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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Salvador Dali: A Madman That Is Not Mad
When Salvador Dalí was born in 1904 in Figueras, Spain, he was actually the third Salvador Dalí. His father was named Salvador, and he had an older brother, who had died 9 months before Dalí's own birth. Because of the incredibly coincidental dates between the death of the first child and the birth of the second, Salvador Dalí's parents chose to look at the second son as a reincarnation1 of the first. Salvador Dalí was actually told that he was the reincarnation of his dead brother, and Dalí himself admitted that the ghostly memory of this lost sibling1 was to haunt him for the rest of his life. He said in several of his writings that the dualistic2 stresses imposed upon him, that of living both as himself, and his dead brother, caused in him a particular obsession2 with decay and putrefaction33. This is where many of his disturbing images like decaying corpses4, insects began forming. In addition, Dalí was teased by the local schoolchildren, who often threw insects, especially grasshoppers4 at him. The grasshopper5 became a distinct symbol of revulsion5 and horror for Dalí, especially during his Surrealist6 period. Thus it can be said that the events of Dalí's first 7 years of life profoundly influenced his psyche67 and thus his destiny.
Dalí began painting in earnest at about the age of 10. Most of the works done by Dalí as a young teenager were of the landscape surrounding Figueras. In 1917, Dalí's father arranged a small exhibition of his son's charcoal78 drawings at their home. It was to be the first of many occasions in which people would marvel8 at the wonder of Salvador Dalí's abilities.
At the time that Dalí's mother died in 1921, Dalí thought of himself mainly as a Impressionist9 painter. Although Dalí's father remarried his late wife's sister soon thereafter, this was a turbulent time for Dalí , as he struggled to form his own adult identity away from that of his family, and especially his father. Soon thereafter, in 1922, Dalí was accepted at the Special School of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving9, also known as the Academia de San Fernando, in Madrid.
Once he passed the entrance exams, Dalí moved into the Residencia de Estudiantes (the student dormitories) where he was destined10 to meet with other great young minds of his time. It was in about 1923 that Dalí first started to experiment with cubism10, often locked away in the seclusion1111 of his own room. When his peers discovered him secretly at work on the Cubist paintings, he instantly became of a campus personality, vaulting12 from standard membership to a leader of an avant-garde group of young Spanish intellectuals.
In 1926 Dalí was expelled from the San Fernando Academy, because of his refusal to take his final oral exams. When told that the final exam topic would be about Raphael13, Dalí exclaimed that he knew much more about the subject than did his examiners, and thus he refused to take the test. His expulsion14 adds an interesting twist to his story that the most influential13 Surrealist painter of our time never actually obtained a formal art degree.
It was in 1928 that Dalí first obtained true international exposure, when his oil painting Basket of Bread was shown at the Carnegie International Exposition in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. This photo realistic work is a fine example of Dalí's mastery over yet another artistic14 style. Painting in the beautiful and so real style of the Dutch masters, works like the paintings of Jan Vermeer15 heavily influ enced Dalí as he was maturing.
In 1929, two things happened to Salvador Dalí that hastened him down the path to greatness. First was his chance meeting with Gala Éluard in 1929 in Cadaqués. She was at that point the wife of the famous French poet, Paul Éluard16, but as soon as she and Dalí met, they became inseparable. The other important event was that Dalí decided15 to formally join the Paris Surrealists in this same year. In January, he met with Luis Bunuel in Figueras to work on a script for the film which would eventually be known as Un chien andalou (An Andalusian Dog). He also had his first one man show in Paris at Goeman's Gallery, and was soon on his way to the top. However, there was a price to pay for all this success. Disapproving16 of his relationship with Gala, Dalí's father threw him out of the house, starting an estrangement1717 that would last almost 30 years before being healed.
With no income to support them, Gala and Dalí moved into a small shack1818 in a small village called Port Ligat, to the north. There they spent many secluded19 hours together, as Dalí churned out19 paintings which could be sold to support them. In 1937 Dalí visited Italy and adopted a more traditional style; this together with his political views (he was a supporter of General Franco20) made Dalí expelled from the Surrealist Group of Paris.
