by John Berger
“But because it is nevertheless ‘a work of art”’ – and art is thought to be greater than commerce – its market price is said to be a reflection of its spiritual value of an object, as distinct from a message or an example, can only be explained in terms of magic or religion.” In “Ways of Seeing” b...
Lucid conceptual introductions.
A small collection of short essays on art. 4 writings and 3 full of images.I found the first 2 written articles more appealing - arguments quite clear and persuasive. Though only touching the surface of some issues, they are quite articulate and thus serve as a good introduction. I don't like the la...
Good short look at how we see things and how artists use that.Particularly good in terms of advertising.
This is the book I recommend when people tell me they don't know much about art and want to learn about it. I like this better than general art and art history books because those tend to be bogged down with dry facts and too many historical details, whereas Ways of Seeing is very short, easy to und...
An excellent review of ideas about art history in real-world (read: political and social) context. Berger synthesizes ideas from Walter Benjamin, Levi-Strauss, and other thinkers succinctly and to great effect. He powers through the obfuscatory bullshit of art historians to get to meaty ideas about ...
An interesting look at how we see things and how we are presented with ideas and images. Borrowed because my brother is doing a course and asked me to get it for him, it's quite a quick read but made me think about how things are presented.
I read this book for a college course and made the mistake of giving the slender volume to a friend whom I thought woudl enjoy it. I really need to acquire another one! Berger writes eloquently about the relationship between art and the presumed observer/audience. This book gave me the tools to ...
MA grounding.
By and large, I'm not a fan of manifestos. This one was no exception. It had a lot of insight, as manifestos often do, and I learned a lot from it, which is also not atypical. But to my mind, there's something insulting about a manifesto. To borrow a metaphor from Eudora Welty, writing like this is ...
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