The artist, writer and critic John Berger was an excellent essayist. In this collection of essays written over several decades, he explores different aspects of art and culture, including a number of personal influences and reminiscences.
Among many other topics, Berger explores what artists are doing when they make a drawing; the differences between a novel and a chronicle; the influences on Romantic art; artistic reproduction and when artistic originals become property; and the generally bogus claim that painted portraits tell us more about the sitter than photographic portraits.
Berger was a Marxist, and a couple of these essays get a bit too political for my liking, but don’t let that put you off: Landscapes is an excellent compilation.
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