Category Archives: Ways of Seeing

Ways of Seeing

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Art is not merely strokes of color or graphite on a piece of canvas to be simply looked at- art is to be interpreted.  Because of it’s nature, interpreting art, subjectively, gives the piece more meaning.  Two pieces, John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, and Alice Elizabeth Chase’s Looking at Art, discuss ways to view and understand art.  Though the words ‘seeing’ and ‘looking’ are seemingly interchangeable, the two writings convey differences in perception.

Alice Elizabeth Chase begins her work by describing the difference between an average person’s view of art versus an artist’s view of art.  According to Chase, regular people see art in colors, near or far, big or small.  Artists see what is in front of them and reinterpret it to match their view of the world.  Artists are faced with the scenario of confining a real life view to a canvas- restructuring and tweaking what is visible in order to express his ideas on it.   Chase supports her statements by giving examples of the ways different cultures have created art.  Egyptians were more concerned with the shape of objects and viewed a scene as a map; thus, they represented what they saw with simple shapes and lines.  Romans enjoyed vibrant paintings of landscapes as sharp contrasts to the turmoil-ridden cities they lived in.  Chinese reflected the importance of landscape as the “moods of man and the infinity of God.”  In America, once the country had established itself, artists began to look to painting the countryside as an enthusiastic form of patriotism. Overall, Chase relays the idea that art is a reflection of the culture and time period of which it was created in combination with the artist’s personal view of the world.

Chapter 4 in Chase’s work describes the way in which artists used space.  Egyptian representations of humans were often inaccurate; typically displaying a profiled face, forward facing shoulders, and side-facing legs.  Artists used size and shape to represent importance as was done in King Assurnasirpal’s Encampment an Stables.  It was the Greeks who began to add a third-dimension to their artwork.  Greek artists employed shadows and foreshortening to suggest depth.   Another topic discussed by Chase was perspective.  She describes the evolution of perspective used in art ranging from the vanishing-point perspective used by Italians to the isometric perspective used by the Japanese.  Chase once again makes it clear that there is no way “right” way to create art; beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Berger shares a similar view to Chase’s, however, his work “Ways of Seeing” focuses more on the individual viewing the piece of art as opposed to Chase’s focus, the artist who created the art.  Berger believes that modern day art viewers’ perceptions are skewed to reflect what society has taught us of beauty, form, and truth.   Berger also touches upon an aspect that Chase did not mention: technology.  Berger believes that the value of perceived art comes not from what we see, but it’s uniqueness.  He states that technology and the camera’s ability to reproduce copies of art in different sizes “destroys its unique original meaning.”

Art is infinite in meaning, there is no “correct” way to create art or look at art.  The meaning of art is hidden in a combination of what the artist intended to create and portray and what the viewer interprets it as.  Chase and Berger both express different views on how art should be looked at and see, but one thing is constant: art is dynamic, a forever changing entity that is always interpreted and reinterpreted.

Lauren Vicente, Ways of Seeing

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Ways of Seeing Essay

            The depth of art and the value of these works have been debated throughout time. One of the fundamental pinnacles of a civilization, be it prehistoric or modern, has always been art and artistic renditions of important places and figures. A hefty question remains for the discoverers of these archives – are things actually as they seem within the paintings or photographs, or are they devoid of truth and tell a more emotional story? Each piece of art, according to John Berger “is affected by what we know or believe.” (Berger, 8) Alice Elizabeth Chase seems to find a slightly different meaning to art, using several examples of cultural art to imply that the artist has full control of what we see. She believes their art is affected by their personal beliefs and those beliefs can be examined and identified. Although these principles seem to differ at the core, both authors feel as though each moment portrayed through art is significant in one way or another to the artist. Each moment captured has a meaning beyond face value since it outweighed every other moment in time that the artist could have portrayed.

In John Berger’s book, Ways of Seeing, it is assumed that all art is significant in that the artist saw something deeper in the moment they portrayed. Cameras, despite their harsh reality, are still considered tools of art because the photographer chose a single moment in the everlasting string of time. Alice Elizabeth Chase finds a problem with photographs, claiming, “people get in each other’s way; one person’s shoulder hides another person; shadows blot out detail…the result often looks stiff and unnatural.” (Chase, 35) The dependence on and flow of increasing technology creates a problem for modern art. By Chase’s standards, photography is not to be considered true art due to the unnaturalness of the products. For future artists, it becomes a challenge to capture something as natural as oil and canvas due to the sheer convenience of photography. A simple click can replace hours upon hours of man’s true commodity: time.

Both authors seem to agree that art is a fundamental part of society, sometimes exceeding the importance of written work. Viewpoints can be displayed in a way that a hundred-page novel cannot begin to express. The impressions of a whole generation to the upper class can be demonstrated in subtle strokes of a brush and even the simplest facial expression or added detail can create a plethora of interpretations.

The meaning of art to civilized society is infinite.  Symbolically, it represents the thought process of an underrepresented voice. Despite differing opinions, art is what the examiner makes of it. It can mean one thing to the artist and a completely different thing to someone in the future. In an age where language barriers are still apparent, art has displayed the perfect means of communication, whether it be between decades, centuries or generation.

Chase, Alice Elizabeth. Looking At Art. New York City, NY: Thomas Y Crowell Company, 1966.

Berger, John. Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp. :, 1972. Print.

