Famous Austrians X: Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Oh, Rudolf. He's more than just a reindeer, you know. 

Born in Vienna to Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, Rudolf II was groomed from an early age to be emperor, spending much of his childhood in Spain - the old stomping ground of his grandfather, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He was shy, aloof, and a little on the nerdy side. He loved horses, clocks, and astrology (he was a Cancer) and alchemy. He never married, though did have several mistresses, trysts and illegitimate children. He could have been what we would now call bisexual - or, what may have been the portmanteau of the era, "of the Greek persuasion."

Kunstkammer

Seeing as Rudolf loved art and the occult, and at the time Prague was the seat of all that alchemy business, he moved the Habsburg capital from Vienna to Prague in 1583 - it was moved back after his death - and added to his collection of curiosities (things that were to-be-defined by science: think of them as the Renaissance version of Ripley's Believe-it-or-Not) with antiquities, sketches, "dragon" (dinosaur) bones, mermaids, and unicorns - whatever. Unfortunately, his cabinet(s) fell into disrepair and were looted some 50 years after his death. Certain collections survive in museums around Europe.

Myths surrounding Rudolf II still abound in Prague, including the Golem of Prague; the contemporary Czech artist/film maker Jan Svankmajer plays off of the creepy/occult traditions of Rudolf II for much of his work. I had the pleasure of seeing some of his stuff earlier this year at the Kunsthalle in Vienna.

KUNSTHALLE: Le Surréalisme, c'est moi!

An exhibit at the Kunsthalle, and one I was very excited about seeing, Le Surréalisme, c'est moi! was, I'll be honest, a bit disappointing.

I would consider myself a true Salvador Dali fan. I have seen lots of exhibitions. I even have a finger puppet Dali:

Dali in front of the Trevi Fountain

So I was disappointed to see only a handful of Dali originals, with the rest of the exhibit a painful "contemporary artist do Dali." Yuck. This is a) false advertizing. I expected DALI! and b) not real art if you are just copy catting a great artist.

I did however receive a dual entrance ticket for my €10.50 to see "Das Kabinett des Jan Svankmajer" exhibit on the floor above. I was highly impressed. Svankmajer is a relatively well-known Czech animator and film director. He dabbles in other art forms, but his most famous pieces are short films. I remember seeing Dimensions of Dialogue at some point on TV - maybe the arts channel...here is a link to the first part on YouTube. I remember distinctly the different heads devouring each other, and thought it was weird when I was about 15. But now I find it strangely beautiful. I found the entire exhibit beautiful, in fact. Sometime a bit creepy, but always a true artistic vision.

Svankmajer's Encyclopedia sketches

Svankmajer has been touted as the Czech Tim Burton (though his work predates Burton's, so I would say he inspired Burton). As more or less a contemporary of Ingmar Bergman, I would also compare him to Bergman, in the sense that his films deal with social issues in a surreal or unexpected context. Although Bergman's work is more or less "normal" (set in a contemporary, real-life world) and live-action (no animation), I think they share a conceptual vision, in a way.

Svankmajer's work is dark - no doubt about that - imaginative, and very much influenced by the culture of central Europe. I've noticed in my time here (and in reading plenty of German texts in college) that there is a bit of an obsession with the Devil in German, Bohemian, and Alpine cultures - just look at the Brothers Grimm! Or Kafka, or E.T.A Hoffmann, or Heine. Or basically any German-language author for that matter. His Kafka-esque "The Flat," revamping of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," and his haunting critique of Communism, "The Garden."

So, although the Dali part was a bust, I think I've found a new favorite cineaste in Svankmajer.