2024年4月12日发(作者：)

圣才电子书

十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

16. Van Gogh

Although art historians have spent decades demystifying Van Gogh’s legend

①

, they have done little to diminish his vast popularity. Auction prices still soar,

visitors still overpopulate Van Gogh exhibitions, and The Starry Night remains

ubiquitous on dormitory and kitchen walls

②

. So complete is Van Gogh’s global

apotheosis that

③

Japanese tourists now make pilgrimages to Auvers to sprinkle

their relatives’ ashes on his grave. What accounts for the endless appeal of the

Van Gogh myth? It has at least two deep and powerful sources

④

. At the most

primitive level, it provides a satisfying and nearly universal revenge fantasy

disguised as the story of heroic sacrifice to art

⑤

. Anyone who has ever felt isolated

and unappreciated can identify with Van Gogh and hope not only for a spectacular

redemption

⑥

but also to put critics and doubting relatives to shame. At the same

time, the myth offers an alluringly simplistic conception of great art as the product,

not of particular historical circumstances and the artist’s painstaking calculations,

but of the naive and spontaneous outpourings of a mad, holy fool

⑦

. The gaping

discrepancy between Van Gogh’s long-suffering life and his remarkable

posthumous fame remains a great and undeniable historical irony. But the notion

that he was an artistic idiot savant

⑧

is quickly dispelled by even the most glancing

examination of the artist’s letters. It also must be dropped after acquainting

oneself with the rudimentary facts of Van Gogh’s family background, upbringing,

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十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

and early adulthood.

The image of Van Gogh as a disturbed and forsaken artist is so strong that one

easily reads it back into

⑨

his childhood and adolescence. But if Van Gogh had died

at age twenty, no one would have connected him with failure or mental illness.

Instead he would have been remembered

⑩

by those close to him as a competent

and dutiful son with a promising career in the family art-dealing business. He was,

in fact, poised to surpass his father and to come closer to living up to the

much-esteemed Van Gogh name

⑪

.

The Van Goghs were an old and distinguished Dutch family who could trace

their lineage in Holland back to the sixteenth century. Among Vincent’s five uncles,

one reached the highest rank of vice-admiral in the Navy and three others

prospered as successful art dealers. Van Gogh’s grandfather, also named Vincent,

had attained an equally illustrious status as an intellectually accomplished

Protestant minister. The comparatively modest achievements of the artist’s father,

Theodorus, proved the exception, not the rule

⑫

. Although Theodorus was the only

one of grandfather Vincent’s six sons to follow him into the ministry, he faltered as

a preacher

⑬

and could obtain only modest positions in provincial churches. It was

for this reason that Theodorus and his new wife, Anna, found themselves in Groot

Zundert, a small town near the Belgian border. Vincent was born a few years after

their arrival.

Van Gogh enjoyed a relatively uneventful childhood save for the birth of five

siblings (three by the time he was six and two more by his fourteenth year)

⑭

and

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圣才电子书

十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

his attendance at two different boarding schools. In rural Zundert he took long

walks in the Brabant countryside and developed a naturalist’s love of animals and

plants. At his two boarding schools, he excelled at his studies and laid down the

foundation for his lifelong facility in French and English. The family’s decision to

apprentice him at sixteen to Uncle Vincent’s art gallery in The Hague was far from

a nepotistic last resort. Uncle Vincent, called “Cent,” had transformed an art

supply store into a prestigious art gallery and had become a senior partner in

Goupil et Cie., one of the largest art-dealing firms in Europe. Vincent had not better

opportunity for advancement than working at The Hague branch of Goupil’s. And

it was a testament to Vincent’s abilities that the childless “Uncle Cent” took a

paternal interest in him and arranged for his position as Goupil’s youngest

employee

⑮

.

Vincent’s duties progressed from record keeping and correspondence chores

in the back office to dealing, if only in a subordinate way

⑯

, with clients. This

confronts us with the nearly unthinkable image of the “socially competent”

Vincent

⑰

. But such was the case at this stage in his life. The same man whose

eccentricity would one day make young girls scream in fright dressed appropriately

and charmed customers with his enthusiasm for art

⑱

. Vincent also ingratiated

himself with the local artists of The Hague School and earned his colleagues’

respect. Although his status as Uncle Cent’s nephew and protege must have

smoothed his way, Vincent appears to have been genuinely dedicated and effective

at Goupil’s. His boss, Tersteeg, sent home glowing reports

⑲

and after four years at

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十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

The Hague he was promoted to the London branch.

