The cover painting for William Boyd’s Any Human Heart is based in part on a 1927 photo of Anthony Powell. Powell, whose A Dance to the Music of Time series, chronicled characters over several generations is one of the best known post-Proustian novelists — right there with Jules Romain and (on my list, anyway) Eric Kraft.
Alas — it’s not a vanity painting. Painter Duncan Hannah’s simply an Anglophile.
BTW, AHH was one of my favorites of last year. A lovely book, if you’re into the European art scene of the 20th century. Sent me back to read a few other Boyds – The New Confessions and Brazzaville Beach – but Heart was the best of the three.
(And I’m even looking in on you from NYC – how’s THAT for loyalty?)