 

 

 

Deanna Maravel, Berger and Chase Comparison

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What is art? No two people are going to have the same definition.  Just as one says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the same applies to art. While one person might be confused by an abstract painting, another can easily spot the meaning within. Art might take on different forms and meanings, but the key is always in the perspective of the viewer. In their respective novels, both John Berger and Alice Elizabeth Chase discuss the different ways we look at art and how we come to these different viewpoints.

In her novel Looking at Art, Chase discusses the perspective of early artists. From the very beginning, humans used art based off of sight. Some of the earliest art pieces were maps of landscapes made by the ancient Egyptians. In fact, most art in older times was primarily of landscapes. The Romans did it out of sheer appreciation for the natural beauty of the world around them, whereas the Chinese used the landscape to depict a form of reverence for their gods. Artists began to set up a sort of formula for painting landscapes. Early art became very methodical, until they realized art is so much more than what you see. It is a combination of what you see and how it makes you feel. It became, and still is, a picture of sight that holds the power to evoke emotions and sense memories, which brings the reader to a more modern view of art that Berger discusses.

Just like Chase, Berger claims sight is fundamental to our understanding of the world in his novel Ways of Seeing. We can see and feel things before we can put them into words. He claims though, that we don’t just see things as they are anymore. We look at how everything works together in a larger picture with respect to not only the objects within the picture, but also in respect to ourselves. Berger also claims that images are just are just our way of reconstructing something seen in the past. An artist’s creation is a reflection of how they see that image. When we look at an image or painting, we study every aspect about it before we draw conclusions from it. We look at when it was created, what was going on in the world at the time, who made it, etc. We change our current perspective to fit that of the artist’s. So art is not a representation of the physical world, but a more holistic representation of how we see things.

As perspectives of art shift, so do the techniques used to create it. Chase describes how early art did not account for accuracy in the details. For example, drawings of buildings or of people did not show distance changing within the scene. It was very one dimensional, until artists began to focus on the relationship between the image and the viewer. The Middle Ages brought forth the idea of a vanishing point, which the scholars of the Renaissance expanded upon through the study of architecture. It allows for the viewer to get the impression that the picture moves together towards a central focal point.

Berger focuses less on the techniques used to pull the viewer into the painting and more on how the viewer relates back to what is depicted in the image. He discusses how the detail of the background of the painting correlates to the values of the people of the time. In the Middle Ages, the more objects that surrounded the central figure, the more he or she owned. It was a sign of wealth. He also discussed how women in pictures are objects to the viewer. They pose in the way that will look best to the person looking at the photo. It is more about the signs of detail that speak to the viewer as opposed to Chase’s argument that the viewer is pulled in by the realistic shapes within the image.

There is no set way in which someone should look at art. Art is all about perspective. However the artist sees the world will affect how he or she will choose to represent it. Early artists saw the world just as it was, so that was exactly how they chose to draw it. As they developed a more complex understanding of the world and how we see it, so did their drawings. Art is an area in life that is constantly changing and will continue to grow, but how we choose to see it is a decision we must make on our own.

Roseann Weick – Chase & Berger Comparison

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Art novelists Alice Elizabeth Chase and John Berger discuss in their respective novels, which share similar and different opinions, the idea of viewing art and the artist’s and viewer’s perspective when observing art. In Looking at Art, Alice Elizabeth Chase describes the idea that artists must confine what they see to the limits of his or her own canvas and the artist’s purpose in painting. John Berger states in Ways of Seeing his feelings on the impact of photography on appreciation of art from the past and the viewer’s understanding when looking at art.

Alice Elizabeth Chase details in her novel, Looking at Art, the ideals of viewing art and the artist’s perspective when transcribing his art. In her book, Chase describes the concept that artists must confine what they see to the limits of his or her own canvas. The artist must then use his eyes to see and convert his observation into man’s feelings and thoughts about the subject. Such artists the author delved into, such as the Egyptians, Chinese, and Ancient Romans, used their art medium as a way to document how the world exists at the present moment, in their own eyes. For example, an artist paints a landscape and details the aspects of the entire scenery to what he deems necessary for his artwork to be a success.

John Berger states in Ways of Seeing his feelings on the impact of photography on appreciation of art from the past. He regards the meaning of art as how viewers perceive it at the present time. The author feels that the introduction of new technology, such as the camera, and the capability to mass produce a piece of artwork, takes away from the original meaning and value behind the creation of the piece art. Berger discusses that photography of artwork prevents the audience from seeing the true nature and meaning of the original piece of artwork for it is merely a copy and not the original.

Alice Elizabeth Chase and John Berger regard perception of art differently, in that they believe the meaning or perception of art comes from different eras. Berger does not view the idea of perspective as confined in time as Chase does. Chase follows the notion that the meaning of a piece of artwork is in the eye of the creator when the painting was first completed. Berger deems the thoughts about and main purpose of a piece of work now lies with the beholder at any given time, such as the viewer at present day.

In their respective novels, both artists do see eye to eye regarding perception of multiple individuals and space. Berger understands whether it be observing a photograph of a piece of artwork or viewing a painting in person, each individual focuses his or her attention on one aspect of a painting. From that, a person may interpret the meaning of piece of art differently than someone else. Chase grasps that in painting landscape artists capture a large span of scenery and viewers still hone in on specific aspects. The two also notice a parallel between time and place. As Chase points out in Looking a Art, landscape painting was very popular in early art done by the Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese. And so in this era, artists become very scenery oriented. Berger finds a parallel when discussing the 15th century and the sudden importance in the tradition of celebrating personal possessions in artwork.

