喧闹与繁华-艺术宝库-休闲英语-轻松英语-洪恩在线

喧闹与繁华 ——德加与赛马

　　RACE HORSES AND JOCKEYS[1], even more than dancers, occupied Degas throughout his long career as an artist. From 1860s, Degas proceeded to select individual jockeys and rearrange them, to repeat poses and refine[2] them, until this hermetic world lost all connection with the reality of the race track...
　　This diminutive[3] composition[4] of Race Horses, which falls toward the end of the first phase in this development, is immediately distinguished[5] by its

unusual support. It is pastel, and not oil, on panel. Although pastel on panel is not a unique combination, it is extremely rare in Degas's works , and testifies to his continuing pleasure in experimenting with techniques and supports.
　　There is also a lovely variety in the postures of the horses: the three jockeys in the foreground make up[6] a closely linked unit, bound together not only in the interlocking of hooves, but also by the 芭蕾舞

movement of the jockey in lime green, who turns around to catch the eye of his two companions. The serenity of this group contrasts with the rearing horse in the background. The distant church tower with its attendant cluster of buildings and the pathways cutting across the hills, traced in white, create a sort of no-man's land, midway between the race track of Longchamp and the empty, barren[7] hills of the late works.

About the Artist：
　　Degas, Edgar (b. July 19, 1834, Paris, Fr.--d. Sept. 27, 1917, Paris) French artist, acknowledged as the master of drawing the human figure in motion. Degas worked in many mediums, preferring pastel to all others. He is perhaps best known for his paintings, drawings, and bronzes of ballerinas and of race horses.

注释：

1. jockey：这里学习骑师的英文表达方法：jockey，当它作动词时，意义和名词相差很大，表示“欺骗”。例如：He jockeyed Green out of his job.他欺骗了格林，使他失业。

2. refine： fine 是我们非常熟悉的词，在它的前面加上 re- ，构成一个动词 refine，意思是"提炼；使变得文雅"，例如：Reading good books helps to refine one's speech. 读好书可以使语言变得文雅。

3. diminutive： “小”是small ， “非常小”当然是 very small, 如何用一个词表达这个词组的意思呢？这就用得着我们这里碰到的词：diminutive，, 表示：unusually small。

4． composition：我们熟知 composition 是“作文”，它的另一个意义是“著作；作曲，构图”，比如：He played a piano sonata of his own composition. 他弹奏了一首自作的钢琴奏鸣曲。

5. distinguished： distinguish 是“区分、区别”，distinguished 是“能够被区分出来”，一定有它的独到之处，即“突出、著名”的意思。类似的词汇还有：famous , outstanding ，remarkable 。

《赛马》

1885年-1888年作　 [法国] 爱德加·德加

　　有关赛马和骑师的题材在德加的艺术生涯中占据的比例甚至比舞蹈演员的题材还要大。从60年代起，德加就开始着手去选择要描绘的骑师，在构图时，对他们的位置进行重新组合，德加不仅在画面上再现了骑师的姿态而且对他们进行了艺术加工，直到他画中的赛马场面完全脱离了现实中的赛马。
　　这幅小构图的《赛马》描绘的是比赛中第一阶段末尾的情景，由于画家在画中运用了独特的材料而显得非常突出。画家没有野外赛马

用油彩，而是用色粉笔画在画板上。尽管用色粉笔在画板上作画并非是绝无仅有的组合，但这种方法在德加的作品中是极其少见的，同时也证明了德加乐此不疲地对绘画用的材料和技法进行了探索实践。
　　画面中马的姿态各异。前景中的三名骑师构成了一个紧密相连的局部，他们坐骑的马蹄互相交叉在一起，其中的那位穿灰绿色衣服的骑师正在转头去看他的两个同伴，三人之间的联系显得很紧密。前景中三个人的平静安祥同背景中的奔马形成鲜明的对比。画面中远方的教堂塔楼和旁边的从属建筑群以及在山丘上蜿蜒的白色小路，产生出一种人迹罕至的景色，这是画家所画的赛马道和后期作品中荒凉、空旷的山野景色的中间的过渡作品。

画家简介：

　　爱德加·德加，（1894年6月19日--1917年9月27日）法国画家，以描绘动态的人物著称。德加曾尝试用很多不同的材料来作画，色粉笔是他最喜欢用的绘画工具。他的绘画、素描以及有关芭蕾舞演员和赛马的铜雕最为出名。

6. make sth. up： Make sth. Up 可以表达多种含义，在本文中是“组成、合成”的意思，来看一个相同意义的例句：Are all animal bodies made up of cells？所有动物的身体都是细胞组成的吗？

7. barren：是一个贬义的词，用它形容土地时，是“贫瘠的”意思；用它形容树木、花草，则是“不结果，不结实”的意思。我们要好好地保护环境，不然处处都是 barren fields 了。