Arnon Grunberg

Modiano

Better

Nussbaum, no not Martha Nussbaum, Felix Nussbaum, the painter. (See here.)
My friend Mark Schaevers wrote a book about him, I’m not sure if we can call it an autobiography, Mark probably wouldn’t call it an autobiography, but it comes very close to an autobiography; one that reads like a thriller. Or as I told Mark via -email: “Your book reminded me of a Modiano novel.” If you have read the book you will understand why.
It’s a cliché that unhappiness is good for art, and for that matter, it’s often untrue, but Mark and I agreed that the worse Nussbaum’s life became, the better he got at painting.
But Mark added: “I’m not sure if he managed to paint in Auschwitz, as some prisoners managed to do, but I’m glad I never saw these paintings."

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