Friday, 18 June 2010

Reading Material: Ways of Seeing - John Berger

As I commented in my previous blog, I have never had a chance to study art appreciation and this course through OCA has encouraged me to look and read about works of art (be it paintings or photographs) and try to understand better the meanings behind what you see.

One student, in the OCA Forum website, recommended the above book as an excellent support to this course and I have been ploughing through it.  There are approximately 200 images contained within it covers (and it's quite a small book) and explanations given on what painters were trying to achieve when they put paint to canvas.  It was hard going at first, and I remember another student writing in the blog that it was better to dip into the book rather than try to take it all in at once.  This seems a good plan and having dipped I found a good explanation on Cubism which was something I never understood.  John goes on the explain that a cubist painter trys to show something from several views not just a conventional view that you would normally see.  After reading this explanation Picasso' cubist work seems clearer, and with the explanations accompanying the pictures, I can grasp the significance of some of his work. 
     I shall continue to dip in when I have a few minutes to broaden my understanding and appreciation of major works of art.

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