Permanent Red
Essays in Seeing
Verso Books · Print & ebook · March 25, 2025
Why should an artist’s way of looking at the world have any meaning for us?
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- Who it’s for
- Readers interested in political art criticism and the role of the artist
- Themes
- Art and politics, The artist’s role, Learning from art history
- Genres
- Art Criticism & Ideas, Art & Politics, Aesthetics
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Why should an artist’s way of looking at the world have any meaning for us? Any artwork reflects the artist’s intentions, but also its times: therefore all art is political In Permanent Red, John Berger argues that the contemporary artist should strive for a realism that aims for hope, to transform the world.
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Surveying the work of historical artists as well as that of near contemporaries such as Picasso, Léger and Matisse, he explores the role of the artist, dividing these figures into those that struggle, those that fail, and the true masters. He explains why we should study the work of the past: in order to understand the present and to rethink the future. First published in 1960, Permanent Red established John Berger as a firebrand critic willing to broadcast controversial opinions on some of the most important British artists of the day, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
Who it’s for
- Readers interested in political art criticism and the role of the artist
- Readers curious about how art of the past can illuminate the present
Where it sits
| Art Criticism & Ideas | 79% |
|---|---|
| Art & Politics | 69% |
| Aesthetics | 33% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Artist Essays
- Art & Politics
- Social Theory
- Authors
- John Berger
- Publisher
- Verso Books
- Published
- March 25, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Art and politics · The artist’s role · Learning from art history
- Reading lane
- Artist Essays