
Ways of Seeing, a graphic novel by John Berger, is an examination of women’s historical roles in art.  Berger includes a combination of classical and modern images of artwork with females as the focal point.  Through analyses of pieces such as Edouard Manet’s Olympia and Vanity by Hans Memling, Berger acknowledges the history of issues in female gender portrayals- both in presumptions and stereotypes.  He recognizes the existence of “the gaze” and brings it back to some of its initial usages.  John Berger also calls out men for their hypocrisy and overall disrespect towards women.  Rather than criticizing women, as he proves most men tend to do, he reverses the situation and draws attention to men and their own wrongdoings.  

Edouard Manet’s Olympia is a classic example of a reclining female nude.  The oil painting portrays an unclothed woman relaxing on a bed with a cat at her feet while an African American servant is bringing her flowers.    The work is composed of mainly cool color tones with the exception of some pink hues.  The cool tones of create the shady atmosphere of a Parisian saloon while the pale pink represents femininity.  Manet’s piece was groundbreaking at the time because of his subject matter.  Previously in painting, nude women were not real humans.  They were some symbolic figure for either a goddess or nymph; take, for example, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli or Alexandre Cabanel’s Nymph and Satyr.  In Botticelli’s Renaissance painting, the goddess Venus is modestly nude as she stands in a clamshell that seems to be emerging from a lake.  She has long flowing hair that perfectly covers her “private area” while her arm mostly hides her chest.  The nymph in Cabanel’s piece is positioned so that her privates are not out in the open, although she is definitely naked.  Her head is dramatically turned away from the viewer, likely because she is not real.  These “women,” as well as others in their respected denominations, were completely nude.  Manet’s mystery woman, however, is not entirely nude.  She has her hair styled and secured with a flower, she is wearing jewelry, including a black choker and bracelet, and is wearing high heels- all whilst reclining in bed.  The star of his painting is not a goddess, nor a nymph, nor religious figure.  Manet had painted a prostitute: an unspoken profession for 19th century Paris.  This can be even more concluded by the subject’s suggestive hand placement.  As a realist, Manet chose to portray what was an actuality- it was just not what the Parisians wanted to be made public and quite literally put on display.  Manet was also one of the first artists to practice “the gaze.”  This gaze he utilizes refers to the acknowledgement of being seen.  Typically in art, women are being observed with their head casually turned off into the distance.  This is to reflect the idea that women are just present for men to look at.  Although men are not usually shown in the images, it is assumed that they are just out of frame, intently watching the woman.  Perhaps they do not portray the man because that would reaffirm how unsettling the idea truly is.  By not including the “peeping Tom” in the painting, the viewer of the painting takes that role instead.  The heroine of his painting is staring directly at the viewer.   The courtesan’s direct eye contact creates a more intimate relationship between the viewer and the piece.  Classical art derives in this fetishistic idea of scopophilia, a voyeuristic gaze.  This rather disturbing idea can be credited to men because for almost all of history, art was not an acceptable profession for a woman.

John Berger also touches on the issue of how women are assumed based on their appearance, specifically with mirrors.  “The mirror was often used as a symbol of the vanity of a woman.  The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical.  You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure,” he writes.  Berger is specifically referencing Vanity by Hans Memling, although this is a recurring theme in classical art.  Memling’s painting is actually a single panel from his Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation.  This single image shows a woman in a rural setting, standing in nature with a village and animals in the background.  This woman is nude, no surprise.  This painting is ironic because the sex symbol of this work is portrayed in nature as religious figures historically were.  What separates her from those praised symbols and categorizes her as “vain” is the fact that she is holding a mirror.  She has long flowing hair that is accented with a headband as well as sandals to protect her feet from the ground.  These accessories, coinciding with Manet’s piece as well, depict her as human- hence the title “Earthly Vanity.”  In the 15th century, a woman holding a mirror could be compared to a modern-day woman taking a selfie would be portrayed, self-absorbed.  A man painting a nude woman with a mirror would be like a photographer doing a shoot of a woman taking nude photos of herself.  Berger recognizes the hypocrisy behind this assumption of the woman captured and instead speaks on the character of the man doing the capturing.

Both works that Berger chose to include reflect the stereotypes of women from their specific time period, and certain details that labeled them as such.  Because of certain details in each of the paintings, numerous assumptions were made about the woman in the painting, who likely was not even a real person.  The details are considered symbols, but they also are alluding to stereotypes and labels.  This proves the double standard between men and women.  Historically, women have been held to certain guidelines that group them into categories.  This is proven through art, events, and culture that has been passed through generations.  The way women are portrayed has been predetermined by characteristics of stereotypes.  These categories are not extensive enough to fully describe a true human.  They are stereotypes that cause females to conform, not personally but in their description: a nearly naked woman is promiscuous; a woman near a mirror is narcissistic.   Both characteristics are generalizations and do not reflect the woman portrayed, just the scenario she has been captured in.  John Berger impressively pulled many different art historical pieces together to reveal an issue that has been prevalent for nearly all of time.  His collection of female-focused images serves as a timeline of voyeurism, depicted through art.  Ways of Seeing is unique because although every image he uses has previously been published, he organizes them in a way that makes the recurring issue prevalent to the reader.  John Berger ironically separates women into their “categories” of appearance, but rather does it in attempts to prove a point about stereotypes than actually degrade the subjects of each work.