Of all the Surrealism achievements, there is one that stands out above all the others. The Paranoiac2021 Critical Method was a sensibility, or way of perceiving reality that was developed by Salvador Dalí. It was defined by Dalí himself as “irrational21 knowledge” based on a “delirium2222 of interpretation23.” More simply put, it was a process by which the artist found new and unique ways to view the world around him. It is the ability of the artist or the viewer to perceive multiple images within the same configuration2423. The concept can be compared to Max Ernst's24 frottage25 or Leonardo da Vinci's26 scribbling2527 and drawings. As a matter of fact, all of us have practiced the Paranoiac Critical Method when gazing at stucco28 on a wall, or clouds in the sky, and seeing different shapes therein. Dalí elevated this uniquely human characteristic into his own artform.
Dalí, though not a true paranoid, was able to simulate a paranoid state, without the use of drugs, and upon his return to “normal perspective” he would paint what he saw and envisioned therein.
Dalí was able to create what he called “hand painted dream photographs” which were physical, painted representations of the hallucinations29 and images he would see while in his paranoid state. Although he certainly had his own load of mental problems to bear, it can be said that Dalí's delusions26 and paranoid hallucinations did not totally dominate his mind, as he was able to convey them to canvas with his miraculous27 skill. It is in this context that one of Dalí's most famous statements takes on a whole new meaning and understanding.
“The only difference between myself and a madman, is that I am not mad!”
Indeed, Dalí used his very Paranoiac Critical Method to enter alternate levels of reality, in which his perceptions were markedly different from everyday reality. His Surreal training had served him well, but paintings like Slave Market with Disappearing Bust28 of Voltaire 1940, showed that he was quickly outgrowing29 even their influence. He was developing a style totally unique that would become a watershed3030 event in art, that of integrating the surreal with the everyday, so as to offer it to everyone.
Dalí moved to the U.S. in 1940, where he remained until 1948. His later paintings, often on religious themes, are more classical in style. Salvador Dalí died on January 23, 1989.
注释:
1.reincarnation [ri:inkB:5neiF(E)n] n.(灵魂的)转世化身;再生化身
2.dualistic [7djU:E5listik] a. 两重性的;二元的
3.putrefaction [7pju:tri5fAkFEn] n. 腐烂(过程);腐败(过程)
4.grasshopper [5^rB:shRpE(r)] n. [昆] 蚱蜢;蝗虫
5.revulsion [ri5vQlFEn] n. 厌恶;强烈反感
6.surrealist [sE5riElist] a. 超现实主义的(一种以下意识、梦幻、本能为创作源泉的文艺流派,由法国作家André Breton于1924年首创)
7.psyche [5psaiki] n. 心灵,精神;自我
8.charcoal [5tFB:kEul] n. 木炭画,炭笔画
9.impressionist [im5preFEnist] a. 印象派的(19世纪末出现于法国的一个艺术流派,注重绘画中对外光的研究和表现,以Claude Monet、Vincentvan Gogh为代表)
10.cubism [5kju:bizm] n.(绘画等的)立方主义,立体主义,立体派(20世纪初出现于法国的一个艺术流派,把物体或人改为几何形或立方块的组合,以Picasso、Braque等为代表)
11.seclusion [si5klu:VEn] n. 隔绝;隐居
12.vault12 [vC:lt] vi.(一跃而)达到特定程度
13.Raphael [5rAfeiEl] 拉斐尔(1483~1520,意大利文艺复兴盛期画家、建筑师,主要作品有梵蒂冈宫中的壁画《圣礼的辩论》和《雅典学派》,其他代表作有《西斯廷圣母》、《基督显圣容》等)
14.expulsion [iks5pQlFEn] n. 驱逐,逐出;开除
