梵高：画语人生（2010）

and then it should do.
我的家人并不情愿让我住进来
There’s a similar reluctance about taking me into the house
1883年12月15日
就像不愿留下一只毛茸茸的大狗
as there would be about having a large, shaggy dog in the house.
狗狗会踩着湿漉漉的爪子进屋
He’ll come into the room with his wet paws,
毛也太多
and then he’s so shaggy.
又碍手碍脚
He’ll get in everyone’s way.
他的叫声也太大了
And his bark is so loud.
总之 他是个脏兮兮的畜生
In short, he’s a filthy animal.
那好吧
Very well.
但这只狗有人一样的过去
But the animal has a human history
他尽管是只狗 却有人的灵魂
and, although it’s a dog, a human soul,
也有细腻的感情 他能够
and one with finer feelings at that, capable of
感觉出别人对他是怎么看的
feeling what people say about him,
这一点普通的狗是做不到的
which an ordinary dog can’t do.
我们对这次新的尝试很有信心
We’re undertaking this new trial with real good faith.
只是可惜他不能再随和些
It’s a pity that he isn’t a little more accommodating,
但他这人很古怪 这是无法改变的事实
but there’s simply no changing the fact that he’s eccentric.
我承认 我也算是一只狗
And I, admitting that I am a sort of dog.
就接受他们
Accept them,
接受他们真实的样子
for what they are.
尽管在家中遇到的困难
Despite the difficulties at home,
文森特正是在这一时期
it was around this time
达到作为艺术家的全盛时期
that Vincent came into his own as an artist.
就从画当地的织布工开始
Starting with the drawings of local weavers.
我每天画这里的织布工
Every day, I paint studies of the weavers here.
我觉得那机构复杂的织布机
I think the looms, with that quite complicated machinery,
中间坐着的小小的身影
in the middle of which sits the little figure,
也都会愿意被我用钢笔画下来
will also lend themselves to pen drawings.
不过我必须得保证我画的
I must make sure that I get them so that
颜色和调子与其他的荷兰画家的作品相称
the colour and tone match with other Dutch paintings, though.
如此打动他的荷兰画家
These Dutch painters he was so impressed by
安东·莫夫 《沼泽》
正是安东·莫夫和约瑟夫·伊泽洛兹
were Anton Mauve and Jozef Israels,
他们都是海牙派的艺术家
artists from The Hague School,
他们因描绘田园风光和农民而闻名
celebrated for their rural scenes and peasant subjects.
约瑟夫·伊泽洛兹 《乡间田野》
他们多使用灰色和褐色
Their palette was grey and brown,
这与荷兰的天气状况相符
matching the weather conditions of The Netherlands.
却与当时在巴黎创作出来的
Very different from the revolutionary paintings
具有革命性的画作十分不同
being produced in Paris at that time
那时印象派画家的画作色彩丰富而鲜亮
by The Impressionists with their bright and colourful paintings,
提奥把这些写信告诉了文森特
which Theo had written to Vincent about.
克劳德·莫奈 《昂蒂布》
你提到了很多陌生的名字
I hear you talk about a lot of new names,
可我连一幅他们的作品都没见过
it’s not always possible for me to understand
要怎么理解他们呢
when I’ve seen absolutely nothing by them.
就你跟我讲的关于印象派的事来看
And from what you say about Impressionism,
我不太清楚该怎么去理解他们的作品
it’s not entirely clear to me what one suppose to understand by it.
就我而言 我还是更欣赏像伊泽洛兹这样的画家
For my part, I find so tremendously much in Israels, for instance,
所以倒不是非常好奇或急于了解什么
that I’m not particularly curious about or eager for something
特别的新东西
different or newer.
尽管如此
Despite this,
文森特对色彩还是越来越感兴趣了
Vincent was becoming increasingly interested in colour,
织布机织出的图案令他着迷
fascinated by what he saw emerging on the looms.
正如你所知 织布工编织织物时会试着
When the weavers weave those fabrics, they try, as you know,
让最鲜亮的色彩与彼此交相呼应
to get the very brightest colours in balance against one another
彩色的格子呢都是如此
in the multicoloured tartans,
这样一来 织物没有不协调的感觉
so that, rather than the fabric clashing,
而远观时 整体上是和谐的
the overall effect is harmonious from a distance.
译注: 法国艺术家
你要在尤金·德拉克罗瓦的作品中
You have to go straight to Eugene Delacroix
才能找到对色彩如此和谐地运用
to find such an orchestration of colours.
轮廓是蓝色 绿色的
I’m talking about the blue, green sketch with
配上红色和紫色 还加上一抹柠檬黄
red and purple and touches of lemon yellow.
