Hubertus von Hohenlohe: Bridging Eras Through Art at Rosenburg Castle

Artist Hubertus von Hohenlohe recently opened an exhibition at Rosenburg Castle, a striking display that merges the grandeur of Renaissance architecture with the vibrancy of modern pop culture. The artist, known for his sophisticated self-portraits, described the opening event as a "great start," despite initial concerns about customs clearance for some artworks.

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Here we would have to hang all this up and hang up Lenny Kravitz and Zidane and Christoph Waltz. That would be cool, these ancestors are so predictable.

The exhibition's unique concept stems from a conversation with Spanish portrait painter Hernán Cortés Moreno. Moreno suggested replacing the castle's traditional ancestral portraits with images of contemporary icons like Lenny Kravitz, Zinedine Zidane, and Christoph Waltz, whom von Hohenlohe has previously portrayed. This idea resonated with the castle's owner, Markus Hoyos, leading to an exhibition that playfully contrasts historical lineage with modern celebrity.

Von Hohenlohe also featured a portrait of Anna, the daughter of the castle's owner and a successful model for brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton. This inclusion, he explained, serves to "build a bridge from the venerable to the present," incorporating the family's "DNA" in a contemporary fashion. Von Hohenlohe sees this blend of old and new as reflective of his own identity, possessing "old DNA" but maintaining a "very modern orientation."

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So you create a bridge from the venerable to the present. And that is also me somehow. I have old DNA in me, but have always had a very modern orientation.

This modern outlook, he believes, was significantly shaped during his youth through interactions with influential artists such as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí. "Probably that somehow shapes you," he mused. When asked about the "old DNA" within him, von Hohenlohe suggested a sense of rebellion, a desire to diverge from parental paths. Yet, a recent visit to his ancestral castle in Bohemia revealed a connection and a "longing" for the past, hinting at a complex relationship with his heritage.

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I believe there is a rebellion in me. That children always want to do something different from their parents is part of why I moved away from all that.