15.Jan Vermeer [dVB:n vE5meir] 弗美尔(1632~1675,荷兰风俗画家,亦作肖像及风景画,以善用色彩表现空间感及光的效果著称,作品有《挤奶女工》、《情书》、《站在维吉那琴前的少妇》等)
16. Paul Éluard [eilju:5a:r] 艾吕雅(1895~1952,法国诗人,曾提倡达达主义和超现实主义,第二次世界大战期间参加抵抗运动,1942年加入法国共产党,作品有诗集《诗与真理》、《和德国人会面》等)
17. estrangement [i5streindVmEnt] n. 疏远;隔离
18.shack [FAk] n. 简陋木屋,棚屋
19.churn out [tFE:n] 粗制滥造出
20.Franco [5frB:NkEu] 佛朗哥(1892~1975,西班牙独裁者,长枪党首领,发动反共和政府的叛乱[1936],夺取政权[1939]后,任元首兼大元帅,第二次世界大战中支持德、意法西斯侵略战争)
21.paranoiac [7pArE5nCiAk] a.(似)偏执狂的
22.delirium [di5liriE m] n. 谵妄,说胡语,神志失常
23.configuration [kEn7fi^ju5reiFEn] n. 布局;构形;外形
24.Max Ernst [\: nst] 恩斯特(1891~1976,德裔法国画家和雕刻家、超现实义真实派创始人,使用拓印法和移画印花法进行潜意识创作,作品有《自然历史》、《大树林》等)
25.frottage [5frCtB:V] n. 擦印画法(将纸或画布放在不平的有图形的表面上,通过擦印而拓取艺术图案的技法)
26.Leonardo da Vinci达芬奇(1452~1519,意大利文艺复兴时期画家、雕塑家、建筑师和工程师,在艺术和科学方面均有创造性见解和成就,代表作有壁画《最后的晚餐》、祭坛画《岩下圣母》及肖像画《蒙娜•丽莎》等,著有《绘画论》)
27.scribbling [5skribliN] n. 乱涂;乱画
28.stucco [5stQkEu] n. [建] 粉饰灰泥,灰墁
29.hallucination [hE7lu:si5neiFEn] n. 幻觉;由幻觉产生的形象(或声音等)
30.watershed [5wC:tEFed] n.〈喻〉分水岭;转折点;重要关头
萨尔瓦多•达利:一个没有发疯的疯子
当萨尔瓦多•达利1904年在西班牙菲格拉斯出世时,他实际上已是第三个萨尔瓦多•达利了。父亲名叫萨尔瓦多,他还有个在自己出生前9个月去世的哥哥。由于在第一个孩子死亡和第二个孩子出生的日期之间存在不可思议的巧合,萨尔瓦多•达利的父母将他们的第二个儿子当作了第一个儿子的转世。实际上,达利就被告知自己是死去哥哥的转世,而他也承认对死去兄长幽灵般的记忆一直伴随着他的一生。他在几篇文字中提到,施加在他身上的双重压力,即既要做自己,又要当死去的哥哥,让他产生了对衰败和腐烂的特别痴迷。这就是他画中腐烂的尸体、昆虫这些令人惊恐的形象的成因。另外,达利经常遭到当地学童的捉弄,他们朝他扔昆虫,特别是蚱蜢。蚱蜢成了达利表达厌恶和恐惧的独特象征,特别是在他的超现实主义时期。因而,达利生命头7年的事情可以说对他的心灵产生了巨大影响,从而也决定了他的命运。
达利在10岁左右开始热衷于画画,他10来岁时的画作大多是菲格拉斯周围的风景。1917年,达利的父亲在家举办了一场儿子木炭画的小型展览。萨尔瓦多•达利的才华首次令人们惊叹不已,而以后这样的时刻还多得很。
当达利的母亲1921年去世时,他认为自己基本上已是个印象派画家。虽然他父亲在其后不久就娶了亡妻的妹妹,但对达利来说,这是一段混乱不安的时期,因为他正挣扎着培养自己的成熟个性,以摆脱家庭、特别是父亲的影响。在那之后不久,达利1922年被绘画、雕塑、雕刻专门学院录取,也就是马德里的圣费尔南多美术学院。
达利一通过入学考试,就搬进了学生宿舍。在那里,他注定遇上了他那个时代的其他杰出青年。大约在1923年,达利开始尝试立体派艺术,经常独自锁在屋中。当他的同伴发现他在私下创作立体派绘画时,达利立即变成校园人物,从西班牙一个知识青年先锋派艺术团体的一名普通成员一跃而为它的先导。
1926年,达利被圣费尔南多学院开除,原因是他拒绝参加期末口试。当得知期末考试的话题是拉斐尔时,达利宣称自己对这个话题的了解要比考官多得多,因而拒绝参加考试。开除为他的经历增添了一个有趣的波折:我们时代最具影响的超现实主义画家居然从未获得过正式的艺术学位。
1928年,随着宾州匹兹堡卡内基国际博览会展出了他的油画《面包篮》 (P.25:图1),达利首次获得真正的国际知名度。这一幅相片般现实主义的作品是达利掌握又一种艺术风格的力证。随着达利的成熟,荷兰艺术大师美丽而又逼真的画作,比如像简•弗美尔的作品深深影响着他。
1929年,在萨尔瓦多•达利身上发生的两件事情使他加速迈向伟大。首先是他与加拉•艾吕雅在卡达克斯的偶然相遇。那时她是法国著名诗人保罗•艾吕雅的妻子,但是一遇上达利,他们就变得无法分离了。另一个重要的事件是,同年达利决定正式加入巴黎的超现实主义组织。1月,他在菲格拉斯与路易斯•布奈尔碰头,一起为后来名为《一条安达卢西亚的狗》的电影撰写剧本。他还在巴黎的高曼美术馆举行了首场个人画展,他的事业很快便如日中天。然而,这一切成就也是要付出代价的。因为不满达利与加拉的关系,父亲将他赶出家门,这一隔阂将近30年后才得到化解。
由于收入匮乏,加拉和达利住进了家乡北部名叫波尔•利加特的一个小村庄的一间小木屋。在那里,他们度过了许多离群索居的时光,依靠达利出卖大量粗制的画为生。1937年,达利游历意大利,接受了较为传统的画风;再加上他的政治观点(他是佛朗哥将军的支持者),他被巴黎的超现实主义团体开除了。
在所有的超现实主义成就里,有一项独占鳌头,那就是由达利创造的“偏执狂批判法”。那是一种感觉现实的敏感或方法,达利自己将它定义为基于“谵妄解释”的“非理性认知”。简单来讲,这是达利发现全新独特的视角来观察他周围世界的过程,是这位艺术家或观察者在同一构图中发现多种形象的能力。这一概念能同马克思•恩斯特的擦印画法或达芬奇的信笔而画和素描相媲美。实际上,所有人在注视墙上的灰泥或天空的云朵时都看到了其中不同的形象,就都运用了“偏执狂批判法”。达利将这个人类独有的特点提升为自己的艺术形式。
达利虽然不是真正的偏执狂,但却能够不靠药物的作用模拟偏执狂的状态,一旦回到“正常的视角”,他就能画出在偏执状态下所看到和想像的东西。
达利能够创造他所谓的“手绘的梦幻照片”,这是他在偏执状态中所看到的幻觉和形象的有形的绘画表现。虽然他自己确实受到心理问题的重压,但可以说,达利的妄想和偏执幻觉并没有完全控制了他的理智,因为他能用自己非凡的画技将它们在油画布上表现出来。正是在这个背景之下,达利最著名的一句话才有了全新的意义和理解。
“我和疯子的惟一区别在于我并不疯!”
实际上,达利正是运用“偏执狂批判法”进入了现实另外的层面,他的感知与日常的现实显然不同。他接受的超现实主义训练对他帮助很大,但是,像1940年《和消失的伏尔泰胸像在一起的奴隶市场》(图2)这样的画作表明,达利当时甚至正在迅速超越超现实主义的影响。他正在形成一种完全独特的风格,这种风格成了艺术上的一个分水岭,将超现实与日常经验融合,将它带给每一个人。
达利1940年移居美国并一直待到1948年。达利的晚年作品经常涉及宗教主题,风格趋向古典。萨尔瓦多•达利于1989年1月23日逝世。
1 sibling | |
n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹) | |
