"I distinguish four modes of painting as the constituents of the early modern system and give them the names decorative, graphic, optical, and textural" (page 42)
As Kate already noted: " The decorative mode emphasizes symbol and embellishment. "In the graphic mode,things are painted as they are known or thought to be."... "In the optical mode,things are are painted as they are seen,or more pointedly, painted in such a manner that the way they are seen modifies,obscures, or conflicts with their objective structure and appearance."... "In the textural mode the qualities of paint and the traces of the painter's hand are interposed between the eye and the image. Textural painting represents the activity of painting and the sensuous material qualities of paint as intrinsic parts of the image one can see." and "the great majority of paintings share in one or more modes." Or, as they say in music theory, they are "polymodal" For example, in the 16th C., Florentine painters emphasized the graphic mode over the textural and optic modes - while Venetian painters did the reverse. But is it possible to have a painting done in only one mode?(as a musical piece might be only in the Dorian mode) And is it possible to have a painting that is completely missing any of them? Are any of these four modes absent from any representational painting whatsoever- whether from "the early modern system" or anywhere else in world history? I also wonder, what "modes" Berger has left out. For example, the "longevity mode" -- where paintings are made to be permanent - or the "magic mode" where paintings are made to save the soul, heal the sick, or manifest the presence of the divine (which Berger specifically excluded from the "decorative mode" which he specified as liturgical, but not magical) And most importantly, at least for me, the "rapturous mode", where paintings are made to enrapture the imagination and provoke feelings of wonder and joy. Without that mode, paintings with only the decorative, graphic, optical, and textural modes just don't interest me. I'd rather look at a beach or a garden - or even the snow covered tree outside my window. Berger's four modes are for people who like to talk about paintings, but not especially to look at them. ____________________________________________________________ Weight Loss Program Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/c?cp=1vRNRHTYz3bSl3MDdyv-YgAAJz6c l_zTaptgNR5c8Mer1v9kAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEUgAAAAA=