Anissa Daimally: Looking at Art

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Looking at Art by Alice Elizabeth Chase is a novel about the way artists view the world and artwork itself. It discusses how art is ever-changing, varying between different cultures over time. In addition, Chase explains the different techniques of artists to represent space and human action.

In Chapter 3, Chase comments on the difference between a non-artist’s view and the artist’s view of the world. Ordinary people, he says simply look at a landscape and conclude that “objects nearby are big and clear, their colors bright, while those farther away seem smaller, fainter, and more blurred.” This is because they are only looking at the surface, not really grasping the energy/feelings that nature sends. Artists, on the other hand, observe the world in a very different way. Instead of just glancing at nature and believing what their eyes are seeing, they provide a new take to the picture. They express what they see through their artwork. Chase exemplifies this idea by delineating the contrastive ways that artists have viewed the world over the years. For example, the Egyptians painted landscapes as a map, recreating each detail to inform the viewers of where everything is. The Greeks used nature to just provide a setting for human figures. For the Romans, nature was used as a means of escape; their paintings of nature were created to provide an illusion of stepping into another world. On the other hand, the Chinese and the medieval artists looked at landscape as closely related to God. “One seems to be looking at something very precious: the serene perfection of God’s world.” As time passed, the landscape became the center of the painting, while the humans were just merely incidents. “Man with his myriad activities was merely an incident in a great and beautiful world where his daily routine, his joys and griefs, were relatively unimportant.” Landscape, however was not always important. In the United States, many artists disregarded the potent of landscape and just used it as a background. However, after the United States gained its independence from Britain, settlers became proud and desired to display their beautiful country. Artists also began to realize that their artwork was more than what they saw; it was a way to release their thoughts and feelings to the world. Instead of just recreating what they saw, great artists began to alter their paintings in order to present their ideas. One great example of this was Paul Cezanne’s “Mont Sainte-Victoire.” His painting differed from a photograph taken of the very same scene. His painting evoked feelings of domination that the mountain possesses. Conversely, the photograph showed an unimpressive view of the mountain. By presenting their own perspectives, artists have shared with viewers a new way of visualizing art, whereby they, the viewers, can sense the deeper aspects of nature.

In Chapter 4, Chase informs her readers about the many different ways that artists represent space. For example, many artists used the profile system and overlapping to represent people in action. These techniques were practiced by ancient Egyptians and the Mesopotamians. The Greeks were more advanced, including the use of shadows to emphasize depth in space. Through their accurate foreshortening and shadowing, the Greeks were able to provide artwork that showed people in the third dimension. Another technique that was used to delineate the way how things look is the vanishing-point perspective. With this technique, artists were able to portray scenes how they actually look to the eye and not how they are actually supposed to be. For example, a railroad’s tracks appear to come together in a distance. By using the vanishing-point perspective, the artist is able to show the railroad how a person would look at it.  The Chinese and the Japanese use the isometric perspective, also known as the Oriental method. In this perspective, parallel lines do not meet at a vanishing point but continues parallel. This method is very useful to architects, since they would be able to see the inside and outside of a building. “It becomes clear that there is no “right” way to represent space. Each of the systems we have looked at has points in its favor. Vanishing-point perspective is what we are used to…but there are things that can be shown more truly by another system.” While there are many techniques on how to represent space, there is no actual “right way” to do it.

Overall, Alice Elizabeth Chase explains the evolution of art and the different techniques of representing space. Although there are varying techniques adapted by different artists, each method has its own advantages.

