Art is a symbiotic relationship in which both image and observer generate meaning. An artist’s subjectivity requires him to see the painting before he dabs pigment onto canvas, just as the observer sees a unique impression of a painting. Unravelling the title, he explains the difference between looking and seeing: our eyes naturally look, but seeing assumes an idea, an understanding of the subject. Berger is strikingly original, balancing academic gravitas with a delightful playfulness we become enamoured with his rare way of seeing the world.īerger fulfils the roles of a philosopher, listener, and somewhat of a magician as he makes tantalising worlds appear, and illusions vanish. Reading his revolutionary book Ways of Seeing, first published in 1972, I am still struck by its sharp modernist angles, the refreshing moral grit, and its sagacious study of our social psyche through visual culture.
In January 2017, Britain lost the eminent intellectual John Berger, an individual peerless for his perceptive cultural contributions.
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