新视野大学英语综合教程3 课文及课文翻译Unit3

Vincent van Gogh

1 Between November of 1881 and July of 1890, Vincent van Gogh painted almost 900 paintings, but never achieved fame. Yet since his death, he has become one of the most celebrated painters in the world.

2 The two most important but apparently independent features about van Gogh which most people know about are his spectacular, almost explosive, use of colour and the poor state of his mental health, which brought his life to a sad end.

3 Yet, according to medical research since van Gogh's death, it now seems that these two features may be linked, and that his mental health may have contributed to his artistic style, not just at the end of his life, but at earlier times as well. 4 Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, and his early career working for an international art dealer took him to London, Paris and Belgium. When he decided to become a painter in 1880 with the support of his brother Theo, his early work was, not surprisingly, filled with the gloomy light of Northern Europe.

5 In Paris van Gogh met many of the artists later known as Impressionists, such as Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro and Gauguin. His style changed under their influence, and became lighter and brighter. He used small strokes of primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and complementary colours (purple, orange and green). He was also sensitive to the more abstract style of Gauguin's paintings, where shapes of objects are represented by distinct zones of colour.

6 Yet despite working in such an encouraging atmosphere, van Gogh could not equal his friends' growing success. He was unable to pay for models, and so he painted a large number of self-portraits, which may indicate his potential for soul searching. 7 Van Gogh soon grew discouraged with his life in Paris, and moved to Arles in the south of France, where, drawn by the sunshine, he hoped to establish an artists' community. He felt liberated by the people, the buildings and the scenery there, and painted them with vivid, passionate colours and a cheerfulness which was new to him and his career. He was keen for Gauguin to visit him, and finally persuaded him to make the journey. The paintings of Sunflowers and his home were partly intended as a welcome to Gauguin, partly a reflection of his happiness. But because of the intensity of van Gogh's friendship for him and hostile disagreements about their working methods, Gauguin left Arles. At this event, van Gogh cut off part of his own right ear. 8 Van Gogh spent several desperate periods in a mental hospital over the next two years because of his depression and his concern that he had heard voices. His style became more experimental, with stronger lines and sharper colours, always