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2 obsession | |
n.困扰,无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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3 putrefaction | |
n.腐坏,腐败 | |
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4 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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5 grasshopper | |
n.蚱蜢,蝗虫,蚂蚱 | |
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6 psyche | |
n.精神;灵魂 | |
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7 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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8 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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9 engraving | |
n.版画;雕刻(作品);雕刻艺术;镌版术v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的现在分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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10 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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11 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
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12 vault | |
n.拱形圆顶,地窖,地下室 | |
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13 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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14 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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15 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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16 disapproving | |
adj.不满的,反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
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17 estrangement | |
n.疏远,失和,不和 | |
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18 shack | |
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚 | |
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19 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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20 paranoiac | |
n.偏执狂患者 | |
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21 irrational | |
adj.无理性的,失去理性的 | |
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22 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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23 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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24 configuration | |
n.结构,布局,形态,(计算机)配置 | |
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25 scribbling | |
n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下 | |
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26 delusions | |
n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 );谬见;错觉;妄想 | |
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27 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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28 bust | |
vt.打破;vi.爆裂;n.半身像;胸部 | |
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29 outgrowing | |
长[发展] 得超过(某物)的范围( outgrow的现在分词 ); 长[发展]得不能再要(某物); 长得比…快; 生长速度超过 | |
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30 watershed | |
n.转折点,分水岭,分界线 | |
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