Portraits: John Berger on Artists Paperback – November 21, 2017

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.

The text talks about paintings. The paintings are illustrated, if at all, with tiny blurred printed too-often black and white illustrations on cheap stock. If a book ever comitted suicide, this is the book.

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."

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...

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.

I admire John Berger's take on artists and enjoy reading the essays from time to time, picking the ones I'm most interested in.

the Hardbound I received was disappointing because the quality of the paper and the printing is so bad. I thought I paid for the original book but instead, it feels like a print I demand.

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.

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.

John berger e' ungrande.ha una visione personalissima dell'arte ,e scrive in maniera divina con grande sensibilita' e intelligenza. E sempre con una grande coscienza sociale e umana