美国国家公共电台 NPR 'The Face Of Britain' Tells A Nation's History Through Portraits

'The Face Of Britain' Tells A Nation's History Through Portraits 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0007:51repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

Portraiture², according to Simon Schama, is the least free of painterly genres³. He writes, (reading) no rose will complain of excessive petal-droop in a still life. No cheese will take you to task over inaccurate⁴ veining⁵. But portraiture is answerable as no other specialty⁶ to something lying beyond the artist's creativity. That something is the sitter paying the bill. Schama, who is a professor of both history and art history, has written 500 often very entertaining pages called "The Face Of Britain."

It's about the faces immortalized in Britain's National Portrait Gallery and the stories behind the paintings. Simon Schama, welcome, once again.

SIMON SCHAMA: Thank you, Robert.

SIEGEL: First, after your immersion⁷ in hundreds of portraits, people who knew power, love, fame, notoriety, what essential truth about the portrait did you come away with?

SCHAMA: Well, I think it has an extraordinary power beyond its beginnings in vanity or self-congratulation. All portraits are really, or most of them, are triangular⁸ relationships because quite apart from a person saying, now, do me at my finest and the artist saying, we'll see about that, sunshine, there is the public - people other than you who'll be looking at it. So very unusually for a work of art, it's an active collaboration⁹. And things can go swimmingly.

That collaboration can produce a kind of enriched image of truly hypnotic power or things can go terribly wrong.

SIEGEL: One of my favorite chapters in your book is the one devoted¹⁰ to David Garrick, the 18th century Shakespearean actor - such a Shakespearean you call him a Bardolater - and especially the painting of him playing Richard III, the painting by William Hogarth. How important was Garrick as a public figure?

SCHAMA: Garrick was extraordinary because he was an overnight star. And the word star was actually used for the very first time. And the public, who had been used to watching Shakespeare being declaimed in a very grandly portentous¹¹ kind of way, were very surprised to see this small man, this very nimble, athletic¹² man, apparently¹³ speak the lines of something as grandly rhetorical as Richard III. So Garrick himself had the sense in which if he was going to make it as a young man, he needed people to know who he was as a personality.

So he went into partnership¹⁴ with a brilliant artist who had a very strong sense of theater, William Hogarth. And before long, there was an enormous painting of Garrick at an extraordinary moment, the moment of Richard III's comeuppance, when he has a bad night and is visited by the ghosts of his many victims. And it was all very well to do this as an extraordinary, huge painting, much bigger than anything else Hogarth did. Hogarth always knew that it was going to become a print.

And once you put that star moment into a print, it could circulate all around the country. And Garrick became, overnight, a sensation. And it was due entirely¹⁵ to the manufacture of his portrayed¹⁶ image.

SIEGEL: You write this wonderful description of David Garrick's eyebrows¹⁷. You write, (reading) one more arched than the other, they were themselves a theater company of two, those eyebrows - tragedy and comedy, sorrow and slapstick, dancing on the stage of his face.

SCHAMA: Yes, it was one of my more understated passages...

(LAUGHTER)

SCHAMA: ...As usual. It's a subject so rich that you do, as a writer, dangerously fall in love both with artist and with the portrayed. And there is something very odd and paradoxical. We think of sitting for the portrait as a torment¹⁸, that you have to sit still. And as you sit still, of course, your face and your body freezes. So actually, the challenge for a really great artist who wants to embody¹⁹ vitality²⁰, and it was essential in the story we've been talking about, in Garrick, is somehow to unfreeze that personality, to unlock it from a kind of rictus position.

That really does bring out the best, actually, whether it's a photographer or a painter. The picture of Churchill that everybody out there, I think, knows, the bulldog warrior²¹ scowling²² - right? - was actually taken by an extraordinary photographer in Canada. Churchill did not want to have his photograph taken. He'd just given a long speech to the Canadian Parliament in the middle of the war. He was ill and he was tired. He comes into a room at the end of the speech.

