Red for the book cover was out of the question for her – no matter how much her husband pressured her. “My favorite color is blue,” enthuses Susanne Heller. And that clearly describes the temperaments in the Heller household. She who appreciates the “after-joy” as well as the anticipation. He likes to add loud splashes of color with his activities.
As we know, Stephan Heller, owner of the Munich communications agency Heller & Partner, is also very successful. While his wife Susanne – who holds a doctorate in medicine, is the mother of six children and also holds a management position in the company, as do two of the Heller children – her vocation as an artist has so far remained relatively unknown.
Her husband has now put changing this on his agenda. Last September he transformed a 350 square meter floor of the Bogenhausen company headquarters into the “Brighter Art” gallery. The first exhibition: exclusively works by his wife. In addition to numerous representatives from Munich’s politics and business, the artist Markus Lüpertz, who is often referred to as the “Painter Prince”, came to the opening to give warm words to Susanne Heller, as well as Bavaria’s Minister of Art Markus Blume, who gave the official opening speech.
Economic advisor Clemens Baumgärtner (left) and Dirk Brettschneider von Hugendubel in front of works by Susanne Heller at the book launch.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The self-published illustrated book has now been presented. Once again, numerous personalities from Munich society accepted the invitation, including Marianne Wille from Dallmayr, Katrin Stoll from Neumeister and Dirk Brettschneider from Hugendubel, CSU city councilor Ulrike Grimm and her colleague Clemens Baumgärtner, consultant for labor and economics, and – again – CSU -Art Minister Markus Blume. As always, he not only spoke up for the Free State as a location for art and culture, but also hurled a “heartfelt praise from God” to an “urban society that celebrates culture”.
He has already taken part in many premieres, but never in a “Table Book” premiere. Which doesn’t seem surprising since it was, if anything, the premiere of a “coffee table book”. And yes, Susanne Heller’s 26 kilo catalog raisonné is one of those. Its advantages, according to Blume: It’s not as thin as a Reclam ribbon, so it looks good. There aren’t that many letters in it, so it’s easy to read. And if you don’t know what to talk about with your guests, you can point to the Heller book on the sofa(!) table.
In order to adapt to the artistic society in terms of clothing, Blume, as he explained, had thrown on a pair of aubergine-colored trousers “from the edge of my wardrobe.” Which was a striking match for the host’s equally aubergine-colored but much more intensely colored jacket. Which brings us back to the colors. When it came to designing the cover, Susanne Heller finally prevailed over her husband: it was adorned with a Sudoku motif that she loved so much in pale shades of blue, green and yellow. Red only appears as pink.