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5.0 von 5 Sternen
An eye opener to the real meaning of renaissance art, 17. April 1997
Von Ein Kunde
I knew next to nothing about art when I picked this book up. I probably still don't, but at least I can now appreciate the value that "art" held for the patrons of the arts (specifically oils) during the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
One learns to appreciate the value these paintings held not only for the patrons who commissioned the paintings but for their peers and the other social classes of the time.
Mr. Berger's theory to a degree is that these oils functioned as a sort of touchtone of wealth and status and, in a socially fashionable, acceptable and clever way, showcased one's earthly possessions and station in life.
The patron via the painting told the world: I am socially, spritually and, on occasion, sexually superior. This commissioned "art" was a tasteful one-upmanship show. The patron called the shots where the iconography in the painting was concerned and the artist, inevitably a man of talent but with expenses, complied. This is not to say that the masters were hacks.But to coin a phrase they knew on which side their canvas was oiled.
Nothing much seems to have changed today, accordiing to Mr. Berger. And here his theory of the function of visual art comes into clear focus. Mr. Berger uses this brief but dense text to do nothing less than show up or expose the power and fraud of marketing in contemportary society. Society appears to be a universe of unhappy individuals sharing the collective belief that by possessing or rather acquitring certain social icons they will be empowered and/or achieve everlasting hapiness. This is just an illusion of the genius of marketing-which is what the oils did during the age of the Masters!
Interestingly enough, the tone of the book is not ironic but straightforward. The prose is not pedantic or abstract. It does not assume any knowledge of the history of art or of history for the matter.The text contains 155 black and white pictures of different works of art to illustrate his points.I wish they had been in color but I assume it would make the cost of the book prohibitive. These minor points lead me to believe that this book based on the BBC series was aimed for the mass market as opposed to the academic world.
The conclusions Berger reaches in this age of multi-national markets, globalization and concentration of media are downright radical. Read this book before it is censored forever
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4.0 von 5 Sternen
Yes, it's becoming dated, but..., 18. Juli 2000
Von Ein Kunde
After reading Berger's book, you should be able to fill in the blanks yourself.Berger, of course, didn't forsee the internet- and the "democritiziationn of bandwidth," but, if you've read this book, you'd be well prepared to anticipate the suppression of "pirate broadcasting." This book changed my perception- now whenever I go into an art museum (or watch PBS or Jerry Springer for that matter)I'm always looking for who benefits financially. Of course, the book's about painting mostly, but you can see the obvious parallels to pretty much any other form of artistic media- Berger's analysis applies in spades, for example, to Mappelthorpe's photography (funded not by the NEA, but, orignally, by wealthy patrons!) "Mobil Masterpiece Theatre?" Ha! *That's* an oxymoron!
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3.0 von 5 Sternen
A classic that's becoming outdated, 26. November 1999
Ways of Seeing is the book of a groundbreaking and brilliant TV series that Berger created with Mike Dibb in the 1970s. The book isn't quite as amazing as the series, but it's acquired canonical status anyway as Berger's most frequently set text on art and art criticism. Which is a pity, because while the impressive confidence of Berger's judgments was inspiring back then (Marina Warner and Michael Ondaatje have each paid tribute to it), time has passed over the last quarter of a century and the book is in danger of looking old-fashioned. The theory of desire, which Berger manages to popularise in a single succinct chapter, has been challenged, confirmed, turned upside-down and generally elaborated upon so much since the book was written that his version of it is now inadequate. Advertising is vastly more sophisticated now than it was in 1972 - the ads reproduced in the book, while perfectly representative of their time, are almost laughable in their blatant sexism and classism. (You wouldn't get away with them now, that's for sure.) But the account of the rise of oil painting is still persuasive, even if it lacks the cheek and mischievousness of the TV version. Readers expecting to find Berger's most incisive and complex criticism should look elsewhere, though, to The Sense of Sight or About Looking, because Ways of Seeing is essentially a popularisation of theories that have since become much more complex, and Berger's lapidary, no-argument tone is hardly applicable anymore. Somebody should release the series on video, then we'd get the same ideas in a more engaging and fascinating manner.
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