 Hannoversch-Münden, Sclossmuseum, Welfenschloss Münden, together with Bettina Heinen-Ayech and Erwin Bowien
• 1960 Solingen , Neuen Rhein Zeitung exhibition space (solo)
• 1961 Hamburg, BP-Klubheim
• ab 1961 Solingen, start of his continued participation in the Bergische Kunstausstellung (group exhibition)
• 1965 Participation in a travelling exhibition all over Europe, organised by Interessengemeinschaft Solinger Künstler (federation of Solingen Artists) (group)
• 1967 Solingen, Deutsches Klingenmuseum, together with Emma Stern und Alfred Wrabetz
• 1967 Bonn, Carl-Schurz-Colleg (solo)
• 1968 Berlin, Hamburger Künstler, Galerie Gertrud von Kalkstein (group)
• 1977 Solingen, Deutsches Klingenmuseum, (group)
• 1981 Reinbek, Rathaus (solo)
• 1982 Kathmandu (Nepal), Nationalgalerie
• 1984 Bonn, Carl-Schurz-Colleg
• 1985 Hamburg, Gatehouse Wellingsbüttel (solo)
• 1986 Sri Lanka, Kandy-Museum
• 1989 Lübeck, BfG (Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft) (solo)
• 1989 Bad Schwartau, Townhall
• 1992 Udaipur (Rajasthan, Indien), Information Center
• 1993 Bad Segeberg, Evangelische Akademie (solo)
• 2025 Dachau, Gemäldegalerie, together with Bettina Heinen-Ayech and Erwin Bowien (exhibiiton webpage)
• 2025 Georgsmarienhütte, Museum Villa Stahmer, together with Bettina Heinen-Ayech and Erwin Bowien

Literatur

• Luisa Reiblich: Amud Uwe Millies: Weltweit ein Suchender und ewig reisender Expressionist. In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, Heft 147, 2022 (german)
• Cristina Streckfuss: Künstlerkolonie und Zeitzeuge zugleich. Das „Schwarze Haus“ in Solingen. In: Artprofil Kunstmagazin, Heft 148, 2022 (german)
• 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 (31 Oktober 2024 bis 27 April 2025). 2024, ISBN 978-3-949683-07-7.
• Thomas Hufnagel: Künstlerkolonie Solingen. Das Schwarze Haus. In: Artmapp. Frühjahr 2025. S. 96f (german)
• Gregor Schiegl: Gemäldegalerie Dachau. Nächster Halt: Gegenwart. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7 November 2024 (german, available online)
• Haroun Ayech: Das Malerdreigestirn von Solingen, In: stiftungswelt.de, May 2023 (german, available online)

Weblinks

• Artist's website (german)
• Website of the Solingen artists colony „The Black House“
• Works of the artist on artnet
• Works of the artist on MutualArt
• kulturport.de über In der Welt unterwegs – Die Künstlerkolonie Solingen (german)