(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Faith Lapidus. And I'm Bob Doughty with People in America in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about the famous artist Jackson Pollock who helped redefine modern art in the United States.
Pollock invented a new kind of painting that changed the way the world looked at art. Until the twentieth century, most paintings were representational. This means that artists "represented" their subjects in a way that was realistic and recognizable. However, during the first half of the twentieth century, artists like Jackson Pollock started to explore other methods of representation.
When he first began painting, Jackson Pollock painted representational objects such as people and animals. However, he is famous for helping to create a whole new art movement called Abstract Expressionism.
An "abstract" image is one where the subject is not represented realistically. Instead, the artist uses color and shapes to suggest the most general qualities of the subject. "Expressionism" is a kind of art that expresses feelings and thoughts. Abstract Expressionism is art that shows emotions and ideas through non-representational forms. In Pollock's most famous works, there is no recognizable subject. His art works are large surfaces of canvas completely covered in different colors of paint. However, Pollock did not start out as a revolutionary painter. He developed the artistic process he became famous for over many years.
Jackson Pollock was born in Cody, Wyoming in nineteen twelve. He grew up in the states of Arizona and California. Pollock later said that the wide-open land of these western areas greatly influenced his expansive artwork. In nineteen thirty he moved east to New York City where he studied at the Art Students League. There, Pollock spent a few years studying with the artist Thomas Hart Benton who painted images of every day American life. Pollock's early works are similar to his teacher's kind of painting. However, Pollock slowly left this traditional art education behind.
Pollock's work had many other influences. For example, he liked a group of Mexican painters who made murals. Murals are large images that the artists paint directly onto a wall. Some of these painters were working in New York City in the nineteen thirties, so Pollock was able to see them work. Pollock borrowed several methods and ideas from these artists. They included the use of large canvases, the method of freely applying paint and honoring old and new traditions. Pollock was also influenced by the Spanish artist Miro. Miro was part of a movement of surrealist painters.
Surrealist artists thought that true art comes from a part of the mind called the unconscious. The unconscious controls the area of the mind that produces dreams.
Pollock agreed with these artists that the unconscious mind was an important force in creating art.
Also, when he was in his late twenties, Pollock suffered a mental breakdown. It was caused in part by depression and dependence on alcohol. As a result, he was treated by a Jungian psychoanalyst.
This is a special kind of expert in emotional health who works to understand the unconscious mind, dreams, and emotions. Pollock was influenced by this kind of investigation of human relations and emotions. This "inside world" would become the subject of his paintings. In nineteen forty-four, Pollock married Lee Krasner who was also a skilled Abstract Expressionist painter.
The next year they moved to East Hampton, a small town on Long Island in the state of New York.The couple wanted to get away from the busy life of New York City. In this country environment they could enjoy nature and have more time to work on their art. Next to their house Pollock set up a studio building where he could create his artwork. In this large studio Pollock created the paintings that would make him famous. During these years Jackson Pollock started to paint in a completely new way. He created art that was very physical. In fact, his method is sometimes called "action painting".
Most artists painted on a surface that stood upright or vertical. But Pollock put his large canvases on the floor so that he could move around all four sides of his work. He also used very liquid paints so that he could easily drop the paint onto his canvases. This "dripping" method allowed him to make energetic works. His paintings are explosions of curving lines, shapes and colors. In his art you can see every movement that his arm made. You can see how he had to move his body around the canvas. Videos of Pollock painting show this process, which looks like a painterly dance. Unlike other artists, Jackson Pollock did not plan the way he wanted his paintings to look.
Many artists plan their works by making small drawings before painting. Pollock developed what he called a "direct method," applying the paint directly onto an empty canvas. He painted by following his immediate thoughts and emotions. Pollock combined careful movement with exact color and line. Though his paintings appear accidental, they required careful control. As Pollock said, he wanted to create art that was a visual representation of the motion and energy of his "inside world."
He was once asked why he did not paint pictures of objects people could identify. He answered that if you wanted to see a flower, you could go look at a real one. He said that what interested him was not outside objects. Pollock's works were both praised and criticized. His paintings were in several shows in galleries in the middle nineteen forties. However, Pollock did not produce his fully abstract "drip" paintings until later. In nineteen-fifty, the public saw these works at Betty Parson's Gallery in New York.
