How these images are related to the tradition of oil painting, a connection which we fail to see only because Title Language of advertising, The Synopsis 4: Wherever we look, wherever we walk, whatever we read, we are continually surrounded or confronted by the images of advertising and publicity.
Title Possessions Synopsis 3: Do we misunderstand the real meaning of European oil painting because we are normally encouraged to look only at a few exceptional works instead of the hundreds of thousands of unremarkable pictures which make up the main tradition? These average works Is there really much difference between 'The Judgement of Paris' and a Miss World Contest? How do the European oil paintings of nudes compare with Title Nude or naked? Synopsis 2: Looks at oil paintings of the nude and asks if there is a difference between being naked and being nude. Reproduction has destroyed the uniqueness of paintings and the way they are hung, in the sense that paintings can now exist everywhere and nowhere in particular. Sections Title Reproductions Synopsis 1: How paintings are most frequently seen - in reproduction. Year of production 1972 Availability Sale 1996 sale: £65.00 (+VAT +p&p) (each)ġ996 sale: £160.00 (+VAT +p&p) (series) Subjects Art Keywords art appreciation paintings paintings - European Credits Producer Michael Dibb Cast John Berger How these pictures of life relate to our own lives and to the people and places far away whose lives it so often uses for its own exotic props.* Language English Country Great Britain Medium Video Videocassette. The specific nature of publicity itself, the dreams which it conjures up, the magical transformations which it promises, the types of life which it idealises. How these images are related to the tradition of oil painting, a connection which we fail to see only because we are encouraged to believe that painting is ‘fine art’ whereas publicity is simple commerce. Berger argues that this aspect of the tradition still continues today in the modern medium of advertising and publicity.Ĥ: Wherever we look, wherever we walk, whatever we read, we are continually surrounded or confronted by the images of advertising and publicity. Oil paintings could render the look of things in a way which made them desirable, in a way which made us want to possess them. Is there really much difference between ‘The Judgement of Paris’ and a Miss World Contest? How do the European oil paintings of nudes compare with the images of advertisements which are everywhere? Do they really celebrate women, as we are taught to believe, or do they merely provide titillation for the male voyeur? In the second half of the film Berger asks five women for their comments on the way men see women, or have seen them in the past, and how this influences the way women see themselves today.ģ: Do we misunderstand the real meaning of European oil painting because we are normally encouraged to look only at a few exceptional works instead of the hundreds of thousands of unremarkable pictures which make up the main tradition? These average works were first of all objects which could be bought and sold, and they covered the walls of palaces and private houses all over Europe. How the images of art can be manipulated and how they can be obscured by the false religiosity and mystification which so often surrounds them.Ģ: Looks at oil paintings of the nude and asks if there is a difference between being naked and being nude. Their meaning is no longer constant in that they can be changed by what is shown opposite them, by words put around them, by music played over them. They can be played with and used by anyone for any purpose. They come on postcards, in books and on television films. He shows that aspects of this tradition are continued in the images of modern publicity.ġ: How paintings are most frequently seen - in reproduction. Synopsis Critic John Berger explores the ways in which we look at pictures, with emphasis on the way traditional European oil painting has looked at women and possessions.