Francesca von Habsburg

Francesca von Habsburg-Lothringen (born 7 June 1958) is an art collector and the estranged wife of Karl von Habsburg, current head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Francesca von Habsburg
Francesca promoting a 'Tibet event', in Vienna, Austria, on 26 May 2012
Born (1958-06-07) 7 June 1958
Lausanne, Switzerland
Spouse
Archduke Karl of Austria
(m. 1993; separated 2003)
IssueArchduchess Eleonore
Archduke Ferdinand
Archduchess Gloria
FatherBaron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza
MotherFiona Frances Elaine Campbell-Walter
Austrian Royalty
House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Francis I (Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor)
Children include
Archduchess Marie Louise
Ferdinand I
Archduchess Maria Leopoldina
Archduchess Clementina
Archduke Franz Karl
Grandchildren include
Franz Joseph I
Archduke Maximilian
Archduke Karl Ludwig
Archduke Ludwig Viktor
Great-grandchildren include
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Otto Franz
Ferdinand I
Franz Joseph I
Children
Archduchess Sophie
Archduchess Gisela
Crown Prince Rudolf
Archduchess Marie Valerie
Grandchildren include
Archduchess Elisabeth Marie
Charles I
Children include
Crown Prince Otto
Archduke Robert
Archduke Felix
Archduke Karl Ludwig
Archduke Rudolf
Grandchildren include
Archduchess Andrea
Archduchess Monika
Archduchess Michaela
Archduchess Gabriela
Archduchess Walburga
Archduke Karl
Archduke Georg
Archduke Lorenz
Great-Grandchildren include
Archduke Ferdinand Zvonimir
Archduke Amedeo

Early life

She was born Francesca Anne Dolores Freiin Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva in Lausanne, the daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and his third wife, fashion model Fiona Frances Elaine Campbell-Walter, descendant of the Campbell baronets. She was educated at Le Rosey in Switzerland[1] and at the age of eighteen attended Saint Martin's School of Art in London,[2] but left after two years.

Career

After leaving Saint Martin's School of Art she worked as an actress, singer and model.[3] Her partying lifestyle in London in the 1980s earned her reputation as an It girl.[1]

For the ten years after she left Saint Martin's she lived in England, New York and Los Angeles before moving to Lugano to become curator for her father's art collection.[4] During the 1991–1995 Croatian War of Independence she visited the country to help protect Croatia's heritage and artworks[1] and to help restore churches and paintings damaged during the fighting.[3]

Von Habsburg also appeared as Queen Marie-Henriette in the production Kronprinz Rudolf (2006), directed by Robert Dornhelm.

TBA21

Von Habsburg regularly participates in biennales by commissioning new works of contemporary art through a foundation called Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) which she founded in 2002 in Vienna.[1] She has built up her own art collection with around 700 works of contemporary video and digital art,[4] by artists such as Candice Breitz, Simon Starling and Kutluğ Ataman.[5]

In 2002, Von Habsburg rented a four-storey palace in Vienna’s UNESCO-protected first district, set up home there and opened TBA21's first exhibition space in the same building.[6] From 2012 until 2017,[7] TBA21 had an exhibition space in Vienna's second district, within the Augarten park. It exhibited works from the collection in thematic exhibitions twice a year. The Foundation also organises exhibitions of its collection worldwide. In 2018, works from the collection went on show at the National Gallery Prague.[8]

Between 2008 and 2012, Von Habsburg regularly criticised her stepmother, Carmen Cervera, for the latter's management of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, including on the 2012 sale of John Constable's painting, The Lock.[9] In 2018, the museum unveiled a multichannel video installation by the British artist John Akomfrah that was co-commissioned by TBA21.[10] By 2019, TBA21 signed a four-year agreement with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza to present a series of contemporary art exhibitions from the TBA21 collection, along with contemporary commissions.[11]

TBA21 Academy

Established in Vienna in 2011,[12] the TBA21 Academy is an offshoot of TBA21 that focuses on ecological and social issues.[13] In 2017, it relocated to London.[14]

Personal life

Francesca married the heir to the Habsburg dynasty, Karl von Habsburg, son of Otto von Habsburg, in Mariazell on 31 January 1993. They have three children.

Francesca and Karl have been amicably separated since 2003.[3] Considering this separation, Karl's sister, Archduchess Gabriella, has assumed, since their mother Regina's death in 2010, the rank of Grand Mistress of the Order of the Starry Cross that Francesca would otherwise normally have assumed as the wife of the heir.[16][17]

She owns a residence in Port Antonio, Jamaica, where she is a keen supporter of the reggae music industry.[18]

Honours

Dynastic Orders

Austrian Order

Ancestry[23]

See also

References
  1. Byrnes, Sholto (18 June 2006). "Francesca von Habsburg: The It-girl who became an empress". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  2. Paco Barragán ([n.d.]). Interview with Francesca von Habsburg. ArtPulse Magazine. Retrieved August 2013.
  3. Milner, Catherine (13 May 2006). "'It's like an invasion – without rape and pillage'". The Daily Telegraph. p. 1. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  4. Milner, Catherine (13 May 2006). "'It's like an invasion – without rape and pillage'". The Daily Telegraph. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  5. Gareth Harris (May 30, 2017), Final show in Vienna for Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary as organisation relocates to Prague The Art Newspaper.
  6. Emma O’Kelly (February 28, 2019), Art patron and TBA21 gallery founder Francesca von Habsburg opens the doors to her Vienna residence Wallpaper.
  7. Gareth Harris (May 30, 2017), Final show in Vienna for Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary as organisation relocates to Prague The Art Newspaper.
  8. Gareth Harris (May 30, 2017), Final show in Vienna for Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary as organisation relocates to Prague The Art Newspaper.
  9. "Euro Weekly News – Spain's largest FREE local newspaper in English". euroweeklynews.com.
  10. Gareth Harris (February 27, 2018), Family feud forgotten as Thyssen-Bornemisza plans contemporary shows The Art Newspaper.
  11. Gareth Harris (March 3, 2020), Collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza invests in Madrid after leaving Vienna The Art Newspaper.
  12. Andy Battaglia (March 12, 2019), To Save the Ailing Oceans, TBA21-Academy Turns to Art and Science ARTnews.
  13. Gareth Harris (May 30, 2017), Final show in Vienna for Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary as organisation relocates to Prague The Art Newspaper.
  14. Gareth Harris (May 30, 2017), Final show in Vienna for Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary as organisation relocates to Prague The Art Newspaper.
  15. "Royal godparents and godchildren".
  16. Archdiocese of Vienna – " Oberste Schutzfrau: Gabriela Habsburg-Lothringen "
  17. Sancrucensis, blog article about the Order and its Grand Mistress
  18. Jamaica Gleaner Archived 22 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Seeger Press". Archived from the original on 23 January 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  20. Felix Austria Film
  21. Hola
  22. news networld Internetservice GmbH. "Habsburg reloaded – Auf den Spuren der Kaiser-Kinder • NEWS.AT". news.at.
  23. Enache, Nicolas (1999). "La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg Reine de Hongrie et de Boheme". L'Intermediaire des Chercheurs et Curieux. Paris. pp. 44, 50. ISBN 2-908003-04-X.
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