“Looking at Art” summary

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In Looking at Art by Alice Elizabeth Chase, an artist must constrain himself to the limits of the canvas and thus he must limit the details of the landscape to his own interpretation. This interpretation significantly depends on the artist’s culture and background, his time period, and most importantly, the feelings on what he sees. Chase in Chapter 3 incompletely describes the evolution of art among different cultures throughout certain periods, and then in Chapter 4, she explains how artists from these periods tried to include as much information as possible in their paintings.
According to Chase in Chapter 3, landscapes from different cultures used their own standards of creating such works of art. Ancient Egyptian painting had simple shapes and symbols, rather than an accurate portrayal of the view. The rectangular-shaped pond drawn as a rectangle and the zigzag lines as the ripples portrays such simplicity. Roman landscapes featured scenes of nature coupled with legendary heroes or figures. On the other hand, the Chinese landscape suggested the moods of man and the concept of infinity to be most important. Chinese landscapes were meant to be read in episodes as in a book and their variation came from the shade of black ink and type of stroke.
Chase also mentions the conspicuous differences among the arts of the Flemish (northern) and Italian (southern) Renaissances and the medieval time period. The backgrounds in early medieval paintings were flat and gold, but as time progressed, artists grew interest in the secular world around them. In Italy, landscape was an accompaniment to the figures and story, while in Flanders, the landscape in the background was just as important as the story. The incredible “perfection of God’s world” had to be shown in Flemish paintings. The Dutch in fact adored the countryside and the sky.
Furthermore, the techniques of creating art greatly became more sophisticated over time. The modification of tones and the use of shadow evolved during the Renaissance, and as landscapes grew in popularity, artists developed a formula of light and dark areas to appeal to the eye. Such a formula led to the increased number of brownish landscapes in eighteenth-century Europe.
According to Chase, appeal and desire became major factors in determining popularity of different types of art in the nineteenth century. Englishmen ordered landscapes of real estates and pioneering artists, especially in the United States, painted the landscapes of the forgotten or unknown countryside. “Starry Sky” and “Mont Sainte-Victoire” were simply two paintings of landscapes characterized by the painter’s feelings and ideas that were flowing through his or her mind.
According to Chapter 4, artists of different periods used different methods to describe what is happening in the painting. Ancient Egyptians made the human figure into a map and accompanied their painting with hieroglyphics to describe the plot. In both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, scenes created on walls often simplistically portrayed people, focusing more on the daily activities of man. At a palace wall in Nimrud, an artist suggested depth by overlapping and importance by size. The ancient Greeks also used a similar profile system on their pottery, but that later was replaced by a system in which bodies were drawn to indicate the third dimension. Chase further mentions that the modeling in light and shade can first be credited to the Greeks.
Afterwards, Alice Chase discusses perspective and how people in ancient times were not concerned with it, even though they must have observed it. It was not until the Middle Ages or Renaissance in which vanishing-point perspective was suggested. Artists then decided to look at perspective and vision scientifically. Albrecht Durer came up with a system of drawing lines for small objects at a comfortable distance. Other Renaissance innovators were amazed by perspective and foreshortening and thus tried many experiments. By the end of the seventeenth century, the art of perspective was mastered in Europe. However, the Chinese and the Japanese use isometric perspective, in which the parallel lines continue and do not come together at a vanishing point. In the isometric view, the viewer can see both the inside and outside of a structure.
There is no true way to represent space, according to Alice Chase. Vanishing-point perspective is what Western cultures are accustomed to and is more accurate in terms of what the eyes see. However, other systems more accurately show other features than vanishing point does.
Alice Elizabeth Chase has made essential points, worth mentioning, about art. However, she fails to mention other cultures around the world and how they have portrayed art. She focuses more on the art of Western civilization, and only briefly mentions the art of two ancient civilizations in the Middle East and two Oriental civilizations. Her knowledge is either incomplete or has purposely left these other civilizations out, such as African or even Native American civilizations. She overemphasizes space and only mentions art on a two-dimensional surface. Chase leaves out three-dimensional art, such as statues. Even vastly decorated edifices can be considered art to some. In her discussions, Alice Chase limits herself to only a few perspectives of art.

Kristy Timms – Chase and Berger Comparison

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John Berger, in his book and documentary “Ways of Seeing” delves into the history and influence of art, and how the work has transformed. “Looking at Art” by Alice Elizabeth Chase has a similar intention, as it outlines the importance of perspective and the formation of interpretation throughout time. These art critics and novelists portray a similar message concerning the value “seeing” art, yet through the use of different examples.

Berger states that “The act of seeing is active; it is an act of choice.” From this is cast the idea that everyone sees things differently, as everything is open to personal interpretation and influence. The more technical aspect of this action is broached by Chase, who says, “It is not possible to limit vision to any one scientific scheme. We have two eyes, we move our heads; we shift our glance; we walk around. What is exactly accurate for a single eye fixed at a point is not accurate for the restless human eye.” The notion that not only the way we see something, in the physical sense, but the way we really “see” something in an influential way, differs is noted by both these authors; something which has been developed through time and experience.

Another aspect to consider when thinking about art, and its appreciation is to note the time and era in which the piece was created. Chase comments that, “If the modern spectator finds himself a little bored by the painting, it is partly because taste changes. Today we seek something other than superb technical skill.” Taste does not just change from individual to individual, but corporately as well, as artistic periods form; several noted by Berger: renaissance, impressionists and cubists movements.

With the vast options of seeing and interpreting, the artist is also able to showcase his work in such a way to highlight or focus on specific areas which he would like the spectator to notice. Although photography is the most realistic form of art, Chase comments that “Representing things in this way may not be true to what the eye sees, but it often shows what is going on better than a photograph could.” Artists often change their idea of realism in order to pin point a certain matter or issue which the artist would like brought to attention. In the same breath, the majority can form a meaning or interpretation, as Berger notes, “When images from the past are presented as works of art, their meanings are obscured by learnt assumptions such as beauty, truth, form etc.” Without the conscious knowledge, everyone approaches art with preconceived notions or ideas.

The fantastic thing about art is that we in are no way constrained to our perceptions, but we can rather change or broaden our reaction to different works, as Chase articulates, “New ways of seeing, can sharpen our perception, and can give us a deeper and ricer sense of the relation of nature and man.” From this, stem endless possibilities.

The freedom of interpretation in art is not just available to the spectator, but even more so the artist. Within her essay, Chase hones in on the art of landscapes, and notes that  “The scene is not a “view” at all, but a map, ” giving the artist complete freedom, as “ways of looking at it and painting it vary even more.” Even since the earliest recorded landscape, Chase states, “The landscapes were never real but rather the fanciful imaginings of city dwellers who think of the country as a bright and happy world remote from turmoil.” This again reinstates the endless view and interpretation of art, for both the artist and spectator.

Unlike Chase, Berger focuses on the nude, and its development through history, and the specific fact that it was created for the audience. Through the use of nudes, not just the way the painting is seen, but also how women are seen, is noted by Berger, “The nude reveals how women have been seen and judged as sights.” He develops, “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become a nude.” The nude has ben created with the purpose of pleasing the viewer, Berger states that “The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.” In this instance the artist creates from a place of bringing pleasure to the spectator. With this in mind, the artist brings importance to the pieces of his work he thinks the spectator would most like to notice.

