Upcoming Exhibition

John Berger (1926-2017)‘A Life of Drawing’A Centenary Celebration 17 Oct — 21 Nov

About

John Berger (1926-2017)
‘A Life of Drawing’
A Centenary Celebration
17th October – 21st November 2026

Mandell’s Gallery is pleased to host this celebration exhibition join us for the opening on Sat 17 Oct 12pm – 3pm

A special exhibition of John Berger’s visual work; drawings, paintings, photographs and books from art school in the 1940’s up until his 90th birthday.

Drawing, along with his writing, was an important part of Berger’s daily life and this exhibition presents a selection of his works on paper, many never shown in public before, from the John Berger Estate.

The exhibition also displays early oil paintings from private collections, a rarely seen experimental photo sequence ‘At Remaurian’ from the 1960s, prints and examples of award-winning book collaborations which reflect his wide range of interests.

A 52-page book featuring 25 drawings from the exhibition. Texts include John Berger’s ’The Company of Drawing’, art historian John-Paul Stonard’s essay ‘Hand-in-hand, writing and drawing’, and writer Geoff Dyer remembering John Berger drawing his portrait. Artist Yves Berger contributes a touching end piece to his father.

There are a number of literary events linked to the exhibition:

Norwich Book Festival
24th October: ‘John Berger: From Life’ Tom Overton presenting his new biography, The National Centre for Writing, Dragon Hall, 3pm

26th October: ‘Four Horizons’ John Christie, an account of the pilgrimage to Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp chapel with John Berger and two American nuns, Forum Auditorium, 7pm

Presented with Norfolk Contemporary Art Society 24th October: ‘Do You Know What I Watch?’ Yves Berger and Katya Berger Andreadakis, Blake Studio, Norwich school. 6pm

Yves and Katya Berger will be visiting the gallery on Saturday 24th October to see the exhibition and chat to people before going to the Blake Studio for their talk (doors open 6pm) which starts at 6.30pm. The exhibition will remain open until 6pm on this day to give visitors the opportunity to go to the exhibition before the talk.

Exhibition co-curated by John Christie and Martin Battye