John Berger
I walked through the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in search of a conversation. As I wandered I saw many spectacular works of art but I was looking for something more than beauty, I was looking for an emotion, something that couldn't be explained in words. I wanted to be provoked to question the paint and artist with excitement and not because I was required to. Berger states that a painting remains silent, until a person approaches it willing to ask questions, but in my experience the reason you approach art to talk can be just as important. There are many ways to start a conversation with a painting; it is dependant on what one is trying to get out of it. Art can be viewed for pleasure, wandering without expectation; to study it, as in an art history class where the painting becomes more historical than beautiful; because of its reputation, like tourists going to see the Mona Lisa because they are in Paris; and so on and so forth. Is there a certain way in which we are to see art? Is the way we question art dependant on the way we see it? After the silence is broken the observer then becomes the critic and interprets the painting according to her. Is her interpretation right? Are there multiple ways to interpret a painti
Brushstrokes are very obvious in this painting especially in the water making it look touched by the wind. Was that wrong? Should just the feeling that the painting gave me be enough or was I allowed to be interested in the history as well? According to Berger, "The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe", but isn't knowledge and belief different? Knowing something means that it is what it is; there is no room for interpretation. What defines an experience though? Will those who cannot look at the original still get a full experience? After spending a good hour in the museum I had seen most of the paintings available and though many where beautiful I had not yet been awed until I passed by The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer in 1885. The power and strength that it projected struck me. Having read the plaque, I know Homer is the artist, it was painted in 1885, and that Homer had been on a fishing boat in his life, explaining where the inspiration came from. The image was obviously something from memory or fantasy because it was set in the middle of the ocean, a fisherman trying to row to the safety of the mother ship but struggling against the immense waves. Enjoy it for what it portrays, who it represents, when it was painted or all those qualitiestogether. I think it is important to see art in your own way. Everyone is entitled to a unique experience with art, whether through a reproduction or the original piece. What was the fisherman thinking? What happens after that moment? Those types of question can only be answered based on your own beliefs of what is going on. As I look at it now I am not as moved as I had been when I first approached the painting but I still had a great appreciation for it. The colors are dismal: dark blues, cloudy grays, faint pinks and plain browns; the image, however, is bold. Comparing my critique on art and Berger's leads me conclude that while I don't always agree with what he states, I am no more an expert than he is. My initial feeling is indescribable, much in the same way that Berger explains the feeling of love, "When in love, the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match" (106, Berger).
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,
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Acceptance Essays
