Portrait of the Artist as an Artist Talking About Other Artists’ Portraits

“This seems to me absolutely one of the quintessential things about the human condition. It’s what actually distinguishes man from any other animal: living with those who have lived and the companionship of those who are no longer alive. Not necessarily the people that one knew personally, I mean the people perhaps whom one only knows by what they did, or what they left behind, this question of the company of the past, that’s what interests me, and archives are a kind of site in the sense of like an archaeological site.”
― John Berger, Portraits: John Berger on Artists

Hannah is reading Portraits by John Berger. I love essays and I love how John Berger saw the world. :-)

Stolen description: Portraits by John Berger is a collection of essays by the renowned art critic John Berger, edited by Tom Overton, that explores art history through a chronological look at various painters and sculptors, from prehistoric cave art to contemporary figures like Cy Twombly and Randa Mdah. The book connects artists to their historical and political contexts, offering new ways to understand canonical figures like Rembrandt, Picasso, and Pollock, as well as lesser-known artists, through Berger's signature blend of lyrical prose, political analysis, and personal insight. 

Good old wild-headed John Berger