In his work, John Berger plows deeper into the dangerous world of commercial art, a debate which Chase prefers to steer clear from. Berger deploys the idea that “What determines an image’s value is not its meaning or quality of painting, but its uniqueness.” His dislike of photography, not the art, but its ability to copy any image, he believes detracts from the idea that art is sacred and completely unique. Berger also touches on the fact that commercial art has become so prevalent and ever changing in the world today. He also notes the emptiness of publicity and advertising and how it is a false promise. The idea that there is always more, always better. The envy that stems from this glamour, which is all rooted in instant gratification, often dilutes the importance of art and its effect. Berger then makes an interesting link between oil paintings and publicity; the private property, value and important owner-quality of it all. He also plays on the thought that this theme is intertwined into every area of our lives, “Money is life . . . in the sense that 
it is the token of and key to every human capacity. The power to spend money is the power to live.” Most importantly, is the “divorce from reality” which both oil paintings and publicity share; the idea of “what he is and what he would like to be.”

Alice Elizabeth Chase and John Berger both address the importance of “seeing” with regards to art. The artist’s perspective and intention, the viewer’s response and the influence of the work are all tackled. Chase and Berger use different examples and eras to make their point, yet the common idea that art is a vessel open to appreciation from people in all walks of life, roles and society, both spectators and creators, is evident.

 

 

Stephen Walsh: Summary of Ways of Seeing

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Summary/Analysis of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing

         In general terms, it might seem that “looking” and “seeing” are synonyms, are interchangeable terms used to describe one’s perception by the eye. But when it comes to art, the two words could not be more different. To look at something is to glance at it, to notice a few details here and there; in other words, looking at something is superficial. Seeing a work of art, on the other hand, as John Berger implies, means not just to observe it, but also to understand it, to go beyond the surface and delve into a world nonexistent to the “looking” eye. As the title of his book denotes, John Berger has mastered this art of seeing art, so to speak, and goes to great lengths to describe not only how seeing has evolved throughout the years, but also the nature in which certain subjects (primarily women) are seen in the art world.

In the first chapter of Ways of Seeing, Berger discusses how we see art differently today than we did in the past, and it’s all thanks to one burgeoning institution: technology. Traditionally, paintings, just like the human eye, are stationary and static: they’re only in one place, at one time. But the advent of the camera throws this one-dimensionality out the window. When it focuses in on a work, a camera reproduces it, rendering it available in any size, anywhere. And for many people, this “anywhere” is in fact in the context of one’s own life. For example, in the past, da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks” might be seen in a Renaissance art gallery, alongside some other similarly-themed pieces. But now it can be seen in a million different places, in any room, with any people, on a laptop or a TV or a phone or a poster. Stillness has been replaced by portability, immobility has been supplanted by motility, and it’s all thanks to the reproductive nature of the camera.

And while one might think it beneficial that works of art are now so readily accessible, the truth is that this new technology-driven reproduction of art makes each piece’s original meaning more ambiguous, and “destroys its unique original meaning.” Take again the example of cameras, which are able to easily manipulate by movement the naturally silent and still paintings. By focusing on certain parts of the painting, and ignoring others entirely, it shows the audience what it, or the person controlling the device, so chooses; it can crop and cut and edit and censor as it pleases. Berger uses the example of Breughel’s “Procession to Calvary,” which can be manipulated by the camera to show only characters and situations that seem religious in nature to give off the impression that the painting is a pious one, when it, in fact, is not. Thus the camera tells us what to see, what to look at – privileges and powers that ought to belong solely to the artist.

In the third chapter of the book, Berger discusses the nature of how women are seen in art, an oft-negative portrayal he asserts is due in large part to patriarchy and misogyny. And the primary offender of this sexist view is the nude painting. A woman is, in the culture of privileged Europeans, deemed as nothing more than a “sight,” an object that exists solely for the pleasure of the male audience. And what better way to please the men than to show them in their most innocent, vulnerable state: clothesless. “Nakedness,” Berger asserts, “is a sign of her submission to the owner’s feelings or demands” (p.52).

Indeed women are often portrayed in art to be subservient to men, a quality that is even evoked by the facial expressions of the women in subject. Whether looking at a traditional renaissance oil painting or a contemporary photograph, when it comes to women in nude art, there is almost a universal look on a woman’s face – it’s one, as Berger states, “of responding with calculated charm at the man who is looking at her.” She’s almost always looking out at the man whom she is to serve, the man whom she exists to please, and letting him know that she is his, and only his. Take for example Von Aachen’s painting, “Ceres and Cupid.” Behind the naked woman is situated what appears to be a male lover, but her attention is certainly not directed towards him. Rather, her head is turned around, is turned towards her “true lover,” the spectator. Additionally, in many paintings, nude women are often portrayed as indolent and lethargic, shown sitting or resting or doing anything conducive to inactivity. This is because women were supposed to feed an appetite, to satisfy the desires of their superiors – not to have any of their own. Indeed, women’s expressions and sexuality needs to be downplayed as much as possible so as to emphasize the male sexuality, to assert that the man is the important one, the man is the one in control.

