梵高：画语人生（2010）

文森特几乎没怎么提到他父亲过世的事
death of his father in the letters of the time,
虽然两人关系紧张
but despite the difficulties of their relationship,
但此事还是给他很大震动
he was nevertheless affected by the news.
愿你安息
提奥德洛斯·梵高
生于1822年2月8日
卒于1885年3月26日
纽南的牧师和教师
1882年至1885年
我亲爱的提奥
My dear Theo,
这突来的变故还萦绕在我的心头
I’m still very much under the impression of what has just happened.
过去的两个周日我一直在作画
I just kept painting these two Sundays.
他画下了他父亲的圣经
And he painted his father’s Bible.
我给你寄去了一幅静物
I’m sending you a still life
是一本打开的灰白的圣经
of an open, hence an off-white, Bible,
皮面装订 背景是黑色的
bound in leather, against a black background.
这幅画我一天就画完了
I painted this one in a single day.
我想让你看到 我说过或许
This is to show you that when I say that perhaps I haven’t
我的辛劳工作也不是一无所成
grafted entirely for nothing,
那是真心话
I mean it.
引人注目的是
And, tellingly,
文森特在他父亲的圣经旁边
Vincent placed next to his father’s Bible
放置了一本法国小说家埃米利·左拉的书
a book by the French novelist Emile Zola,
左拉以记录工人阶级
the supreme chronicler
饱受的压♥迫♥和折磨而闻名于世
of the oppressed and tormented working class.
文森特觉得跟左拉意气相投
Vincent saw in Zola a kindred spirit,
对艺术的社会性
embracing the social purpose of art
和用艺术解读现实都欣然接受
as well as the artistic interpretation of reality.
左拉在《生之趣》和《小酒店》
Zola, in La Joie De Vivre and L’Assommoir,
还有其他很多杰作中
and so many other masterpieces,
把我们对生活的感受描写了出来
paint life as we feel it ourselves and
这样就满足了我们
thus satisfies that need which we have,
想要了解真♥相♥的需要
that people tell us the truth.
我读了不少左拉的作品 益处多多
Read lots of Zola, it’s healthy stuff
如醍醐灌顶
and clears the mind.
他接下来的旅程
The next part of his journey
将把他带入艺术世界的中心
would take him to the epicentre of the art world,
而把荷兰远远抛在身后
leaving the Netherlands far behind him.
1886年2月 文森特来到了巴黎
Vincent arrived in Paris in February 1886,
而此时艺术界正在发生转变
when the art scene was in transition.
印象派已经称霸十多年了
Impressionism had already been dominant for over a decade,
但现在大家在寻找新的东西
but now the hunt was on for something new.
不知怎么 他终于想通了
Somehow, he finally understood that to
想要成为被人认可的艺术家
be taken seriously as an artist,
他必须得来巴黎
he had to come to Paris.
可是他事先并没通知提奥
However, he didn’t bother to inform Theo
直到他到了巴黎
until he’d already arrived,
才给他送了张便条 约在卢浮宫正厅见
sending him a note to meet him in The Louvre in the Salle Carree,
欧洲大♥师♥的作品都在那里挂着
where the great European masters were hung,
其中就有伦勃朗和德拉克罗瓦的作品
the Rembrandts and Delacroixs.
文森特打算完全沉浸在
Vinsent intended to immerse himself
城市的艺术生活里
in the artistic life of the city,
与提奥一同搬到蒙马特区
and moved to Montmartre with Theo,
勒皮克街45号♥这栋房♥子里
into this house at 54 Rue Lepic.
所幸的是 我们在新家一切都好
Fortunately, we’re doing well in our new home.
你会认不出文森特的 他变化很大
You’d no longer recognise Vincent, he’s changed so much,
对此 其他人比我还要吃惊
and that strikes others even more than me.
他做了一个口腔的大手术
He has had a major operation on his mouth,
因为他胃不好
for he had lost almost all his teeth
导致牙都要掉光了
because of the poor state of his stomach.
医生说他现在已经完全恢复了
The doctor says he is now completely recovered.
他的绘画有了极大的进展
He’s making tremendous progress with his work,
而能证明这一点的就是他开始有所成就了
and proof of that is that he is starting to make a success of it.
文森特进入了艺术家费南德·科尔蒙的画室
Vincent enrolled at the studio of the artist Fernand Cormon,
在那里他结交了当时不少有抱负的艺术家
where he befriended many of the aspiring artists of the day,
包括图卢兹·洛特雷克
including Toulouse Lautrec,
就是图上坐在左边的人
sitting here on the left,
而一般认为 他旁边举着调色盘的就是文森特
with, reputedly, Vincent beside him holding the palette.
