莫奈:我的睡蓮盛開永世

Beginning of a Movement

Claude Monet was， and still is， one of the most famous artists in the world. The French painter， who was born in Paris in 1840， was the most important figure in the movement of Impressionism， a crucial1 style in the development of modern art.

Monet’s family came up to the Normandy coast when he was very young， and so he spent all his formative2 years up in this extraordinary light and buffeted3 by this sort of wind. But， in fact， his first work that he did as an artist wasn’t painting nature， but instead， it was drawing caricatures4， silly sketches of local dignitaries5. And it was only when he was about 16 or 17 or so that he met a local landscape painter， called Boudin， who took him out of doors and actually showed him nature， introduced him to the possibilities that you could actually paint what we see round us here. And he said that that was a moment that a veil6 was torn from his eyes， and that was his future destiny laid out in front of him.

Monet made up his mind to become an artist. In 1859， against his father’s will， the young man came to Paris to learn painting. There， he met several friends who later became the fathers of Impressionism. Their style was so different from other paintings at the time that their works were refused by every gallery. Therefore， the group of friends held their own exhibition in 1874. Monet’s painting， Impression， Sunrise， became the name of this new style.

Dream of a Garden

Monet and his family moved to Giverny in 1883. At that time， his works began to make some money. He could finally concentrate on another hobby—gardening.

Monet said that if he had not been a painter he would have been a botanist7， and that it was in fact flowers that led him to becoming an artist. It is these flowers which are like the dabbles of paint upon his own palette8， and it was ultimately9 a place that he makes into a kind of Eden， where nature itself is going to be controlled by the human—formally10， of course， allowing it to have its own drama， he now can be the conductor of that symphony11.

The first pictures of the garden are really just views of the garden， with the bridge in the middle and flowers and foliage12 and trees round it. Then he gradually moves back and looks down into the water surface. The horizon13 then appears just at the top. And then he abandons the horizon altogether， and we’re simply looking down into the surface of the water and watching the play of reflections14. And there， in the water， he finds the world of sky and clouds， really a whole universe. In a sense， we’re just tightly in this little and， in some ways， very intimate garden. But then you look down into the surface of the water， and everything opens out into this huge great， almost cosmic15 space.

Voice of a Time

By 1899 Monet’s financial and social positions were secure， but his late years were by no means easy. He lost his step daughter and eldest son. Then in 1911， his second wife Alice Hosched？died.

Monet stopped painting for two years. And then， as his flowers began to bloom in the Giverny garden in the spring of 1914， he took up the largest project of his entire career， attempting to realize the idea of creating paintings that would surround the walls in single rooms to immerse16 viewers in the beauties and glories of his garden. And those pictures really arise from tragedy， but， of course， they begin in 1914， when he’s 73 years old， when the guns of August will tear its terrible thunder across Europe as a whole.

When he’s here at home， working on these paintings， he’s terribly worried. He’s worried about his son; he’s worried about the people dying at the front; he’s worried about the meaning in his own life. As he writes in one letter， he says， “How can I possibly be involved with such mundane17 matters as a choice of color or brushwork when people are dying for this country?” And thus， when we look at these water lily paintings， we have to realize that they are imbued18 with the terrors and the traumas19 of that moment.

After 1907， cataract20 and rheumatism21 made it more and more impossible for him to paint. But he continued till his death. In 1926， at the age of 86， Monet died from lung cancer. The next year， his water lilies were shown to the public in the Musée de L’O rangerie.

Pierre Georgel (Director): The architecture of the L’Orangerie has been conceived by Monet himself. He once had said that he would like the visitor to feel as if he had been immersed in an aquarium22， a flowered aquarium， he said. Constantly surrounded by painting， one had to dive in something fluid and boundless.

By giving them to a permanent museum， he gave them to the public of the future with a very fine sense of Utopia23. He knew that this public to come would understand， would appreciate， would love them.

Monet fan: I’ve never really seen a real Monet painting. All I’ve seen is posters， prints， calendars. But it would be a dream to see one in the flesh.

When I walked into the room， it was just like “wham!” Everything was on top of me. My head went one way; my body went the other. I think a print can never， ever produce what this has made me feel， because a print doesn’t give me emotion this has.

