The painter and draughtsman Heinz Schanz was born in Genkingen near Reutlingen in 1927. Enrolling at the State Art Academy in Karlsruhe in 1956, Heinz Schanz became a pupil of HAP Grieshaber's. Together with other pupils of Grieshaber's, including Walter Stöhrer, Heinz Schanz developed a powerful Informel style of painting and is regarded as the founder of "New Figuration".
Heinz Schanz enhances the spatial depth so characteristic of his style by continually overpainting his works. Schanz has shown work at numerous exhibitions; he was awarded the Oberschwäbische Art Prize and, in 1990, the Art Prize of the City of Stuttgart.
Heinz Schanz lives and works in Karlsruhe.