屠勒斯·劳特雷克
Toulouse Lautrec,
译注: 法国后印象派画家
译注: 法国后印象派画家
乔治·修拉
George Seurat.
他们都来过这里
They all came here.
想想都觉得很不同寻常 这间小屋子
It’s extraordinary to think that this tiny room
曾是一群 大概是有史以来
was the principal gathering place for what is probably
最著名的艺术家的主要的聚会场所
the most celebrated group of artists in history.
不善社交的文森特
Vincent, who was socially awkward,
对这些聚会并不感兴趣
had little appetite for these gatherings
也不喜欢它孕育的竞争氛围
or for the competitive environment it fostered.
但有一位艺术家喜欢他 让文森特另眼相待
But there was one artist who like him stood out from the crowd.
他就是保罗·高更
His name was Paul Gauguin,
译注: 法国后印象派画家
而他与文森特都喜欢日本浮世绘
and he shared with Vincent a passion for Japanese prints.
这种艺术形式
This was the art-form that
在19世纪后期震惊了西方世界
transfixed the western world in the late 19th century.
日本浮世绘绝对是
Japanese prints are certainly the most practical way
理解现在绘画走向的
of getting to understand the direction
最实际的方式
that painting has taken at present.
色彩丰富而明亮
Colourful and bright.
我和提奥收集了上百张
Theo and I have hundreds of them.
一开始 他只是做简单的临摹
At first, he simply started to copy the prints.
広重《龟户梅屋铺》
梵高《梅树开花》
広重《七里渡口》
然后 他开始试着自己创作
Then, he began to experiment with his own work,
在边缘处剪裁物体 并引入鲜明的对角线
cropping objects at the edges and introducing strong diagonals.
同时日本浮世绘也开始作为背景
And Japanese prints started to appear in the background
出现在他几幅画像里
in several of his portraits,
包括这幅皮埃尔·唐吉的画像
including this one of Pere Tanguy.
不过 他在巴黎的其他嗜好却不怎么有益
However, other Parisian indulgences were not so beneficial.
文森特当时大量饮用苦艾酒
Vincent was drinking large amounts of absinthe.
这种波西米亚的生活方式
The bohemian lifestyle
损害了他本已脆弱的健康
was damaging his already fragile health.
而他和提奥的关系也变得十分紧张
And his relationship with Theo was becoming seriously strained.
他身体里就像是住了两个人
It’s as if there are two people in him –
一个 天赋异禀
the one, marvellously gifted,
体贴而温柔
sensitive and gentle,
另一个 自恋而冷漠
and the other, self-loving and unfeeling.
曾经…
There was a time when…
我深爱着文森特 他也是我的挚友
I loved Vincent very much and he was my best friend,
但现在都结束了
but that’s over now.
就他看来 情况似乎更糟
It seems to be even worse, as far as he is concerned,
他不放过任何机会让我知道
for he loses no opportunity to let me see
他鄙视我 见到我就讨厌
that he despises me and that I inspire aversion in him.
这让我在家十分难捱
This makes it almost intolerable for me at home.
再也没人愿意来拜访了
No-one wants to come by any more
因为总会跟他发生口角
because it always leads to rows, and
他又脏又邋遢
he’s so filthy and slovenly
这家里根本无法待客
that the household looks anything but inviting.
文森特不想再跟提奥吵架了
Vincent had had enough of the quarrels with Theo,
也受够了先锋派艺术上的自大
and of the artistic egos of the avant-garde.
出于对乡村平静生活的渴望
Longing for the peace of the countryside,
他于1888年2月离开了巴黎
he left Paris in February 1888
往南 去了普罗旺斯的阿尔勒
and headed south to Arles, in Provence.
我想告诉你
I want to begin by telling you
在我眼中 世界的这一隅
that this part of the world seems to me
像日本一样漂亮 空气清新
as beautiful as Japan for the clearness of the atmosphere
交织的色彩也令人陶醉
and the charm of the colour effects.
日落是淡橘色的
Pale orange sunsets,
田野被照得几乎是蓝色的了
making the fields almost blue.
太阳是璀璨的黄色
Glorious yellow suns.
文森特一到达目的地
Soon after his arrival,
就搬进了拉马丁广场的黄房♥子
Vincent moved into The Yellow House on Place Lamartine,
并立刻着手作画
and set to work at once,
进行试验 他使用的色彩愈发鲜艳了
experimenting with an increasingly vivid palette,
他坚信 这将是他的艺术遗产
convinced that this would be his artistic legacy.
