It tells the story of a young writer who hopes to make his reputation and fortune by publishing a biography of one of the greatest 20th-century painters, now blind and living in total seclusion.

[1] Sebastian Zöllner, a cocky young writer, travels to the Swiss Alps to interview Manuel Kaminski, a legend among 20th-century painters, who knew everybody in the art world but lost his sight and withdrew from all contact.

But he needs to get Kaminski on his own, so he tells the old man that his great love Therese, who the world thought dead, is in fact living in the north.

Continuing by taxi, they stop at a shabby hotel where Kaminski, free of Miriam's control, orders a huge meal and a prostitute.

Relaxing afterwards on the sand, after signing the two canvases Zöllner had stolen, Kaminski hints that the young man should give up his quest and leave him alone.