Portraits: John Berger on Artists

John Berger has an artist’s heart. He writes like a storyteller - exploring a selected group of artists he has pulled from previous articles? (Maybe his personal favorites) He breaks down the artist and the art into manageable pieces and profiles the artist from his intellectual brain in a creative way. This is not an Art History book but Berger's knowledgeable understanding of each artist mixed with his travels... It's not a read from beginning to end - You browse and read... It’s an excellent book for artists or those interested in art...

I found this book in Barnes and Noble but decided to buy it here because of the lower price. The book that I saw at the store was a beautiful textured hardcover and the pages were thick. The book I received off of Amazon is a pale shade of pink, smooth in texture, and the pages are so thin I'm worried that they won't stand up over time. Upon arrival, the edges were bend from shipping. I wish I had just purchased the book in the store and put up the extra money. It's exceptionally better quality for only $15.00 more. I forgot to send it back so it will have to do but I would caution others when purchasing it.

Arrived promptly and in near-perfect condition, as advertised.

Hardback did not arrive as expected. It is not like the pictures on amazon. I would have bought the paperback if I hadn't been somewhat persuaded by the lovely looking Verso cover with a burlap looking texture. Instead, the book arrived in a regularly hardback. It is decent quality but now what I expected. Starts because of the book's content, but I am disappointed it was not the Verso cover I expected.

Each essay combines an insightful appreciation of a work of art with Berger's insights into life in our day.For example, in his discussion of the Fayum Portrait Painters of the 1st to 3rd centuries , Berger contrasts the "confident, expansive culture" of the time with our own in which "The future has been, for the moment, downsized, and the past is being made redundant."

Inspiring work for all artists. Berger had a cunning eye, and the emotional likeness of a painter.-

Muy bueno estado

I’ve been a keen admirer of Berger’s mind and writing for years, but the production values of this book are infuriating. Whoever at Verso was responsible for this should be fired. Or shot. It’s one thing to pack 500+ pps of material into a single volume (when it really wants to be two books), then another to reduce the typeface size too much to make it all fit, and then finally to print it in ink so tepid that one has to slow down and squint to make out the words. Is this some “value engineering” approach by a cost-cutting team that thinks it’s being sophisticated? What a stupid and unnecessary misfire by this publisher. John Berger is one of the great ones who really deserves to be better served than this.

John Bergers unique way of thinking about art really hits home in this book where he lays bare his thoughts on art and artists.

great writer

This book contains some of the essays contained in the book Selected Essays. But Berger has written additional material on some of the painters. It is a superb book and a must read for anyone interested in really understanding Art. His penetrating gaze brings out aspects of the great artists which otherwise would have probably gone unnoticed by those who are not serious students of the Arts.A great book ! Must read - his take on Turner , Caravaggio.......

A stunning collection of Berger on artists. His style is precise and always unpredictable; somehow he manages to write clearly about what a direct encounter with an artist or painting means, but then he makes imaginative, synthetic links that are dazzling. Reading him on Rembrandt or Gericault is to feel stimulated to think better and longer, and feel the sudden pull of what ethics requires of us.

If you want to get more out of looking at paintings read this book.Whether or not you agree with his perspective is irrelevant. He sets out a way of looking at art that is adaptable to anyone's point of view.