Exploring German culture with GEORG BASELITZ

By Haley Durkee

History. Innovation. Nightlife. Bratwurst. The allure of a German holiday comes in many forms. It’s the ultimate balance of old meets new, where hi-tech cars drive past medieval castles and beer brewed from a 16th century recipe is downed to the sound of future EDM chart-toppers. Whether you’re drawn to the classical cathedrals of Cologne or the brutalist buildings of Berlin, you’ll find an art’otel waiting for you in the heart of these cultural hubs. The soul? Our signature artists.

To capture the authentic spirit of Germany and represent the best of what it has to offer, we turned to two of its most prominent creative figures: Georg Baselitz and SEO.

At art’otel Berlin Mitte, Baselitz’s work is the thread that ties our contemporary hotel interiors with the historic Ermelerhaus - the building we call home. This exclusive collection includes more than 300 pieces from prints to paintings of the prolific artist, a reflection of his enduring career spanning more than fifty years. But, why Baselitz?

Born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938, Baselitz took an early interest painting to escape the suffering and destruction of World War II. At 19, he enrolled at West Berlin’s Hochschule der Künste, the largest art school in Europe, studying gestural, abstract techniques. Eventually picking up several mediums, including sculpting and printmaking, Baselitz established himself as major player in the international art scene. Though his subject matter and themes are deeply rooted in postwar Germany, his disruptive style (rejecting convention in pursuit of something more meaningful) continues to resonate worldwide.

And who could be more fitting to take on art’otel Cologne than Baselitz’s most successful student? SEO (moniker of Seo Soo-Kyoung), moved to Berlin from her native South Korea in 2001.