Heinz Berggruen: Highway and Byways

In these memoirs Heinz Berggruen, one of the most successful art dealers and collectors in Europe, recalls his encounters with the greatest artists of the century, particularly its leading geniuses Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. His memoirs provide a fascinating account of the artists and collectors who formed the colourful world of post-war Parisian art: their vanities great and small, their discord and rivalries, unfulfilled wishes and late triumphs. Berggruen went on to form one of the greatest art collections of this century centred on his exceptional holding of works by Picasso. Determined to communicate his pleasure in twentieth century art to a broad audience, he has now put his collection on display in a magnificent museum in Berlin, which has fast become a shrine for modern art lovers from all over the world.In his foreword, he writes how he chose the title: "Highway and Byways is one of Paul Klee's most beautiful paintings. For many years it was part of a private collection in the Rheinland. It is now hanging at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Even as a young man I loved Klee. He was the first painter whose works occupied me intensely; he had a decisive influence on my career as a collector and dealer. I originally chose the title of one of Klee's paintings for my memoirs in homage to him, not only because of my reverence for Klee, but also because I saw Highway and Byways as a code, a condensed expression of everything I intended to relate in this book."