Porträt Klaus Hegewisch

The Hamburg businessman, lifelong yachtsman, and enthusiastic art collector Klaus Hegewisch (1919–2013) was a friend of Stephan von Huene and Petra Kipphoff von Huene. When Stephan von Huene asked whether he would be interested in a portrait of himself, to which he could moreover contribute, he was intrigued and delighted.

Stephan von Huene had already long reflected on the possibilities of portraiture that lay beyond painting, sculpture, or photography. His alternative to the conventional, static depiction would have to be enacted and experienced on multiple levels: visual, acoustic, tactile – a kinetic portrait (cf. also: “The Return of the Stochastician,” in: exhib. cat. Stephan von Huene: Tune the World. Die Retrospektive, Ostfildern 2002, p. 222 f.).

In the portrait, which is also a self-portrait, Klaus Hegewisch recites a satirical poem (Karl Rode, Lieutenant Colonel in Maritime Service, circa 1900), which describes Kaiser Wilhelm II and his family on board his sailing ship “Meteor V”.