When it comes to art, personal perception of a piece should be the principle driving force to understanding art. In Ways of Seeing, John Berger mentions that a person’s perception of art can be influenced by outside factors, such as captions or information about the artist. Even though this does alter what someone thinks of a piece of art, I believe this has a positive effect rather than a negative one on one’s perception. More information allows the person to understand art at a secondary level; he can delve deeper into the reason why someone created this piece of art and relate it to his own feelings about it.
Berger also states his views on the reproduction of art and while I disagree that it devalues a piece of art, I understand his opinion as well. An original piece of work has its own aura. No matter how many reproductions you see, only the original contains the true artists mark. For example, in the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo, the famous painting God creates Adam is on the ceiling. If you google it, you can find an image of it in a matter of seconds. But if you visit the chapel, the view is completely different; you see the connection of how God created Adam to other paintings on the ceiling of the chapel. It completes the pictures and creates a story for the observer. Plus, the ceiling itself is beautiful because of the immense detail and color scheme created by Michaelangelo. So just like Milana said in a previous post, art is still thrilling even though you saw the reproduction before the original. However, reproductions introduce such great pieces of art to people who cannot readily observe it. I believe Berger is incorrect in saying that reproductions negatively impact art. A teacher once told me that when people copy your work, it means they like it and it has some sort of value. So reproductions actually increase the importance of a certain art.
In the next chapter, Berger speaks about the difference between nudity and nakedness. I agree with him that “men act and women appear”. If we break it down, women want to attract men and men want to find women they are attracted to. A woman in nude makes her body more public and therefore allows men to appreciate her while a woman who is naked is more private with her body.
John Berger brings up a few good points but I believe he generalizes the public too much and even stereotypes them. I look forward to reading more of Ways of Seeing.