ABSTRACT
John Berger was one of the most influential British intellectuals of the past 50 years. He was best known for his seminal book of art criticism, Ways of Seeing, which was published in 1972 and has shaped the thinking of at least two generations of artists and students. Berger's most influential essays deal with the representation of females in art, which have now been explored further by feminist art theory. The author's work has also helped to shape a relatively new academic field, that of visual culture. This discipline draws on different subjects, such as history of art, cultural studies, anthropology, and philosophy, and focuses on aspects of culture that rely on visual images. The essay in which Berger talks about the concept of women and their depiction in art has assumed great importance in developing the concept of the "male gaze".
