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Mary Beard
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How Do We Look: The Body, the Divine, and the Question of Civilization Hardcover – Illustrated, September 4, 2018

by Mary Beard (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 94 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
See all formats and editions
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From prehistoric Mexico to modern Istanbul, Mary Beard looks beyond the familiar canon of Western imagery to explore the history of art, religion, and humanity.

Conceived as a gorgeously illustrated accompaniment to “How Do We Look” and “The Eye of Faith,” the famed Civilisations shows on PBS, renowned classicist Mary Beard has created this elegant volume on how we have looked at art. Focusing in Part I on the Olmec heads of early Mesoamerica, the colossal statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, and the nudes of classical Greece, Beard explores the power, hierarchy, and gender politics of the art of the ancient world, and explains how it came to define the so-called civilized world. In Part II, Beard chronicles some of the most breathtaking religious imagery ever made―whether at Angkor Wat, Ravenna, Venice, or in the art of Jewish and Islamic calligraphers― to show how all religions, ancient and modern, have faced irreconcilable problems in trying to picture the divine. With this classic volume, Beard redefines the Western-and male-centric legacies of Ernst Gombrich and Kenneth Clark. 92 illustrations
Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Liveright
  4. Publication date
    September 4, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1631494406
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1631494406
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Readers will be grateful to have wise, witty Beard as guide and companion... Beard is charming and insightful piece by piece."
― San Francisco Chronicle

"The title of the book?How Do We Look?could also refer to the physical quality of the book itself. Its design, use, and style harken back to the concise, entertaining, well-made, solid little books popular a few years ago. In that, Beard again explores a means of perceptions (and a practical meaning of educating)… If your summer vacation proved a disappointment, make this little book your consolation."
― Robert S. Davis, New York Journal of Books

"Slim yet insightful.... Beard expands her view beyond western Europe to offer an admirable survey of cultures from Egypt to China, Judaism to Christianity, centuries past to the modern era, all while emphasizing the significance of the viewer over the artist.... As Beard emphasizes the power of the context in which we look at and interpret art, she ultimately suggests that civilization itself is a leap of faith. Beard is having fun in this joyfully accessible primer, backed with a robust appendix, for all interested in a new perspective on religion, art, and history."
― Katharine Uhrich, Booklist [starred review]

"The renowned classicist delivers another tantalizing morsel of analysis, this time on 'art, and our reactions to it, over thousands of years and across thousands of miles'.... Yet another triumph for Beard: a joy to read, too short for certain, packed with lessons quickly absorbed."
― Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

About the Author

Mary Beard is the author of the best-selling The Fires of Vesuvius and the National Book Critics Circle Award–nominated Confronting the Classics and SPQR. A popular blogger and television personality, Beard is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. She lives in England.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright; Illustrated edition (September 4, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1631494406
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1631494406
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 94 ratings

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Mary Beard

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
94 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jack Ratcliffe
5.0 out of 5 stars Fine essays and GREAT photos
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
This a short book that looks at two aspects of art in history and culture - how the human body has been represented across centuries and how art has been used to explain/depict/reinforce religion and religious thought.

The essays themselves are short (4-5 pages) but the accompanying pictures are terrific and enhance the whole presentation significantly.
2 people found this helpful
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Timothy Haugh
4.0 out of 5 stars Brief, with Great Photography and a Couple Interesting Points
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2020
Verified Purchase
Art is notoriously difficult to discuss. In a book as brief as this one, Professor Beard is not going to be able to make any great inroads into the problem. Still, as the two divisions here indicate, she has a couple of points to make. Art always says more about the viewer than it does “objectively”. In the first part of this study, Professor Beard looks at the presentation of the human form in art. In the second part, she examines the function of art in religion.

In the opening pages, we see some ancient views of the human figure from meso-America, Egypt, and China. She then examines the development of the nude, particularly in Greek art, culminating in the “revolution” created by Praxiteles: the Aphrodite of Knidos. She has high claims for this piece which, apart from the noted realism of Greek nudes, transformed figures into objects of desire. It is an interesting thought, though I would have been interested in how this figure related to the mother-figure nudes that have been produced since prehistoric times.

In the second part, starting from Angkor Wat and moving through Christian and Islamic art, Professor Beard looks at the history of depicting religious figures. In some sense, this is a simpler topic than the first. The use of art for complex storytelling (particularly in pre-literate ages) has generated certain styles. The long history of iconoclasm has left its marks across art around the world and continues to do so.