现在我对自己的位置找得更准了
Now that I’ve found my bearings a little more,
我开始看到这里的优势
I’m beginning to see the advantages here.
就我而言 我的身体比在北部时好多了
For myself, I’m in better health here than in the north.
我甚至大中午在麦田里作画
I even work in the wheat fields at midday,
烈日当空 也没有荫凉
in the full heat of the sun, without any shade whatever,
我就待在那儿
and there you are,
像蝉一样怡然自得
I revel in it like a cicada.
要是我二十五岁时就发现这里多好啊
If only I’d known this country at 25,
而不是三十五才到了这里
instead of coming here at 35, but
可那时我…
then I was
一心喜欢灰色 或者说就不怎么喜欢用颜色
enthusiastic about grey, or rather, absence of colour.
可这里太美了
Ah, but this!
我在这儿不需要看日本浮世绘
I don’t need Japanese prints here,
我对自己说 我就在日本呢
because I’m always saying to myself I’m in Japan.
我想画日本风格的画
I’d like to do drawings in the style of Japanese.
现在只能趁热打铁
I can’t do anything but strike while the iron’s hot.
我希望今年能有真正的进步
I hope to make real progress this year,
我真的很需要进步
which I really need to do.
然而 终日作画对他造成了伤害
However, working alone for days on end took its toll,
他的情绪陷入低谷
and depression set in.
从信中明显能看出
From the letters, it’s clear
他患上了躁郁症
that he was suffering from bipolar disorder.
1888年7月5日
我很多天没跟人说话了
So many days pass without me saying a word to anyone
除了点菜和要咖啡
except to order supper or a coffee.
从一开始就这样
It’s been like that from the start.
对我来说 让我不安的是一个人这么长时间独处
For my part, it worries me to spend so much time by myself,
孤独一人
alone.
文森特梦想着建立一个艺术家聚居地
Vincent dreamed of establishing an artists’ colony,
他称其为”南方画室”
a “Studio in the South”, as he called it,
在这里艺术家能在一种学院的氛围中合作
where artists could work together in a collegiate culture,
而不像他离开的那个剑拔弩张的巴黎艺术世界
unlike the more combustible Parisian art world he’d left behind.
高更住在布列塔尼
Gauguin is in Brittany,
但他的肝病又犯了
but has again suffered an attack of his liver complaint.
我希望我能在他身边
I wish I were in the same place as him,
或者他来我这里
or he here with me.
我…
My…
亲爱的老朋友 高更
dear old Gauguin.
我刚在阿尔勒租下了一间四室的房♥子
I’ve just rented a four-room house here in Arles.
以我之见
It seems to me that
如果我能找到一位画家
if I could find a painter
也想尽力画下南方的美丽
who wanted to make the most out of the south,
并能像我一样足够专注于他的创作
and who was sufficiently absorbed in his work like me,
有意过僧侣一般的生活
to be inclined to live like a monk,
忙于作画而不浪费时间
bound up in his work and not inclined to waste his time, then
那该会很不错
the thing would be very good.
保罗·高更 艺术家
“你每月得给我弟弟一幅画
“And you would give my brother one painting a month,
-而其他的…” -则随你处置
– while you’d be free…” – to do whatever you liked with the rest.
怀着与高更同住在一个画室里的希望
In the hope of living in a studio with Gauguin,
我想装饰一下画室
I’d like to do a decoration for the studio.
只用大向日葵来妆点
Nothing but large sunflowers.
我还画了一张我卧室的画
I also did a canvas of my bedroom
你知道屋里摆着白木的家具
with the whitewood furniture that you know.
我觉得这样不加修饰地画出室内布景很有趣
It amused me enormously doing this bare interior.
我想像彩色玻璃那样给它上色
My aim was to give it colours like stained glass,
用实线勾画轮廓
and a design of solid outlines.
可惜高更延迟了旅程
Unfortunately, Gauguin procrastinated,
所以文森特等待着
so Vincent bided his time,
决心专注于他的作画
determined to focus on his work
为伟大的画家的到来做准备
in preparation for the great man’s arrival –
甚至准备 至少从原则上
even prepared, in principal at least,
削减一些他钟情的爱好
to curtail some of his favourite pursuits.
绘画和到处鬼混是不能相提并论的
Painting and screwing around a lot aren’t compatible –
后者会削弱大脑
it weakens the brain,
这才是令人讨厌之处
and that’s what’s really so dammed annoying.

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