Reflections on my grandfather Hans-Jürgen „Hänner“ Schlieker’s artistic journey, as seen through the continuously developing „Geneva Collection“ of his works.
Hans-Jürgen Schlieker – affectionately known to most people as “Hänner” – has always been a presence in my life, not only as a beloved grandfather but also as an artist.
One of his typical works from the late 1960s hang on the wall of my first studio apartment in Berlin in 2000. Later, in my student flat in the small town of Witten, it was joined by a large diptych (a painting that stretches across two separate panels), which accompanied me throughout my studies.
The anchor of today’s Geneva collection is a diptych from 2003. It was the centrepiece of my first apartment in Geneva, where it remained within sight through hundreds of sometimes inspired, sometimes arduous hours I spent writing my doctoral thesis.
After, it greeted visitors in the first home in the city centre my wife Miao and I moved in together, and where we welcomed our first daughter Luna. Later, its energy would radiate across the beautiful, generous open spaces of our Champel flat, where Clea completed our family.
Today, the painting holds pride of place over the dining table in our home in Conches, a position of honour for one of my grandfather’s last works before his passing in 2004.
As my grandfather’s works have always been so close and familiar, they speak to me in a deeply personal and probably subconscious way; they are silent companions, sometimes soothing, sometimes stimulating, and sometimes just there to reassure this is home.
However, as I began photographing and cataloguing his works for his centenary, I found myself stepping back intrigued and seeing them with fresh eyes.
Let me share with you what I learned about the journey of an extraordinary artist – a journey that only now, with time and perspective, I feel ready to unpack and explore.