BERLIN — In his diary, Christopher Isherwood once wrote some advice he gave to a friend who was having romantic trouble: “Don’t try to make the relationship exclusive. For 33 years, Mr. Isherwood lived in an open relationship with the artist Don Bachardy, which lasted through uncertainties and ecstasies until the British novelist’s death in 1986. Their partnership is the subject of “My Dearest Sweet Love: Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy,” an exhibition at the Schwules Museum in Berlin, running through August 26. When Mr. Isherwood and Mr. Bachardy met on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. in 1952, Mr. Isherwood was already an established literary figure who had enjoyed a colorful sex life in Britain, Germany and the United States. Best-known for his semi-autobiographical novel “Goodbye to Berlin,” which inspired the musical and movie “Cabaret,” Mr. Isherwood was 30 years older than Mr. Bachardy, who was a college freshman at the time.

Source: New York Times June 21, 2019 10:52 UTC