Lucy Snyder: Berger/Chase Summaries and Comparison

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John Berger opens his book, “The Ways of Seeing,” by saying that seeing comes before words. It seems obviously true when we think about children looking around them growing up or speaking face-to-face with someone. However, once our seeing translates into thoughts, it is distorted for several reasons. First, the way we see is affected and altered by what we know from the past or believe in. Second, when we look, we are making the choice to see. Usually this choice revolves around us. What we see, we want to relate to ourself. Seeing an image, as opposed to an original, contributes to this distorted seeing. An image is a reproduced sight or appearance. It is completely detached from its original place in time and is placed somewhere it does not belong. When we see an image, assumptions we have learned in the past take over and we can draw fewer conclusions. Each person has a different perception of art, and this idea is captured in the phrase “eye of the beholder.” Many artists had the intention to address only one single spectator, in many early cases, a religiously observant one. With the invention of the camera, the viewer has less imagination and so does the artist (or photographer). In order to see what is there, the person has to physically be there, and though it is not necessarily accessible to everyone, photographs are not unique. Art is more imaginative and is an art form itself, being used as home decoration and acting as a way to show off possessions. Reproductions of artwork change the meaning of the art based on its context. The viewer incorporates what is seen around, before and after a piece of art into its meaning. Certain points of history are considered in the thought of pieces of art, making them timeless and showing that nothing has changes. However, this is clearly not the case. A loss of respect is evident because art of the past exists differently now.

A large part of art is the objectification of humans, and specifically women. When a woman is portrayed, it is her own attitude toward herself that is shown. Her presence shows what can and cannot be done to her. Everything contributes to this- the background, her gestures, the brushstrokes. On the other hand, a man’s presence in a painting is established by his promise of power. He says what he is capable of doing for you or to you. Though his presence could be somewhat superficial, it still sends the masculine message across. In general, Berger claims that women “appear” and men “act” in their paintings. A woman is seen as a subject by a spectator, and that ideal spectator is a man. This subject has one of the most influential effects on perception. Women appear in paintings without clothes, but Berger also claims there is a difference between them being naked and nude. Naked simply means they are not clothed, they are bare and not in any disguise. Therefore they are exposed to others. However, it is also familiar because there is no mystery or hidden anything. Nude is the true art form, though, and has been conventionalized.

As mentioned earlier, painting in some periods of time represented wealth and were a way to show off possessions. Oil paintings expressed a view of life. They were put in homes the same way furniture decorates an apartment and displays unique objects. However, these oil paintings represented the interests of the ruling class at the time. Though this dominates over lower classes and those lacking commodities, the value of these oil paintings creates an equality of objects as it used as a commodity. It is real, tangible and represents the visible possessions one might have. Berger refers to the oil painting as an “imaginary window open to the real world.” Created to view the real world again, it shows we are obsessed with the material world.

Finally, Berger discusses the publicity of images. We tend to thing of these as advertisements but a lot of images in paintings all send a message that try to change our thoughts or actions. This sounds like propaganda. Public images are continuously made up-to-date to accommodate changing peoples and times. Though they are changing, they do not speak of the present, but rather either refer to the past or speak of the future. They are explained as benefitting the public and therefore the economy and therefore our society, offering free choice, though it is not very free when the choice is offered within a limited realm of one thing. Public images show transformations in other people who aren’t real, but show real situations that the artist wants to instill in the viewer. Public images are meant to change the consumer society to envy the people featured in the art, change them in a way that they think their life will be improved, they will earn more money and become happier and more popular and more beautiful. It is different from the oil painting because the viewers are buyers, not simply spectators. The message sent is to become the person in the advertisement in the future (not in the present).

Alice Elizabeth Chase discusses the art techniques that different cultures have used over time to send a specific message across, where Berger mainly discusses the perceiver and what they see in a painting. While they both agree that the artist has intention, Chase discusses how this intention comes across in the painting or image.

Chase, agreeing with Berger, says that the camera records the way things look. In other words, it is what it is. However, she says an artist is representing something and so they have to make choices to depict subjects if they want to make it seem like reality. Tools like coloring, shading and perspective help contribute toward or take away from the realism of a piece of art.

The realistic pieces of art each have different purposes. In many cases, it is illustrating a story or poem. Some times, even a writing accompaniment is supplied to fulfill the prose. Together, they give the viewer a perception. Different cultures consider different subjects more important for different reasons. Landscapes were popular and were portrayed in many different manners to portray a message or culture or heritage. In medieval times, artists wanted viewers to see the presence of God and religion.

The painting techniques Chase discusses make the reader and viewer consider the importance or insignificance of certain objects and certain ideas. For example, the position of objects and people either in the center of the frame or near the edge show their importance. Small figures versus large figures also send the clear message of dominance or lack thereof. Intimate views show love, dramatic colors are used to emphasize something or a theme, modification of times create illusions that send messages of continuation or exemplify something. Paintings of houses using color in the nineteen century were shown to possibly display possession, ownership and wealth. Patriotism is a theme that can come across in artwork using these techniques. The things people want to see are reinforced art-wise and therefore reinforce patriotic values of that country.

Artists recording what they see requires incorporation of their emotions and thoughts. These are shown through the brushstrokes and other artistic techniques. The techniques used to emphasize objects can be historical or patriotic but also can show what the artist thinks is important to his or herself. They send their messages of personal feelings on a topic through their artwork as well.