革新之始

克洛德·莫奈從過去到現在一直是世界上最有名的藝術家之一。這位法國畫家于1840年在巴黎出生，是印象主義運動中（現代藝術發展的重要風格）最舉足輕重的人物。

莫奈還很小的時候，他的一家搬到了（法國北部的）諾曼底海岸；他沐浴在這樣美麗的陽光下，在這樣的海風吹打下度過性格形成的（童年）時期。但事實上，他作為藝術家所從事的第一份工作并不是描繪自然，而是畫諷刺漫畫，給一些當地士紳畫可笑的速寫圖。直到十六七歲，他才遇到當地的一個名叫布丹的風景畫家。布丹將他領到戶外，向他展現了自然之美，讓他明白到自己其實可以將見到的景色畫下來。莫奈說，當時就好像那片遮擋他視線的薄紗被卸了下來，自己的未來就這樣呈現在眼前。

莫奈決心要成為一名畫家。1859年，這個年輕人在父親的反對之下前往巴黎學畫。在那里，他遇到幾個朋友——這些人后來成了印象派的創始人。他們的風格和當時的畫作相差太遠，以致沒有一家畫廊肯接受他們的作品。他們于是在1874年自行舉辦了一次畫展，而莫奈的作品《日出·印象》便成了這種新畫風的代名詞。

花園之夢

莫奈與家人于1883年搬到吉維尼鎮。當時，他的畫作開始能賺錢了。他終于可以醉心于自己的另一項興趣——園藝。

莫奈說，如果他沒有成為一名畫家，他會當植物學家；事實上，也正是花朵之美將他引領到藝術之路。這些花朵就像莫奈調色盤上的團團油彩，這里根本就是他創造的伊甸園，自然可以為人類所掌控——形式上，當然，他讓自然盡情地演繹這場好戲，但他自己則是這場交響樂的總指揮。

關于花園的第一批作品其實只是描繪這里的景觀，中央是小橋，周圍繁花似錦，綠葉青翠，樹木蔥郁。然后他慢慢后退，往下望向水面。水平線出現在畫面上方，后來他連水平線都拋棄了。我們直接看向水面，看著倒影在水面嬉戲。在那里，在水中，他找到天空和云朵，甚至整個宇宙。從某種意義上來說，我們只是身處于這個小小的花園中。但當你朝水面望去，一切便豁然開朗，包羅萬象。

時代之聲

到1899年，莫奈有了比較固定的收入，社會地位也得到保證，但他的晚年過得并不輕松。他的繼女和長子相繼去世。1911年，他失去了第二任妻子愛麗絲·奧雪德。

莫奈有兩年不曾動筆。然后在1914年的春天，吉維尼花園里繁花盛放，他開始了職業生涯中最大的創作項目，要創作出可以掛在房間四面墻上的作品，讓人身臨其境地感受到其花園的美麗風采。這些畫作源于他家庭的悲劇，但當然也是在1914年開始的創作，當時他73歲，八月的槍聲在全歐洲的上空叱咤怒吼。

當他在家作畫時，他心里其實非常擔心。他擔心自己的兒子，惦記著在前線戰死的人們，也對自己生命的意義愁緒萬千。他在一封信中寫道：“看到那么多人為國捐軀，我怎能還在考慮用哪種顏色和筆法這種世俗平凡的事情？”所以當我們欣賞這些睡蓮作品時，我們必須意識到這些作品中滲透了那個時代的恐懼與創傷。

1907年后，白內障和風濕使他的創作日益困難，但莫奈到臨終前一直沒有停筆。1926年，莫奈因肺癌病發去世，享年86歲。第二年，他的睡蓮被展示在橘園博物館中。

皮埃爾·若熱爾(橘園總監)：橘園的建筑設計是莫奈自己的構想。他說希望讓參觀的人仿如置身于一個水族館中，一個花海般的水族館。若是常常被這些作品圍繞，人們會覺得自己進入了一個流動變幻的無邊世界。

莫奈將作品捐給一個永久博物館，也就是將它們交給了后代的世人，帶著點烏托邦的味道。他知道現代的我們會理解，會欣賞，會熱愛他的作品。

莫奈迷：我從未見過莫奈的真跡。我見過的都是海報、印刷品、日歷之類的。若能親眼得見，可謂美夢成真。

走進房間時，我只覺得“哇！”地一聲。真是讓人眼花繚亂。我的腦子想向東走，身體卻想往西去。印刷品永遠不會給我這樣的感受，因為印刷品不能讓我有這樣的感動。

注釋

1)crucial a.至關緊要的

2)formative a.對性格形成有影響的

3)buffet v.吹打

4)caricature n.諷刺畫，漫畫

5)dignitary n.權貴

6)veil n.面紗

7)botanist n.植物學家

8)palette n.調色板

9)ultimately ad.根本，基本上

10)formally ad.形式上

11)symphony n.交響樂

12)foliage n. 樹葉

13)horizon n.地平線

14)reflection n.倒影

15)cosmic a.宇宙的

16)immerse v.沉浸，使陷入

17)mundane a.平凡的

18)imbue v.浸透

19)trauma n.損傷

20)cataract n.白內障

21)rheumatism n.風濕

22)aquarium n.水族館

23)Utopia n.烏托邦，理想國