Professor Beard deserves credit for tackling this complex subject. She makes her points concisely and well, and the photographs scattered on nearly every page helps make things clearer. If one goes in aware that this is a very limited discussion, then there are interesting things to learn.
10 people found this helpful
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James Sprinkle
4.0 out of 5 stars A deep thinker
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2019
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Mary Beard is a very thoughtful observer of modern human culture. Her SPQR is her best work, but this new book offers many multi-dimensional observations about world art not often thought or spoken by a single author. Well done.
5 people found this helpful
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Poodley
4.0 out of 5 stars Easy read , very educational book.
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
Very enjoyable ,easy read w high education factor. Could have been a little longer.
3 people found this helpful
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Andrew Dobbs
5.0 out of 5 stars Read, then re-read!
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2018
I recently re-watched the original 13 part series Civilization from 50 years ago. Twice. Its fantastic! It is of course 50 years behind some of humanity’s greatest scientific accomplishments, particularly archeological & historical, but it is a well articulated masterpiece of one man’s vision. I have since watched the new Civilizations series several times as well. Not bothering with the dumbed-down American version, but absorbing the much richer original BBC version. And, it is as fantastic as its predecessor! I especially appreciate the depths Professor Beard takes us. In the episodes and in this book, she makes what could easily have been a dalliance with pretty objects into revelations of their importance. Her intellect and expertise is a gift to us all. I recomend this book whole heartedly. (As I recommend the many other books she’s written). And having been fortunate enough to have seen most of the objects she describes with my own eyes, I recommend visiting them as well. As she points out, they have a lot to tell about us.
8 people found this helpful
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Camille Gizzarelli
5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Beard's book 'How Do We Look' goes beyond BBC's 'Civilisations' documentary
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2019
Based on her appearance on BBC’s 2018 production of ‘Civilisations’, Mary Beard has taken us on a whirlwind international tour of art and its history – without leaving home.
I found ‘How Do We Look’ to include more than adequate information (and her impressions) on works covered in the documentary and beyond.
Dame Mary Beard is surprisingly accessible on social media and when asked, admitted to writing ‘some’ of this book at the American Academy in Rome. How delightful!
2 people found this helpful
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Micah
2.0 out of 5 stars a difference of opinion
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2024
The new Civilization series shared by BBC includes an episode of the same title by Mary Beard and covering similar material as this book. She shares many famous works of human imagery then makes the lofty claim that art has always been created for the male gaze when pausing upon an image of the Greek goddess Aphrodite clearly sculpted to titillate before claiming that Meso American Olmec sculpture is treated as inferior except for the Olmec Wrestler because it is more realistic in appearance, then lectures the viewers on the danger of familiarity bias.

However, an additional episode narrated by Simon Schama included imagery from prehistoric man where human figures were drawn on cave walls in elongated form emphasizing the hunt and sculpted with exaggerated reproductive features to emphasize their power. An art historian can easily reflect on a broad range of other examples from a broad range of cultures where humans are drawn symbolically, etched or carved in exaggeration, and painted or sculpted realistically with or without clothing. The Christian Jesus or Virgin Mary with Child are prime examples.

Meso American artistic expression of the human form might be primarily influenced by Aztec, Mayan and Olmec sculpture. If so, then the Olmec Wrestler looks decidedly out of place for several reasons. Is this really an example of advanced artistic expression particularly when introduced by the earliest civilization then promptly forgotten?

Is Meso American art inferior to Western European as implied by Professor Beard? That’s a difficult question. Certainly, it appears to have developed separately from European and Asia Minor so lacked exposure to competition and collaboration as tools for advancement of technique or broadening artistic styles. Is it less able to mimic the camera in an age before the invention of the camera? Most certainly. Is it accurately reflective of the beliefs of the people? Probably. We have independent records for the Aztecs but have not really interviewed Mayan or Olmec descendants for added perspective although we assume that both cultures were forgotten long ago.

Much of Meso America was conquered by Spain and although the many peoples demanded self government they remain steadfastly dominated by leaders proud of their Spanish ancestry which definitely influences their views of art and a great many other things yet that perspective is not discussed.

When language, culture and nationality are considered of less importance than skin color, bias may be in the storyteller.

Lastly, in my lifetime, art collectors have claimed to have uncovered the crypt of the Biblical James and just in case one doubted, greedily labeled it James brother of Jesus, presumably to maximize sales. It was wildly promoted as real until it wasn’t. It is very easy to imagine a similar fate for the Olmec Wrestler so perhaps it should not have been the only reference when promoting a theory of inherent Western bias by supposedly White only Europeans.
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