Some art critics said this was one of the best shows of the year and that Pollock was one of the greatest painters in America. Others did not understand his work. One critic said that Pollock's art showed chaos -- complete disorder without any method. Today, Pollock's works sell for millions of dollars. But only one painting sold at this show. It was a famous work called "Lavender Mist". This painting now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. "Lavender Mist" represents perfectly what was so interesting about Pollock's work. The canvas is more than two meters tall and almost three meters long. The entire surface is covered in small rivers of white, black, grey, yellow, brown and pink paint. These colors and lines create a painting that is full of visual energy.
Interestingly, there is no lavender, or light purple, color paint in this work.One of Pollock's friends suggested the name because the many other colors of paint created an atmospheric effect that looked like lavender mist. Usually, Pollock would simply name his paintings with a number and a date. He did not want the titles to explain to viewers what to see when they looked at his work. With paintings like "Lavender Mist" Jackson Pollock helped introduce the world to a whole new way of painting and thinking about art. But he did not live very long. He died in a car accident in nineteen fifty-six at the age of forty-four. The home in East Hampton, New York where Jackson Pollock lived with his wife Lee Krasner is now a museum.
At this special place you can see the rooms where these artists lived. Most importantly, you can see the studio where Pollock and Krasner created their work. On the floor of the studio is the evidence of years and years of Pollock's thrown paint. The floor looks just like one of Pollock's paintings. Experts say this museum is a cultural treasure. It is the place where Jackson Pollock helped introduce the world to Abstract Expressionism. Pollock helped break the traditional rules of representation and established America as an important center for modern art.
重点解析
1.redefine 重新定义
Feminists have redefined the role of women.
女权主义者们已重新定义了女性角色。
2.realistic 现实的
Police have to be realistic about violent crime.
警察对暴力犯罪不得不采取务实的态度。
3.be similar to 与…相似
My opinions are similar to his.
我和他的看法相似。
4.unconscious 无意识的
He himself seemed totally unconscious of his failure
他本人似乎对自己的失败全然不知。
5.get away from 避免，摆脱；逃离
She was very anxious to get away from cities and back to nature.
她特别渴望离开城市，回归自然。
6.explosion 爆炸；激增
