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　　選修6英語(yǔ)課文及翻譯

　　Unit 1 A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING 西方繪畫藝術(shù)的歷史

　　Art is influenced by the customs and of a people. Styles in Western art have changed many times. As there are so many different styles of Western art, it would be impossible to describe all of them in such a short text. Consequently, this text will describe only the most important ones. Starting from the sixth century AD. The Middle Ages(5th to the 15th century AD)

　　During the Middle Ages, the main aim of painters was to represent religious themes. A conventional artistof this period was not interested in showing nature and people as they really were. A typical picture at this time was full of religious symbols, which created a feeling of respect and love for God. But it was evident that ideas were changing in the 13th century when painters like Giotto di Bondone began to paint religious scenes in a more realistic way.

　　The Renaissance(15th to 16th century)

　　During the Renaissance, new ideas and values gradually replaced those held in the Middle Ages. People began to concentrate less on

　　religious themes and adopt a more humanistic attitude to life.At the same time painters returned to classical Roman and Greek ideas about art. They tried to paint people and nature as they really were. Rich people wanted to possess their own paintings, so they coule decorate their superb palaces and great houses. They paid famous artists to paint pictures of themselves, their houses and possessions as well as their activities and achievements.

　　One of the most important discoveries during this period was how to draw things in perspective. This technique was first used by Masaccio in 1428. When people first saw his paintings, they were convinced that they were looking through a hole in a wall at a real scene. If the rules of perspective had not been discovered, no one would have been able to paint such realistic pictures. By coincidence,oil paints were also developed at this time, which made the colours used in paintings look richer and deeper. Without the new paints and the new technique, we would not be able to see the many great masterpieces for which this period is famous. Impressionism(late 19h to early 20th century)

　　In the late 19th century, Europe changed a great deal,from a mostly agricultural society to a mostly industrial one. Many people moved from the countryside to the new cities. There were many new inventions and social changes also led to new painting styles.

　　Among the painters who broke away from the traditional style of painting were the Impressionists, who lived and worke in Paris. The Impressionists were the first painters to work outdoors. They were eager to show how light and shadow fell on objects at different times of day. However, because natural light changes so quickly, the Impressionists had to paint quickly. Their paintings were not as detailed as those of earlier painters. At first, many people disliked this style of painting and became very angry about it. They said that the painters were careless and their paintings were ridiculous.

　　Modern Art(29th century to today)

　　At the time they were created, the Impressionist paintings were controversial, but today they are accepeted as the beginning of what we call “modern art”. This is because the Impressionists encouraged artists to look at their environment in new ways. There are scores of modern art styles,but without the Impressionists, many of these painting styles might not exsist. On the one hand, some modern art is abstract; that is, the painter does not attempt to paint objects as we see them with our eyes, but instead concentrates n certain qualities of the object, using colour, line and shape to represent them. On the other hand, some paintings of modern art are so realistic that they look like photographs. These styles are so different. Who can predict what painting styles there will be in the future?

　　西方的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格經(jīng)歷了多次變革，而中國(guó)藝術(shù)所經(jīng)歷的變革則比較少。藝術(shù)受到人民生活方式和信仰的影響，而中國(guó)，和歐洲不同，它的生活方式在很長(zhǎng)時(shí)期里都是相近的。西方藝術(shù)風(fēng)格多種多樣，在短短的一篇課文里不可能進(jìn)行全面的描述。因此，本文只談從公元5世紀(jì)以來(lái)少數(shù)幾種主要的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格。

　　中世紀(jì)（公元5世紀(jì)到15世紀(jì)）

　　在中世紀(jì)，畫家的主要任務(wù)是把宗教的主題表現(xiàn)出來(lái)。藝術(shù)家們無(wú)意于如實(shí)地展現(xiàn)自然和人物，卻著意體現(xiàn)對(duì)上帝的愛(ài)戴與敬重，因此，這段時(shí)期的繪畫充滿著宗教的信條。到13世紀(jì)時(shí)，情況已經(jīng)開(kāi)始發(fā)生變化，像喬托這樣的畫家們開(kāi)始以一種比較現(xiàn)實(shí)的風(fēng)格來(lái)畫宗教場(chǎng)景。

　　文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期（15世紀(jì)到16世紀(jì)）

　　在文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期，新的思想和價(jià)值觀取代了中世紀(jì)的思想和價(jià)值觀。人們開(kāi)始更多地關(guān)注人而非宗教。畫家們回到了羅馬、希臘的古典藝術(shù)理念上。他們力爭(zhēng)如實(shí)地畫出人物和自然。富人們想為自己的宮殿和豪宅收集藝術(shù)品，他們高價(jià)聘請(qǐng)著名藝術(shù)家來(lái)為自己畫相，畫自己的房屋和其它財(cái)物，以及他們的活動(dòng)和成就。

　　在此期間，最重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)之一就是如何用透視法來(lái)畫出事物。第一個(gè)在繪畫中使用透視法的人是馬薩喬，那是在1428年。當(dāng)人們第一次看到他的畫時(shí)，還以為是透過(guò)墻上的小洞來(lái)觀看真實(shí)的場(chǎng)景，并對(duì)此深信不疑。如果沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)透視法，人們就不可能畫出如此逼真的畫。在文藝復(fù)興對(duì)期，油畫也得到了發(fā)展，它使得色彩看上去更豐富、更深沉。

　　印象派時(shí)期（19世紀(jì)后期到20世紀(jì)初期）

　　19世紀(jì)后期，歐洲發(fā)生了巨大的變化，從以農(nóng)業(yè)為主的社會(huì)變成了以工業(yè)為主的社會(huì)。許多人從農(nóng)村遷入到新城市。有著許多新發(fā)明，還有許多社會(huì)變革。這些變革也自然而然地導(dǎo)致了繪畫風(fēng)格上的變化。在那些突破傳統(tǒng)畫法的`畫家中有生活和工作在法國(guó)巴黎的印象派畫家。

　　印象派畫家是第一批室外寫景的藝術(shù)家。他們想把一天中不同時(shí)間投射到物體上的光線和陰影呈現(xiàn)出來(lái)。由于自然光的變化很快，所以印象派畫家們必須很快地作畫，因此，他們的畫就不像以前那些畫家的畫那樣細(xì)致了。起初，多數(shù)人都討厭這種新式畫法，甚至還怒不可遏。他們說(shuō)這些畫家作畫時(shí)漫不經(jīng)心、粗枝大葉，而他們的作品更是荒謬可笑。

　　現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)（加世紀(jì)至今）

　　在印象派作品的創(chuàng)建初期，它們是存在著爭(zhēng)議的，但是如今已被人們接受而成為現(xiàn)在所說(shuō)的"現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)"的始祖了。如今，現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)風(fēng)格已經(jīng)有好幾十種，然而如果沒(méi)有印象派，那么這許多不同的風(fēng)格就不可能存在。印象派畫家?guī)椭囆g(shù)家甩新的方渙來(lái)觀察環(huán)境與藝術(shù)。有些現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)養(yǎng)砷象的，《祖就是說(shuō),；畫家并不打算把我們眼睛看到的東西如實(shí)地畫出來(lái)，而是集中展現(xiàn)物體的某些品質(zhì)特性，用色彩、線條和形狀把它們呈現(xiàn)出來(lái)。而另一方面，有些現(xiàn)代派的藝術(shù)作品卻是太現(xiàn)實(shí)了，它看上去就像是一張照片。預(yù)言將來(lái)繪畫藝術(shù)的風(fēng)格倒是饒有興趣的一件事。