4 days ago
- John Berger's centenary is marked by new publications, including Verso reprints, a biography, and the illustrated book 'Four Horizons' about his pilgrimage to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp chapel.
- Berger's reputation rests on key 1970s works like 'Ways of Seeing' and 'A Seventh Man', showing consistent preoccupations with art, capitalism, and human suffering.
- His later works are criticized for sententiousness but praised for courage on issues like Palestine, though they mix power with gnomic piety.
- Berger's writings were characterized by brevity and anti-pomposity, with simple formats and over 28 books, yet he never repeated himself.
- 'Four Horizons' explores Berger's unusual engagement with Le Corbusier, using photographs, an unfinished dialogue, and essays to address hope and defeat.
- In his obituary of Le Corbusier, Berger highlights the paradox of humanism and capitalist influence in his architecture, refusing simple condemnation.
- Berger's later work often returns to hope and resistance, as seen in his interpretation of Ronchamp as embodying unrealized modernist promises.