Over to You - by John Berger & Yves Berger (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Compelling and intimate, this collection of never-before-seen letters between the celebrated art critic and essayist, John Berger and his son Yves, an artist, is a moving look at their musings on art, memory, life, death, and beyond. Written between 2015-16, with 53 color images of well-known old masters and contemporary art as well as some of the Bergers' own drawings and watercolors, Over to You is an informal back and forth not unlike the ping-pong games father and son used to play in the barn of their house. It begins when John - who is in a Parisian suburb - sends Yves - who is in Haute Savoie - an envelope of reproductions of art that have moved him. And so they begin to reveal their thoughts looking at a Goya, Watteau, Twombly, Joan Mitchell, Durer, Caravaggio, Manet, and Euan Uglow, among many others. But the art is just a way to summon shared emotions and memories, as well as deepen their understanding of the world and its mysteries. John at 89 is the more formal teacher, Yves at 39 comes across as the younger, philosophical artist. There are John's thoughts on the use of color, light and space in, say, a Dèurer, or a Beckmann to the question of "staying fully alive"; or Yves noting how much in life exceeds our understanding, the gap between our consciousness and our feeling, between the said and the unsaid. "That's the zone where I would like us to meet. Are you coming?" He asks his father. "I may need other eyes to confirm what is really there. Like your eyes always did." This is an exceptional and moving tribute to a relationship between a father and son, and between two artists, as well as a thought provoking look at questions we all have about work, time, the universe, life and death"--

Book Synopsis

Compelling and intimate, this collection of never-before-seen letters between the celebrated art critic and essayist, John Berger and his son Yves, an artist, is a moving look at their musings on art, memory, life, death, and beyond.

Written between 2015-16, with 53 color images of well-known old masters and contemporary art as well as some of the Bergers' own drawings and watercolors, Over to You is an informal back and forth not unlike the ping-pong games father and son used to play in the barn of their house. It begins when John--who is in a Parisian suburb--sends Yves--who is in Haute Savoie--an envelope of reproductions of art that have moved him. And so they begin to reveal their thoughts looking at a Goya, Watteau, Twombly, Joan Mitchell, Durer, Caravaggio, Manet, and Euan Uglow, among many others. But the art is just a way to summon shared emotions and memories, as well as deepen their understanding of the world and its mysteries.

John at 89 is the more formal teacher, Yves at 39 comes across as the younger, philosophical artist. There are John's thoughts on the use of color, light and space in, say, a Dürer, or a Beckmann to the question of "staying fully alive"; or Yves noting how much in life exceeds our understanding, the gap between our consciousness and our feeling, between the said and the unsaid. "That's the zone where I would like us to meet. Are you coming?" He asks his father. "I may need other eyes to confirm what is really there. Like your eyes always did." This is an exceptional and moving tribute to a relationship between a father and son, and between two artists, as well as a thought provoking look at questions we all have about work, time, the universe, life and death.

Review Quotes

"In these agonising times . . . [Over to You] is a quiet antidote to despair. . . . Even a single page brings the sanity of listening, looking, and a compassion that asks rather than answers. The love between father and son is a form of shelter in itself."
--The Guardian

"Moving and enlightening. . . . John and Yves sail blithely past proprieties and orthodoxies. . . . 'Over to you' was what the Bergers would yell at each other during their table tennis games, and it is a delight to see a similarly intense repartee at work in their letters."
--The Art Newspaper

"Memorable. . . . Painting--and writing about painting--become a celebration of the vitally concrete."
--The Millions

"Yves [Berger] invites readers into an intimate world of father and son. . . . Whimsical, playful, and ruminative--a testament to the authors' love of art and each other."
--Kirkus Reviews

"The back-and-forth resonates with mutual affection between parent and child as the two mull over unsolvable issues."
--ArtFuse

About the Author

YVES BERGER is an artist and the author of essays and books of poems. In 2018, his exhibition, "From the Orchard to the Garden" was shown in Madrid. He lives in a small mountain village in the French Alps.

JOHN BERGER is the author of eight novels, four plays, two books of poetry, and fifty-two books of nonfiction. An English art critic, novelist, painter and poet, his novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize and his essay "Ways of Seeing" was a vastly influential work that continues to inform our thoughts on the visual experience. He died in 2017.