他画了三个月的石膏模型
But he became bored and frustrated
觉得厌倦又失意 于是他离开了
after three months working from plaster casts, so he left.
说起我自己的作品
What I think about my own work
就是那幅我在纽南画的
is that the painting of the peasants eating the potatoes
农民吃土豆的画 毕竟那是我最好的作品
that I did in Nuenen is, after all, the best thing I did.
总之 我想做到的
What I hope to achieve,
是画一幅好的肖像画
is to paint a good portrait, anyway.
他在荷兰大♥师♥伦勃朗身上寻求灵感
For inspiration, he turned to the Dutch master Rembrandt,
伦勃朗画了九十余幅自画像
who painted more than 90 self portraits
作画时间从他开始绘画
from the outset of his career
直到他1669年去世
to the year of his death in 1669.
伦勃朗画过天使
So, Rembrandt painted angels.
他把自己画成老头的样子
He paints himself as an old man,
满脸皱纹 牙掉光了 戴着一顶白帽子
wrinkled, toothless, wearing a white cap.
一开始 是对着镜子写生
First, painting from life in the mirror,
后来他想得出神
he dreams,
在恍惚间 他的画笔又开始给他画像了
dreams, and his brush begins to paint his own portrait again,
但却是凭记忆
but from memory,
他的表情变得哀伤了
and his expression is sadder,
越来越哀伤
and more saddening.
就我而言 因为时运不济
For my own part, my fortunes dictate that
我老得很快 就要变成小老头了
I’m making rapid progress in becoming a little old man myself.
但那又如何
But what does that matter?
我从事着一项困难又脏兮兮的职业
I have a dirty and difficult occupation,
绘画
painting.
文森特也开始画自画像
Vincent started his self portrait series
他使用的是他习惯的暗褐色调
with the dark brown colours he’d been accustomed to.
但逐渐的 他的用色和笔法有了改变
But gradually, his colour and brushwork changed,
这是受了他在身边看到的一种
as he came under the influence of the new art
新艺术形式的影响
that he saw around him.
他的画作变得明快也更斑斓了
The paintings become lighter and more colourful.
我想展现出一个人
My intention is to show that a variety of
能画出风格迥异的肖像画
very different portraits can be made by the same person.
未来的画家
The painter of the future
该是前无古人的配色师
is a colourist as there has never been before.
他还没卖♥♥掉任何画
He hasn’t yet sold any paintings for money,
但却用自己的作品与别人的画作交换
but exchanges his work for other paintings.
他还结识了一个人
He also has acquaintances from whom
那人每周给他送来一束鲜花
he receives a beautiful delivery of flowers every week
让他拿来作画用
that can serve him as a model.
我画了一些列以花为主题彩色习作
I’ve made a series of colour studies in painting simply flowers,
想要画出蓝色和橙色 红色和绿色
seeking oppositions of blue with orange, red and green,
黄色和紫色的对比
yellow and violet,
想用不协调的中性色调
seeking the broken and neutral tones
来协调强烈的反差
to harmonise brutal extremes.
他比以前快乐多了
He’s also much more cheerful than before,
他跟这里的人也处得很好
and he goes down well with the people here.
就比如说 几乎每天他都会应邀
To give you an example, hardly a day passes without him being
去走访哪位知名画家的画室
invited to visit the studios of painters of repute,
要么就有别人来看望他
or people come to him.
勒皮克街
在离里勒皮克街
Just a few minutes’ walk from Rue Lepic,
和煎饼磨坊不远处
and from Le Moulin de la Galette,
煎饼磨坊是做成磨坊样子的酒吧舞厅
a bar and dance hall masquerading as a windmill,
文森特很喜欢画它
which Vincent loved to paint,
是皮埃尔·唐吉的绘画用品店
was Pere Tanguy’s art supply shop.
皮埃尔·唐吉
这个地方
This place
成了巴黎艺术家们的聚集地
became the hub for the whole community of Parisian artists,
他们在这里聚会 交谈
who would gather and gossip
用他们的画作
and exchange their pictures
去交换由皮埃尔·唐吉提供的作画材料
for materials supplied by Pere Tanguy,
也就是传奇的先锋派之父
the legendary father figure of the avant garde.
保罗·塞尚
Paul Cezanne,
译注: 法国后印象派画家
埃德加·德加
Edgar Degas,
译注: 法国印象派画家 雕塑家