A Painter of Our Time.

Bookseller Notes

An excellent association copy of Berger's first book, drawing on his work as an artist and art critic to create a fictional portrait of a Hungarian painter, Janos Lavin - this copy belonging to his fellow art-critic David Sylvester, and thereby aligning two major figures from a boon time in British Art, though the two were adversaries on the pages of Encounter and New Statesman respectively (Sylvester subsequently, briefly, taking over from Berger as the latter's art critic). The dispute was a lasting one, with Sylvester in a late interview describing Berger as 'damn stupid', and - through the limitations of his socio-political approach - having done 'a lot of damage'.