If every generation has a hallmark literary style, Generation X has certainly laid claim to the autobiographical essay. But the all-about-me style is not just an American phenomenon. A new generation of German writers are making a name for themselves with a similar style. “World War II and the Holocaust are no longer the dominant themes in these existential tales by the young writers. Instead, they are writing about the role of the artist after the fall of the wall, the life of the immigrant and, obsessively it seems, about the elusive nature of happiness. Some wonder if fiction should not have a longer memory.”
Tag: 07.24.03
Getting Their Money’s Worth?
So now, the UK’s National Gallery is free to pursue the purchase of the Duke of Northumberland’s Raphael canvas. But was one painting really worth all the fuss, not to mention the £11.5 million the government doled out? The Guardian’s arts editor says yes, calling the painting “a spellbinding masterpiece with all the concentrated beauty of a miniature, coupled with the grandeur of a major Renaissance painting.” But the head of the National Art Collections Fund thinks it absurd to be spending such a wad of cash on “a piece of flagship culture,” especially one which has no specific relevance to Great Britain, and particularly when the National Gallery already owns eight other canvases by the same artist.
Savvy Art Deal Or Aristocratic Blackmail?
There’s little doubt as to the identity of the storybook villain in the battle to keep Raphael’s 9-inch square painting in the UK. The Duke of Northumberland, one of the richest landowners in Britain, has positively cleaned up on the deal, and, by playing the Getty Museum against the UK’s Heritage Lottery, he assured himself of a fat payday regardless of who won the ownership battle. For his part, the Duke has “denied that the cash will be used to pay for a £9 million Italianate garden his wife is designing at Alnwick as a part of what he calls a ‘public regeneration project’. Nor he insists, did he renege on a family agreement to give the gallery the first option to buy the Raphael.”