Ways of Seeing Author: [UK] John Berger Publisher: Guangxi Normal University Press

Editor's Recommendations

1. An introductory classic for art, changing the way of viewing for several generations in the West. In 1972, the television series Ways of Seeing, directed by John Berger, was broadcast on the BBC in the UK. This program changed the way of viewing for an entire era in the West. This book is a matching illustrated book of the same name. The concepts popularized by Ways of Seeing are an important means for ordinary readers to understand and view Western art. This book is not only an introductory classic for art appreciation, but also a must-read text for researchers in related fields, as it discusses artworks in the era of mechanical reproduction, women as objects of viewing, oil painting traditions, advertising and capitalism.

2. More than 200 classic masterpieces of art history are included, and the greatest contemporary art critic authoritatively interprets them. John Berger is a British art historian, novelist, public intellectual, and painter. He began writing for the New Statesman in 1952 and quickly became the most influential art critic in Britain. This book selects more than 200 classic masterpieces of art, authoritatively interpreted by John Berger, and is a hardcover reprint, which is worth collecting.

Introduction

Seeing comes before speaking. Seeing establishes our position in the world around us. The combination of other people’s sight and ours makes us sure that we are in this visible world. And when images finally replace words and fill all the space within sight, how can we see without getting lost again?

This book discusses artworks in the age of mechanical reproduction, women as objects of viewing, oil painting traditions, advertising and capitalism, and is accompanied by more than 200 classic images. Together with the BBC documentary of the same name, it has changed the way a whole generation of Westerners watch things, and will certainly be applicable to today's mobile phone screens and street billboards of all sizes. From the perspective of in-depth exploration and popularization of visual culture, this book can also complement Sir Gombrich's most outstanding works.

Celebrity Recommendation

I respect and love John Berger's work. He writes about what really matters in the world, not just what he wants to write about. I regard him as the greatest contemporary writer in English; no one since D.H. Lawrence has paid as much attention to the world of feeling as Berger has, and with such conscientious urgency. He is a brilliant artist and thinker. He may be less poetic than D.H. Lawrence, but he is more astute, more concerned with public values, and more dignified. He is a brilliant artist and thinker.

—Susan Sontag

His tireless exploration is not only directed at photography and painting, but also at the cunning of "watching". In the literature on watching that we may be involved in, it is difficult to find such fascinating texts, which effectively dissolve the noble barriers set by professional historical theories for classical paintings, and also free photos from excessive image theories and restore them to intimate visual readings. Reading Berger will always touch the readers' very similar surprises and experiences, and elevate our sympathy to conscience.

——Chen Danqing

Putting aside his ideological stance, Berger is a must-read in several fields. For example, in art theory and art history, can you not read Ways of Seeing and Picasso's Success and Failure? If you study photography, can you not read his Another Way of Telling? If you like contemporary English literature, you will definitely read other people's reviews of his new novel in major book review journals. Even better, his random article about animals is also considered one of the founding documents of the emerging cultural research field "Animal Studies". In summary, he is like Susan Sontag, the most original and influential public intellectual; although he is not in the academy and does not write in the academy's format, he has created many concepts that professors at prestigious universities cannot come up with in their lifetime. And he also writes so beautifully and has so many readers. On the other hand, it is also very popular in China today to talk about "public intellectuals", but it is a shame that we seem to have no one who can match Berger's level and no one who has such intellectual creativity.

——Leung Man-tao