Beckett's relationship with painting is well-known and has been sufficiently commented upon by his scholars. Painting runs through his work, whether it concerns a visual impression, an archetypal image, an obsessional image, or paintings that haunt the consciousness of his fictional characters.

Prompted by the parallel exhibitions of the two Dutch painters Bram and Geer van Velde, Beckett writes the texts for the book, opening a discussion about modern art, always relevant and crucial, inevitably linking painting with literature.