色彩本身就是具有象征性的语言
It speaks a symbolic language through colour itself.
所以文森特开始在作品中加入一些颜色
So now Vincent starts to introduce shards of colour into his work,
先是在风景画中
in landscapes,
之后是在一系列当地农民的画像中
and then in a series of portraits of local peasants.
像我跟你保证的那样 我画了一些头像
I have a few of the heads I promised you.
这些画作就真的只能称为习作
They are studies, in the true meaning of the word.
我已经画了大约三十多张了
I’ve already painted at least 30 or so.
与此同时
At the same time,
我又开始画那副农民围坐在一盘土豆旁的画了
I’m working on those peasants around a dish of potatoes again.
我希望这幅吃土豆的人的画会有所进步
I hope that the painting of those potato eaters will progress a bit.
我是像画出那种感觉
You see, I really wanted to make it so that
1885年4月30日
让人们能看出这些人
people get the idea that these folk,
他们就着桌上昏黄的灯光吃着他们的土豆
eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp on the table,
他们…他们亲自在田间耕作
They’ve… they have tilled the earth themselves
用的正是这双吃土豆的手
with these hands they are putting in the dish,
所以这些土豆代表了他们的体力劳动
so the whole thing speaks of manual labour
因此这些食物是他们老老实实挣来的
and thus they have honestly earned their food.
我想表现出
I wanted to give the idea of
一种与我们完全不同的生活方式
a way of life wholly different from ours.
我当然并非只想要每个人都欣赏它
I certainly don’t just want everyone to admire it
或者不明所以就去称赞它
or approve of it without knowing why.
可提奥并不欣赏他的画
Admiration certainly didn’t come from Theo,
而文森特的朋友 也是艺术家
or from Vincent’s friend and fellow artist,
安东·梵赖泼德也觉得难以认同
one Anthon van Rappard.
我亲爱的朋友
My dear friend!
安东·梵赖泼德 艺术家
幸好这不是你最佳的作品
You can do better than this, fortunately.
后面那个女人伸出的风♥骚♥的小手
That coquettish little hand of that woman at the back,
多么失真啊
how untrue!
这个咖啡壶 桌子和放在壶把上的手
And what connection is there between the coffeepot,
他们之间
the table
有什么联♥系♥呢
and the hand lying on top of the handle?
说起来 这壶怎么会摆在那儿
What’s that pot doing, for that matter?
既不是放在桌上
It isn’t standing,
又没人拿着它
it isn’t being held,
那是怎么回事
but what then?
为什么看不到左边男人的膝盖
And why may that man on the left not have a knee,
也不见腹部和胸部
or a belly or lungs?
还是都画在背面了
Or are they in his back?
他的手臂为什么会短一截
And why must his arm be a metre too short?
他的鼻子为什么少画一半
And why must he lack half of his nose?
你就这么作画
With such a manner of working,
还敢提到米勒的大名
you dare to invoke the name of Millet?
真受不了
Come on!
以我之见 艺术很重要 不该如此
Art is too important, it seems to me, to be treated so
轻慢地对待
cavalierly.
但或许梵赖泼德没有看到重点
But perhaps van Rappard had missed the point.
我希望人们说起我的作品
I want people to say of my work,
会说我的体会很深刻 我的感觉很敏锐
that man feels deeply, that man feels subtly,
尽管画作有所谓的粗糙感
despite my so-called coarseness
或许正因如此才会有这种感觉
or perhaps precisely because of it.
你懂吗
Do you understand?
我现在说这话显得有些矫情
It seems pretentious to talk like this now,
可正因为如此我才想努力坚持下去
but that’s why I want to push on!
《吃土豆的人》显示了
The Potato Eaters demonstrates the
梵高的艺术造诣达到的程度
level of accomplishment van Gogh had reached in his art,
不要忘了 他开始作画仅有四年时间
and remember, he’d only been painting for four years.
这是他第一次
It was also the first and
也是唯一一次画群像
the last time he ever did a group portrait.
但对梵高的杰作嗤之以鼻的评论
But the contemptuous critique of van Gogh’s masterpiece
并不是梵赖泼德信中唯一的主题
wasn’t the only matter featured in van Rappard’s letter.
你父亲过世的消息令人措手不及
The news of the death of your father came so unexpectedly
我很想有进一步的了解
that I very much wanted some further message,
但你并没多写
which didn’t come, however.
你以为我对你父亲漠不关心
Did you think that I had so little interest in your father
即使发生这样令人心痛的事 写几句过场话
that a polite formula to announce something so affecting
对我来说就足够了吗
was enough for that interest?
在那个时期的信件中
Vincent hardly mentions the