'Swimming Pool' features a selection of texts from across the range of John Berger's writings on the theme of swimming. The texts are accompanied by drawings made by Leon Kossoff over a long period of time observing the activity at his local public pool. The drawings, capturing the activity and noise of the swimming baths, were used back in his studio as the foundation for an impressive series of large paintings on canvas, one of which, the Tate's 'Children's Swimming Pool, Autumn Afternoon' (1971) is featured in the book. To further underline their long friendship a series of letters, exchanged between them in 1995-96, on the subject of drawing is reprinted as an Appendix. The book featured a specially written Introduction by Booker short-listed author (and passionate swimmer) Deborah Levy and an elegiac Postscript by Berger's son, the artist Yves Berger.
p.6 Deborah Levy - Introduction
p.10 John Berger - from 'Life Drawing'
p.14 Leon Kossoff - 'I went back to the pool...'
p.20 John Berger - from 'My Beautiful'
p.28 John Berger - from 'Bento's Sketchbook'
p.50 John Berger - 'On Vigilance'
p.60 - Yves Berger 'Our Length'
p.70 - Appendix: Letters between John Berger and Leon Kossoff
p.84 - Contributors, copyright credits etc
John Berger (1926-2017) Writer, critic, poet and artist.His novels include the 1972 Booker Prize winner 'G', 'To the Weeding', 'From A to X' and the trilogy 'Into their labours'.Among his outstanding critical studies of art and photography are: 'The success and Failure of Picasso', 'Another Way of Telling' (with Jean Mohr) , 'Titian: Nymph and Sheperd' (with Katya Berger) and the internationally acclaimed book and influential BBC television series 'Ways of Seeing'.
