Horst Janssen (*1929 + 1995) is one of the most distinguished artists in the drawing and graphic arts. Critics compared the young Horst Janssen to the greatest artists in history, such as Rembrandt. Horst Janssen  shows so many forms and themes: landscape, erotism, portraits, still-life, drawings, graphics, prints, illustrations, posters, books etc. It is of no lesser fascination to discover the common features between Horst Janssen and the art of Romanticism – or artists like Goya or even Japanese art. 
Janssen analyses intensely the work of other artists relating parallels or analogies, e.g. between Janssen and Rembrandt, Dürer, Füssli. There are elective affinities with Alfred Mahlau, Egon Schiele, Paul Wunderlich, Jean Dubuffet, Gerhard Altenbourg, Max Beckmann, Paul Klee, Ben Shahn and Malte Sartorius.
Horst Janssen was born in Hamburg in 1929  died on August 31, 1995, after a stroke and was buried in the Gertruden-Graveyard in Oldenburg. 
In November 2000, the City of Oldenburg inaugurated the Horst-Janssen-Museum in honor of the artist.