Several reproduced works also have detail insets on the same or nearby pages. Most pages of text have at least one image and many pages have several images. The seventh and last chapter is comprised of words and images and followed by an index "List of Works Reproduced" with page numbers on which the reproduction is shown. The third and fourth chapters alternate similarly, as do the fifth and sixth chapters. The book is uniquely structured, since the first chapter is comprised of words and images, but the second is comprised of images only. There is no table of contents that lists titles, numbers, or topics of the seven sections. The work has seven untitled but numbered chapters called essays in the authors' "Notes to the reader". Berger's work "Ways of Seeing" is a 166-page book including an eight page list of reproductions. The point is made by the painting and Berger's explanation that there is a gap between images one sees and words used to express their meaning in an environment. Magritte paints in the Surrealist school, which allows him more freedom of expression than Realism would.
No "key" or other images or words suggest "dreams" either. Ironically however, below the image of a horse's head in the upper left quadrant is "the door", under an image of a clock in the next quadrant is "the wind", and the lower left pane contains a picture of a pitcher with "the bird" in script below. Underneath the image of a suitcase in that pane is written "the valise", which is another word for suitcase, satchel, grip, and other synonyms. A word in the lower right quadrant does indeed state what the picture is. A viewer might assume there is some relation between the image and the script. Each quadrant contains an image in black and white with white script words below. The painting is comprised of an apparent four-pane window with black background in each pane. Berger claims Magritte's painting "The Key of Dreams" comments on this gap. There is a constant gap between the words used and the sight seen. Words cannot settle the matter because they are static and the surrounding environment changes. Words are used to try to explain the environment that surrounds. Seeing also enables an individual to relate to the environment that surrounds him. He continues by presenting the concept of how a picture may look the same to many different people that view it, it may carry a different message to each viewer.A child sees before it learns to speak. He suggests that instead of painting the subjects as stoic government officials, they are portrayed as drunkards. “Regents of the Old Men’s Alms House” by Frans Hals is cited as an example to show us that the viewpoint of the painter affects the tone of the painting. Even pictures, according to him, cannot be taken for face value because one must consider the intent of the photographer and other factors that may have skewed the message. He then makes us question if we can truly believe our eyes, if what we see is actually reality. I believe that ultimately, Berger’s argument of original pieces of art losing their value is solid.īerger starts out by establishing how sight is arguably our most important sense. He speculates that this is because of the inaccessibility of art along with the widespread popularity of copies. My first reading of “Ways of Seeing” barely provided me with any information, but subsequent readings finally gave up some of Berger’s most interesting points, such as his idea that the meaning of great works of art no longer send out the message of the original creator. His writings can seem extremely complex and difficult, even cryptic at times but trudging through his works can yield many fascinating nuggets of truth. He has been praised numerous times, yet condemned just as much. Berger seems to be an extremely controversial art critic, based off opinions of him that range from “stimulating” to “preposterous”. John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” is a short commentary that seems to be about how different classes of people perceive art, how its meaning has changed through the ages, and how the introduction of technology has affected it.