The study also forecast an explosion in the diet soft-drink market...
该研究还预测低糖软饮料市场将迅猛增长。
参考译文
我是菲丝·拉伯蒂斯。我是鲍勃·道蒂。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们将讲述著名艺术家杰克逊·波洛克的故事，他帮助重新定义了美国的现代艺术。波洛克发明了一种新的绘画形式，改变了世界看待艺术的方式。直到20世纪，多数画作都是具象的，艺术家们用一种现实具象的手法描绘他们的主题。但是在20世纪上半叶，像杰克逊·波洛克这样的艺术家开始探索其它方式的表现手法。最初开始画画的时候，杰克逊·波洛克画那些具象的物体，比如人和动物。但他以帮助开创了一种被称为抽象表现主义的新艺术运动而出名。
“抽象”画并不是以一种现实的手法描绘主题，相反，艺术家利用色彩和形状暗示某种主题最普遍的特质。“表现主义”是一种表达情感和想法的艺术形式。抽象表现主义是一种通过抽象的形式展现情感和想法的艺术。在波洛克多数著名画作中都没有具象的主题。他的画作都是完全被不同颜色的颜料覆盖的巨大画布。但开始的时候波洛克并不是一名革新派的画家。他是在成名多年后才开创艺术过程。
1912年杰克逊·波洛克在美国怀俄明州科迪镇出生，在亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州长大。之后波洛克说这些西部地区宽阔的大地极大地影响了他的作品。1930年他搬到纽约，在那的艺术学生联盟学习。在那里，波洛克花了几年时间和艺术家托马斯·哈特·本顿学习，本顿画的是美国人的日常生活。波洛克早期的作品和他老师的画作很相似。但波洛克慢慢脱离了这种传统的艺术教育。波洛克的作品受到了很多其他影响。例如，他喜欢一群画壁画的墨西哥画家。壁画是艺术家们直接画在墙上的大幅画面。其中一些画家于20世纪30年代在纽约工作，所以波洛克可以去看他们的作品。波洛克从这些艺术家的画中借鉴了一些方法和想法，包括大幅帆布油画的使用、任意运用颜料以及尊重新老传统。
波洛克还受到了西班牙艺术家米罗的影响。米罗是超现实主义画家运动中的一员。超现实主义艺术家认为真正的艺术来自于无意识心理。这种无意识掌控大脑中制造梦境的那一部分。波洛克赞同这些艺术家认为无意识心理是创造艺术中的一个重要力量。在近29岁的时候，波洛克患上了精神崩溃，部分原因是因为抑郁症和酒精依赖。一名格心理学派精神分析师对他进行治疗。这是情感健康专业领域中特殊的一种门派，该门派的工作是了解无意识心理、梦境和情感。波洛克受到了这种对人类关系和情感调查的影响。这种“内心世界”将成为他画作的主题。
1944年，波洛克和李·克拉斯纳结婚，她也是一名经验丰富的抽象表现主义画家。婚后第二年，他们搬到了东汉普顿，一个位于纽约长岛的小镇。两人希望远离纽约繁忙的生活。在这种乡村环境中，他们可以享受自然，有更多时间创作艺术。波洛克在他们房子的旁边搭建了一个工作室，他可以在那里创作艺术。在这间大工作室中，波洛克创作了他的成名之作。在这些年中，杰克逊·波洛克开始以一种完全新式的方法画画。他创作的艺术非常物象。其实，他的方法有时被称为“行动画派”。多数艺术家在直立或垂直的表面上创作，但波洛克将他的大帆布铺在地板上，这样他可以四周移动。他还用液体颜料，这样便可以轻易将颜料滴在他的帆布画上。这种“滴画法”让他创作出了具有活力的作品。他的作品是对曲线、形状和色彩的探索。在他的艺术中，你可以看到他作画时的每个动作。你可以看到他是如何在帆布画周围四处移动。波洛克作画的视频展现了这一过程，看起来像是画家的舞蹈。
和其他艺术家不同，波洛克不会对画作内容进行规划。很多艺术家都在开始绘画前进行小描绘。波洛克开创了一种被他成为“直接方法”的方式，将颜料直接应用在空白的帆布上。他的画是随想随画。波洛克将小心的移动和准确的色彩和线条相结合。虽然他的画作似乎是一种偶然，但它们要求仔细的把控。正如波洛克所说，他想创造一种他“内心世界”情感和能量的视觉表示艺术。
他曾被问及为什么他不画那些人们可以辨别的物体。他回答，如果你想看花，你可以去看真实的花朵。他说让他感兴趣的不是外界的物体。波洛克的作品褒贬不一。20世纪40年代中期，他的画作在艺术馆的几场展览中展出。但波洛克直到后期才完全创作出自己完全抽象的“水滴”画作。1950年，公众在纽约的贝蒂帕尔森画廊看到了这些作品。一些艺术评论家称这是年度最好的作品之一，并称赞波洛克是美国最伟大的画匠之一。其他人看不懂他的作品。一名评论家表示波洛克的艺术展现的是混乱—没有艺术方式的完全混乱。
如今，波洛克的作品卖到了百万美元。但是展览中仅卖出一幅画，这就是著名的《Lavender Mist》。如今这幅画被挂在华盛顿的国家艺术馆中。《Lavender Mist》完美地展现了波洛克作品的有趣之处。这幅帆布画高两米多，长近三米。整幅画被白色、黑色、灰色、黄色、棕色和粉色颜料所覆盖。这些颜色和线条创造出了一幅满是视觉能量的画作。有趣的是，画中没有薰衣草、没有浅紫色颜料。波洛克的一位朋友称起这个名字是因为很多其他颜色的颜料营造出了一种像薰衣草薄雾一样的氛围。
通常，波洛克会以数字和日期命名画作。他不想用这些标题向观众解释要如何看他的画。有了像《Lavender Mist》这样的画，杰克逊·波洛克帮助为世界引入了 一种绘画和思考艺术的全新方式。但他的生命并不长，他在1956年的一场车祸中去世，年44岁。杰克逊·波洛克和妻子李·克拉斯纳在纽约东汉普顿的居所如今成了一家博物馆。在这个特别的地方，你可以看到这些艺术家们居住过的房间。最重要的是，你可以看到波洛克和克拉斯纳创作的工作室。工作室的一楼是波洛克多年废弃画作的证据。这一楼似乎就像是波洛克的一幅画作。专家称这间博物馆是一个文化宝藏。这是杰克逊·波洛克帮助带领世界进入抽象表现主义的地方。波洛克帮助打破了表现手法的传统规则，并将美国打造成了现代艺术的重要中心。
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