As time went on, artists realized that the realistic portrayal of certain scenes was not accurate and was difficult to attain. However, alteration of color and disproportions shown in profile views of people changed over time. Artists first began using space representation to make an emphasis or exaggeration, as well as light and shade. The main development was in perspective, as artists began to use more diagonal lines and convergent lines to make their images appear more closely to what the human eye sees. Study of this art makes the images more accurate more recently. The distortion is unconscious if not intense because our minds just fix it and make the proper adjustments. However, a camera’s photographs can still distort our image based on depth and angle.

Victor Rerick, Analysis of Ways of Seeing

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Analysis of Ways of Seeing

 

In four groundbreaking episodes, John Berger’s Ways of Seeing traversed several centuries of European painting history in an attempt to challenge the traditional conceptions of artistic meaning, expression, and value.  While the majority of the episodes focus on detailed Renaissance-era paintings, Berger’s ideas are hardly archaic.  He challenges the common notion that art is inherently valuable regardless of when, or how, it is viewed.  Berger asserts that while art can portray numerous ideas and meanings, ultimately, it has lost its original intended meaning.  The greatest cause of this reduction in artistic meaning is a seemingly unlikely culprit, the camera.

While used for a plethora of purposes, many of which carry artistic implications of their own, the camera ultimately has a greater affect on the art that came before it, than the art that has come after it.  The ability of the camera to instantly copy an image, mass produce it, and transport it around the globe in a matter of seconds has, in Berger’s view, degraded the beauty, meaning, and value of said images.  As technology continues to progress, the process of artistic replication increases in scale, and does so at a more rapid pace.  Television, a direct offspring of the camera, now allows millions of people to view the same image at exactly the same time.  This happens regardless of their physical proximity to the other viewers, and to the original image itself.  The benefits of such technology are obvious; increased knowledge, awareness of certain events, and the ability of people around the world to share their common interest in art.  But the reproduction of artistic works has one detrimental effect.  Artwork, especially Renaissance paintings, is created with specific attention towards the manner, and the physical location, in which it will be viewed.  To exemplify this, Berger demonstrates how the iconoclastic paintings inside of religious temples acted as a way of recording the “memory” of the building.  These paintings could only be viewed within the context of the sacred building in which they were displayed.  This added a certain reverent connotation to each painting, and they became a respected, even integral, part of the religious experience.

There was a point in history, when the entirety of Vincent van Gogh’s artwork could be viewed in only one location. Now, getting your hands on a copy of Starry Night, or any of van Gogh’s lesser-known work, is only a click away.   It can be purchased at countless museums, seen on television, or viewed online whenever a consumer desires.  Of course, there still remains only one original painting, but replications of this famous piece are readily available in a variety of formats, textures, and locations.  This means that what is arguably the most famous painting in the world is rarely viewed by two people in an identical context.  This, Berger laments, is because “perspective centers everything on the eyes of the beholder”.

 

Until relatively recently, human perspective has always been limited to what the eye could view at a single moment in time.  With the advent of cameras, television, and video, humans can now see, view, and hear things that took place at a different time.  Perspective is no longer confined to time.  Paintings are no longer confined to a single physical location.  This causes distortion in the perspective of the viewer.  Now seen in a new context, perhaps accompanied in a book by text and advertisements, paintings carry a different meaning.   They have been distorted by their surroundings.  Sometimes this amplifies certain aspects of the painting, but often it nullifies its original message.

Berger is not solely obsessed with the concept of art reproduction.  His insight into artistic perspective branch off from the general to the very specific.  He delves into complex discussions of specific aspects of Renaissance oil paintings.  He continues his discussion of perspective, by introducing nude paintings as an example of how perspective is often deceiving.  Initially, paintings of females in the nude appear to be pictures of women in their most natural form.  But Berger argues that nudity itself is another mask beneath which humans can hide.  He asserts that being nude is “to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized by oneself”.  Nude artwork revealed a male dominated culture in which women’s sexuality was pacified so that the sexuality of the male viewer would appear larger in contrast. Nude artwork demonstrated the sexual structure of European society, and juxtaposed the supposed innocence of being naked with the true intentions of the painters, which were often selfish and sexual.

Ultimately, Berger finds that even the expert commentaries of art historians can muddle the meaning of a work.  This affects the ability of the viewer to appreciate the work in his own context.  The context of the critic is forced upon the viewer. The viewer’s thoughts and emotions are cancelled out by the perspective of the critic.  Berger found that even young children are able to recognize complex details in a painting, and the aid of a trained art historian is unnecessary.  But still, this same critic can lend valuable insight towards a painting.  Information about the painter’s lifestyle, income, sexuality, childhood, and death can all enhance a viewer’s appreciation of art.  Berger is not blind to these benefits. He admits an ambivalent stance towards the way perspective is being radically changed by new technology.  He best summarizes this view when he observes that, “the camera, by making a work of art transmittable, has multiplied its  possible meanings, and destroyed its unique original meaning.  Have works of arts gained anything from this?  They have both lost and gained”.

Ashley Haynes: Comparison between Chase & Berger

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Looking vs. Seeing Art

         Art can be the expressway of one’s feelings through a canvas or the reciprocal image of what one may see from their vantage point reproduced. One individual’s viewpoint on art may vary vastly from another. However, no matter what one person may take from an artwork, art can be accepted as a universal language. Art allows people with different ideologies to strike up common ground when discussing their respective takes on something.