From Van Gogh and Gauguin, by Bradley Collins

【参考译文】

尽管艺术史家们数十年来一直在淡化梵高传奇的神秘色彩

①

，但梵高受欢迎的程度几乎

丝毫未减。梵高画的拍卖价仍然飙升，梵高展的参观者依旧爆满，《星夜》仍是宿舍和厨房

墙壁上少不了的画

②

。梵高在全球被神化，其影响无远弗届

③

，连日本游客现在都去奥维尔

参拜，将亲属的骨灰撒在梵高墓上。为什么梵高神话会经久不衰？这至少有两个深刻且有说

服力的原因

④

。表面上看，梵高神话是一则为艺术英勇牺牲的故事，但它满足的是人性，激

起的是人人皆有的复仇幻想

⑤

。任何一个感到被人冷落、遭人轻视的人，都能与梵高心心相

印，进而希望能像梵高那样有朝一日被人肯定

⑥

，让批评他的人，怀疑他的亲属无地自容。

但同时，梵高神话将伟大艺术的概念呈现得未免过于简单，因而相当诱人，在这个概念里，

伟大的艺术品并非特殊历史环境的产物，也非艺术家精心雕琢的作品，而是一位癫狂的、神

圣的愚者自然流露纯真的结果

⑦

。梵高生前长期饱受磨难，死后却声名卓著，差别如此之大，

无疑是历史上的极大讽刺。有人认为他是只懂艺术、不谙世事的白痴

⑧

。但只要稍看一下这

位艺术家写的信，便会认为此说法站不住脚。而如果再了解一下梵高的家庭背景、他的教养

以及他的青年时代，一定也会放弃这种偏见。

在人们的印象中，梵高是个精神异常，被人遗弃的艺术家，这种根深蒂固的看法自然促

使人们将这些不幸归咎于

⑨

他的童年与青少年。但是梵高若在20岁就离开了人世，那就没

有人会把他与失败或精神疾病联系起来。相反，在接近他的那些人的心目中，他会是

⑩

一个

既能干，又孝顺的好儿子，在家传的艺术品交易生意中颇有前途。他实际上快要超过了他的

父亲，马上就能为颇有声望的梵高家族光耀门楣了

⑪

。

梵高家族是荷兰的名门望族，家史悠久，可以追溯到16世纪。文森特的五个叔伯中，

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圣才电子书

十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

一位官拜军阶最高的海军中将，另外三位是事业有成的艺术品交易商。梵高的祖父(也叫文

森特)则是一位知识渊博的新教牧师，地位同样显赫。相比之下，艺术家的父亲西奥多勒斯

表现平平，在人人出色的家族里算是个例外

⑫

。尽管祖父的六个儿子中，只有西奥多勒斯子

承父业，当了牧师，但他的传教之路却走得跌跌撞撞

⑬

，只能在一些地方教会谋得个普通的

职位。正因如此，西奥多勒斯才携妻子安娜在婚后不久来到格鲁特·曾德特这个靠近比利时

边界的小镇任职。来此数年后，文森特便出生了。

梵高的童年过得很平淡，五个弟妹的出生(6岁时已有三个弟妹，到他满14岁时又添了

两个)

⑭

以及转读两所寄宿学校，算是他平淡生活中不甚平淡的事了。在乡村般的曾德特，

他经常在布拉班特的乡间漫步，培养出了自然主义者对动物和植物的喜爱。在就读两所寄宿

学校期间，梵高学业出色，还为后来扎实的英文和法文打下了基础。因此家里决定让他在

16岁时跟在海牙开画廊的文森特伯伯学徒，便绝非是靠沾亲带故，解决生计的不得已之举。

文森特伯伯(大家都管他叫“森特”)将一个艺术品商店转变成颇有声望的艺术馆，自己也成

了辜比的资深合伙人，而辜比又是欧洲最大几家艺术品交易所中的一家。到辜比的海牙分店

工作，实在是文森特发展事业的最好机遇。自己没有孩子的“森伯伯”将他视如己出，为他

谋得职位，结果他成为辜比最年轻的雇员，足见伯伯看中了他的能力

⑮

。

文森特先是做些业务记录、信件处理之类的办公室杂务，后来就由人带着直接和客户打

交道

⑯

。文森特竟有“社交能力”，这几乎叫人难以置信

⑰

。但那段时期文森特胜任社交确

实不假。正是这同一个文森特，日后有一天将会因孤僻古怪让姑娘们吓得尖叫；可是今日他

却穿着得体，谈起艺术来充满热情，深得客户的喜欢

⑱

。文森特也设法博得本地海牙画派艺

术家的好感，并深得同事的尊重。他是森伯伯的侄子，又是伯伯提携的人，这层关系免不了

使他在事业上走得更顺利，但文森特似乎真的爱上了这一行，在辜比干得颇有成绩。他的上

司传回总部的都是赞赏与夸奖他的话

⑲

，结果他在海牙工作4年后，便升任新职，去伦敦分

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圣才电子书

十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台

店工作了。

(叶子南译)

【翻译要点】

①demystifying可以理解为“揭开其神秘的面纱”“淡化其传奇色彩”“走下神坛”等，

此处应注意，它与spent decades连用，表示过程，因此“淡化其传奇色彩”较为适合。

②原文结构清晰，但翻译时要考虑到英文重形合、汉语重意合的差异，使三个分句表达连贯，

意思明确。如译为“画作卖价仍然不断攀升，画展现场依旧人满为患，从宿舍到厨房，《星

夜》还是无所不在”或“梵高画的拍卖价仍然飙升，梵高展的参观者依旧爆满，《星夜》

也仍是宿舍和厨房墙壁上少不了的画。”

③本句为so…that…结构，说明梵高的全球影响力，但翻译时可灵活处理。将complete在

上下文语境中的意思理解为“无远弗届”，简洁且符合汉语的表达法。将that处理为“连”，

暗示其影响程度。

④Powerful在语境中可解释为having the power to influence or convince，所以可译为

“有说服力的原因”。

⑤本句涉及到两方面的对比，所以的翻译时使用了“表面看”“但”来连接句子成分。根据

句意分析，primitive修饰的是revenge fantasy，也就是人性中的复仇欲望，正是它使

人满足(satisfying)。universal在句中理解为“人人会有的”。

⑥identify with表示“认同”，尤指在情感方面的共鸣，因此，此处可理解为“心心相印”。

另外，句中的redemption虽在宗教中的意义为“救赎”，但在这里的意义实际就是restore

reputation，“恢复名誉”。Spectacular在这里形容其程度大。

⑦这一部分的主要结构为the conception of great art as the product, not of…,but of…，

表示“概念将伟大的艺术品界定为…的结果，而不是…的产物”。alluringly simplistic中，

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