When I read John Burger's Ways of Seeing, I was sure there was more I needed to understand, more in his words I could find relevance to. It took me until the trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to apply his ideas about ways of seeing, and specifically about Nude vs. Naked in art. After I visited the familiar museum (I've visited it at least five other times), I was analyzing it in a new way- all because of Berger. Burger's ideas were clearer to me for sure, I actualized concepts of his in the museum that had only been theories I read into. When I worked on my findings about the museum I focused on Naked vs. Nude in art and really developed the idea that these are two very different forms of undress in art. What was really interesting, was that Amy McAnally, a classmate of mine developed her own concepts of Berger in a way that assisted my own research.
Amy focused on Feminism in art as Burger see's and explains it. This helped with my own understanding of Nude vs. Naked since I made connections between the two, but had not developed a clear link between her understanding of feminism through Berger as my own. The first painting that Amy used to portray her findings of how feminism may be used in art. Her painting was The Portriat of Lady Eden by John Singer.
Amy focused on Feminism in art as Burger see's and explains it. This helped with my own understanding of Nude vs. Naked since I made connections between the two, but had not developed a clear link between her understanding of feminism through Berger as my own. The first painting that Amy used to portray her findings of how feminism may be used in art. Her painting was The Portriat of Lady Eden by John Singer.
This photo was, for Amy, a way to look at the idea that men act and women appear. This concept came into question for Amy when she saw that Lady Eden was in fact "acting" by playing cards, though her face seems to be passive. She compares the "acting" of this woman to the men in another painting called Interior of a Tavern. It is obvious that the acting in these paintings are very different. Amy points out that the woman is in lighting that fixates on her beauty. She is the only one in the portrait, so the focus is clearly on her- on her face, on her skin, on her beauty. The men in the Tavern, however, are acting much differently. It isn't clear that they are aware that they are being seen or not, whereas Lady of Eden seems to sit as if there is someone admiring her. These differences stem from the idea that men act and women appear as Berger explains.
Amy discusses the way in which nudity is seen in art compared to the ideas of feminism that men act while women appear. The integration of these two concepts leads me to think about my own findings of nudity in pairings versus nakedness. Amy's research of women appearing nude, while men are depicted very differently in most paintings brings me back to John Berger's recollection that women are to be blamed for the shame in nudity, yet sacrifice their shame to be nude for the pleasure of a man. It all really full circles to a quote Burger used and that Amy highlighted in her research of art compared to Ways of Seeing which was, " To be born a woman has to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men, The social presence of women is developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within such a limited space. But this has been at the cost of a woman's self being split into two. A woman must continually watch herself".
Amy compares these two photos by saying women appear to be nude throughout the paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her observations proved that women were repeatedly objectified in art while men were deemed important for their actions, put in darker lighting with emphasis on their dress. Dress for women is their nudity. It is there that I was able to connect these ideas to the fact that feminism was depicted in art the way Berger has examined. Her analysis of Berger was thorough enough to further expand my own research on Ways of Seeing specifically compared to an art gallery, and how our perception is changed through what he learn about men and women and how they should act.
http://amymacwrt.weebly.com/the-art.html
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting, 1973.
http://amymacwrt.weebly.com/the-art.html
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting, 1973.