95 years of Janosch – Neues Kunstmuseum Tübingen | 12.03.-17.05.2026

“95 Years of Janosch”: From March 12 to May 17, 2026, the New Art Museum Tübingen (NKT) will showcase the unique art and lifestyle of the celebrated artist Horst Eckert, better known as Janosch. All the characters—the Tiger Duck, the Frog, the Little Tiger, the Little Bear, and even the wise, ever-relaxed Mr. Wondrak—will pay tribute to their creator. The exhibition will feature approximately 300 unique pieces from Janosch’s oeuvre, half of which will be shown for the first time.

Image avobe: Janosch, 2021

“A kind of spring seems to bubble up in Janosch’s head, and the texts flow onto the paper almost unfiltered. Thoughtful, funny, surprising, and above all, endearing.” This is what Janosch’s long-time friend, the successful cartoonist Peter Gaymann, writes in the afterword to the book “The Little Rabbit Baldrian”.

The major anniversary exhibition “95 Years of Janosch” is like a large, colorful, and exciting showcase of Janosch’s endlessly bubbling, incredibly imaginative work. Oil paintings, pen and ink drawings, watercolors, woodcuts, etchings, caricatures, illustrations, even sculptures and textile works: The artist, born Horst Eckert on March 11, 1931, in Hindenburg, Upper Silesia (now Zabrze, Poland), masters the most diverse artistic genres and techniques.

Since the 1960s, he has called himself Janosch. Janosch, the gifted writer. The creator of children’s book classics like “Oh, How Beautiful Panama Is.” The inventor of the quirky, hair-loving Mr. Wondrak, with his thinning hair and black and yellow overalls. Yes, in a way, Mr. Wondrak is Mr. Janosch’s alter ego. He is calm, clever, and unwavering in everything he does. In short: He is a true bon vivant. And as such, he greatly appreciates good food and fine wine. Consequently, an entire section of the exhibition is dedicated to this theme.

“That’s life,” says Janosch, “you’re thrown in like into cold water, without being asked, whether you want to be or not. You don’t get out alive.” So Janosch, like everyone else, faced a choice: be unhappy about it and drown, feel listless and brood, or frolic in this one life you have, like a fish in water, full of joy and passion.

Despite a painful childhood and adolescence, Janosch chose the second path. His art is a reflection of his soul, his life, his wisdom, his inexhaustible imagination. Whether as a painter, writer, illustrator, children’s book author, sculptor, or cartoonist: Janosch’s artistic worlds, with their humor and zest for life, are highly relevant and infectious, especially in these difficult times – for young and old alike.

In 1980, Janosch said goodbye to his former life. He sold his house on Lake Ammersee, boarded a plane with just one bag, and after several stops along the way, arrived on the island of Tenerife, where he has been able to realize his dream of living in complete seclusion, far from the public eye. And here, away from all the hustle and bustle, he is celebrating his 95th birthday with his closest family.

His many fans, young and old, celebrate him in faraway Baden-Württemberg, in the exhibition rooms of the NKT at Schaffhausenstrasse 123 in Tübingen.

Here, in the green-and-black state of Baden-Württemberg, Bernhard Feil, the founder and director of the NKT, first met this artist at an event in Stuttgart. That was in 2013. Since then, they have been friends and business partners.

The fact that the state of Baden-Württemberg recently updated its ecological footprint report should please the islander, who founded his own environmental foundation in his adopted home years ago.

“Rainforests are the soul of the world because they regulate our Earth’s climate. They contain wonderful trees and plants,” Janosch writes in “The Big, Little Tiger Atlas.” But people are cutting down the forests and destroying plants and animals. This also angered the little bear: “Humans are pigs,” grumbled the little bear, adding that he was glad he was a bear.

Like few other artists, Janosch captures the essence of life simply and succinctly – in words, deeds, paintings, and drawings. “To truly embrace the art of living, one must have nothing to lose in this world,” Janosch writes. Even the word “possession” makes the sage uneasy, for it implies being “possessed.” And who wants to be possessed by something?

Janosch will certainly never lose his sense of humor. For, according to him, aging, including his own, goes like this: “From the outside, your teeth and hair fall out… But inside, you’ve never felt so young.”

A heartfelt and sincere congratulations on your young 95th birthday, dear Janosch.

WHEN?

Exhibition: Thursday, 12. March – Sunday, 17. May 2026

WHERE?

Neues Kunstmuseum Tübingen
Schaffhausenstraße 123
72072 Tübingen