Sight Unseen: Whiteness and American Visual Culture by Martin A. Berger

Abstract

This article reviews Martin A. Berger's book 'Sight Unseen: Whiteness and American Visual Culture,' which explores the intersection of racial identification and vision in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American visual arts. The review analyzes Berger's methodology, which combines formalist and contextual approaches to read artworks through multiple discourses. The article argues that Berger demonstrates how European-American whiteness is internalized and expressed in visual texts, even when nonwhite figures are absent. By examining specific paintings, such as William Sydney Mount's works, the review highlights how racial connotations are constructed and reconstructed over time. The paper contends that Berger's interdisciplinary approach offers a fresh perspective on whiteness as a racial category, challenging the normalization of whiteness in American visual culture. The review concludes by praising the book's accessible language and its value for art students and scholars interested in race and visual representation.

(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)