And the photographer goes over to Churchill and does something extraordinary. He takes the lit cigar out of Churchill's mouth. And that produced the famous look of bulldog fury. And as I say, we think of this as the expression of a man who is determined²³ to see the war through to the end. But it was actually the expression of a man who's had his cigar confiscated²⁴.

SIEGEL: (Laughter) This was the photographer Yousuf...

SCHAMA: Yes.

SIEGEL: ...Karsh who did that. But you begin your book, actually, with the description of a portrait that does not and cannot hang in the National Portrait Gallery in London because it doesn't exist anymore. And this was...

SCHAMA: You're giving the game away. Yes, but that's all right. It doesn't...

SIEGEL: Graham Sutherland's 1954 portrait of Winston Churchill 13 years later. He's been prime minister twice. He's going to be honored by this grand portrait. He sits for one of the trendiest painters in Britain and...

SCHAMA: Yes, Graham Sutherland. It's his 80th birthday. It's going to be the moment when the nation, in the shape of Parliament, is going to thank him for saving the country during the war. And Parliament indeed picks this fashionable and rather brilliant portraitist. And then they have a kind of testy²⁵ relationship. It's a testy relationship because Churchill, you'll remember, is himself a painter. So Churchill thinks of it as a partnership. But he has certain political issues that are desperately²⁶ important to him.

Unbeknownst to the country, he'd had a stroke a few months before. And because he had a stroke, his own party, the Conservatives, were very keen to get him out of the door in time for the next election. Churchill accepted but he kept on thinking of reasons why he didn't want to go. So when portrait time happened, he wanted a version of himself where he was still in the full prime of his veteran power - an old man but a perpetually energetic man. And what he got from Sutherland, as became quickly apparent, was a portrait of a magnificent ruin, as I say.

And he said, I don't want this presented to me. But the ceremony had to go ahead. And it was a shocking moment. Churchill very stagily got his revenge by facing this huge audience, a television audience as well as the audience in Westminster Hall, and saying, this is a very remarkable²⁷ example - heavy pause - of modern art. And everybody fell about laughing except for the poor artists, who felt destroyed by the moment.

SIEGEL: Modern art, at the moment, not a positive or even neutral phrase...

SCHAMA: That's right, Churchill knew exactly what he was doing. But this wasn't good enough because when the portrait was given to the family, it was not long before they put it on a bonfire and burnt it.

SIEGEL: So what you have is a picture, a photograph...

SCHAMA: We have a slide...

SIEGEL: ...Of the painting...

SCHAMA: We have a slide, which, for me, shows that it was - if it had survived, it would have been one of the grandest and most expressive²⁸ and moving portraits ever done of a statesman, I think.

SIEGEL: Simon Schama, thank you very much for talking.

SCHAMA: It's a pleasure.

SIEGEL: Simon Schama's book is called "The Face Of Britain: The Nation Through Its Portraits."

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 portraiture   

n.肖像画法

参考例句：

• I am going to have my portraiture taken.我请人给自己画张肖像。
• The painting of beautiful women was another field of portraiture.人物画中的另一个领域是仕女画。

3 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

4 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

5 veining   

n.脉络分布；矿脉

参考例句：

• Art is a mirror reflects the era veining of the current society.艺术是社会的镜子，反映出当今社会的时代脉络。
• It retraces the four periods of our culture industry to make clear its development veining.通过对我国文化产业发展四个阶段的回顾，以期厘清其发展脉络。

6 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

7 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

8 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

9 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 portentous   

adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的

参考例句：

• The present aspect of society is portentous of great change.现在的社会预示着重大变革的发生。
• There was nothing portentous or solemn about him.He was bubbling with humour.他一点也不装腔作势或故作严肃，浑身散发着幽默。

12 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

18 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

19 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

20 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

21 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

22 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

23 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

24 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

25 testy   

adj.易怒的；暴躁的

参考例句：

• Ben's getting a little testy in his old age.上了年纪后本变得有点性急了。
• A doctor was called in to see a rather testy aristocrat.一个性格相当暴躁的贵族召来了一位医生为他检查。

26 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

27 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

28 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。