Two individuals who had contrasting viewpoints as to what constitutes an artwork were John Berger and Alice Elizabeth Chase. In both of their respective books, John Berger and Alice Elizabeth Chase emphasized the point that the first way in which an individual understands art is through looking. We see then we use words to describe what is present. However, the two differed in their views as to how the invention of the camera came to affect art as well as what makes an artwork unique.

In Ways of Seeing, John Berger was completely anti-camera in the sense that it took away the uniqueness of an original work. He felt as though the camera isolated “momentary appearances” and thereby rendered away an artwork’s true meaning. The camera enabled artworks to be taken out of the place it used to reside and where the work’s original meaning was best conveyed. People no longer traveled to works of art with high frequency when it become possible for it to come to them.

For example, since paintings were allowed to appear simultaneously on people’s television, depending on the area around the television, two different meanings could be derived. If a family saw an image of a flame on their TV and their house was cold; this image could mean heat and warmth. On the contrary, if a painting of a flame appeared on the TV in a family’s house that was already warm and very religious, such an image could remind them of hell and how people burn for their unrepented acts of immorality.

Berger essentially constituted art as being a work of authenticity. He emphasized on the importance of the little details such as the people and their expressions being paramount. When describing the difference between naked and nude, Berger didn’t focus on describing the background. Rather that in a nude artwork, there is a female on display, bearing herself and the hairs on her body with her attention directed at the viewer.

On the other hand, in Looking at Art, Alice Elizabeth Chase reasoned that the camera didn’t take away from the original image; rather, it conveyed exactly the way things look. She reasoned it was easier for a camera to capture a view as compared to an artist who has to map out a way to illustrate the wide and distant elements from a given point of view since in a landscape everything isn’t necessarily on the same plane.

With a landscape, Alice Elizabeth Chase found that it was one of the most important subjects in art in its ability to reflect the moods of man and the infinity of God. For example, as described in the third chapter of her book, although the event of the Baptism of Christ is only incident of the forefront of the image as stated, such didn’t lessen the importance of the landscape in the backdrop. Through the landscape, one is able to see the presence of God through the nature in which he help made just as much as one is able to see Him through his son’s baptism.

Conversely, although photography has it pitfalls as stated in the fourth chapter of Looking At Art because certain elements can be blocked out by another one present in the view. Chase doesn’t look at this as a way to denounce photography but as a way to show how artists have more of an advantage in producing images in the way that they can use lighter and darker shades to contrast different objects. Then, to contrast different perspectives, they can simply make things increase in magnitude as the object comes towards the viewer.

In essence, Berger took the perspective of how a viewer of art would see something. Chase took the perspective of how an artist would look at something then reciprocate it. As a result, they each garnered different takes on different artistic elements not because they necessarily define art as two separate entities. Rather, both Chase and Berger just examine it from two opposite perspectives.

 

Andrew Zagelbaum: Ways of Seeing

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Andrew Zagelbaum

Professor Graff

The Arts in New York City

September 19th 2012

 

 

Through Ways of Seeing, John Berger uses art to portray his inner thoughts and opinions of his surrounding world.  My take on the title of the book is that there is, in fact, multiple ways of seeing.  Yes, there’s the typical, using your vision to see what is directly happening in front of you, but there’s also so much more than that.  Art allows us to see not only what’s happening, but also what has already happened, or what will happen.  Art is both fiction and non-fiction.  We can see facts and true events, but you can also see opinions and feelings.  Only through art can you physically experience what another person may be thinking without being with that person.

In Ways of Seeing, you will find a chapter that consists of only pictures of women.  The first one, being a woman standing in a kitchen full of pots and pans.  This, I assume, is supposed to represent the over exaggerated view on what women are.  In the background of this, you can see pictures of other women who look to be more well off than the woman cooking, but it is assumed that the woman in the picture is a representation of most of the female population.

Next you’ll find a woman of class sitting in a car surrounded by people.  This picture, to me, represents the potential of a woman.  Where as in the last picture you see an average woman surrounded by those better off than her, here you can find a high end woman surrounded by those beneath her.  Just outside her car window, you can see two women just waiting to catch a glimpse of her.

Moving forward, we find two naked women with a very plastic sense to them.  I’m still unsure whether these women are real or mannequins, but regardless, this picture shows the potential beauty of an artist.  Behind the two women, a figure can be seen and while it is unclear what he/she may be doing, it seems as though he/she is painting something.  Perhaps he/she is trying to capture the beauty of these two women and represent it in a picture of his/her own.

Later, we have a woman in an exquisite dress, capturing the eyes of three high class men.  Here, we see not only the potential beauty of a woman, but the power behind this beauty that she holds.  Three men are distracted by the figure that lay in front of them, and yet this contradicts the first picture we explored.  The woman is no longer a figure of work and labor, but now she is above the men, capturing every last piece of their attention.

Lastly, we have two pictures of women side by side.  One of which is standing the rain, while the other sit there having her feet pampered.  To me, this shows two extremes of a female presence.  While in the first picture, we see a very natural, rough portrayal of a woman; the second picture shows us a woman beyond the elements.  Both are clearly beautiful women, but for different reasons.  In regard to the woman in the rain, she has natural beauty.  She can be seen as a self made woman, one who reaches a certain potential without the help of others.  The other woman, however, can be seen as a woman coming from riches.  The beauty she holds is more of a clean look.

Through out these various pictures, we were able to both compare and contrast different women in what they represent.  Without physically seeing these women in person, we were able to have a grasp on what their life styles are like.