《林中熟睡》

譯/愛藝

《林中熟睡》

Asleep in the Woods

譯/愛藝

A rthur Hughes (1832-1915) was an artist from England. He was born of Welsh parents in London. In 1847 he enrolled in the Royal Academy, and exhibited his first finished painting in 1849. 1850 was the most important year of his life: he fi rst discovered Pre-Raphaelitism by reading the Germ; he met Tryphena Foord, his future wife and mother of his six children; and met Alexander Munro, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Ford Madox Brown, thenceforward being converted to their cause. He was affiliated throughout his career with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The group never opened up membership after its founding and several artists, like Hughes, who were associated with the Brotherhood never became full members. As well as being the best of the younger Pre-Raphaelite followers, Hughes was one of the leading book illustrators. Hughes died in 1915. His legacy included about 700 known paintings and over 750 book illustrations.

阿瑟·休斯（1832－1915）是英國畫家。他出生于倫敦，父母是威爾士人。1847年，他進入皇家美術學院學習，并于1849年展出了自己的處女作。1850年是他人生中最重要的一年：其一，通過雜志《萌芽》第一次了解到拉斐爾前派；其二，與特麗費娜·富德相遇，兩人后來結為夫婦，養育了六個子女；其三，結識亞歷山大·芒羅、丹蒂·加布里埃爾·羅塞蒂和福特·馬多克斯·布朗，從此轉而支持他們的藝術主張。整個繪畫生涯，他都與拉斐爾前派兄弟會過從甚密。該團體自成立后從未開放接納會員，好幾位像休斯一樣與兄弟會關系密切的畫家始終沒有成為正式會員。休斯不僅是拉斐爾前派年輕追隨者中的佼佼者，還是一位優秀的書籍插圖畫家。1915年，休斯辭世，身后存世的畫作約700幅，書籍插圖超過750幅。

[2] Asleep in the Woods (oil on canvas, 35.5×45.7 cm) exempli fi es the description we have of Hughes from Percy H. Bate, the author of the 1899 work The English pre-Raphaelite Painters: Their Associates and Successors: “Always sweet, always wholesome, his work shows delicacy of feature, purity of colour, truth of texture, poetic fancy. He rarely seems to aim at dramatic force…There is a sweetness and gentle grace in his subjects, and a pleasing artistry in the accomplishment, that speak for themselves.”

[3] The work depicts a young maiden sitting upon the roots of a large tree. Her basket clutched in both hands sits on the roots beside her. The entire scene is bathed in shades of green from the forest fl ora and blue from the blue sky that glows from behind the trees. Moss-covered rocks, ferns and a few small fl owers create a sweet and wholesome scene that makes this work so identi fi able as being by Hughes. But, the part that makes this work popular is the curious red/brown squirrel that has climbed down from the top of the tree and sits on a low-hanging branch observing the sleeping girl. With a white chest and his tail in the air, the squirrel certainly adds the bit of poetic fancy to this famous painting by the English artist.

[2]《林中熟睡》（布面油畫，35.5厘米×45.7厘米）一畫充分體現了珀西·H.貝特在其1899年著作《英國拉斐爾前派畫家：同行者和繼承者》中對休斯的描述：“他的作品總是那么美好，生機盎然，呈現出精巧的外形、純凈的色彩、真實的質地，以及詩意的想象。他似乎很少追求戲劇性……畫中人物甜美優雅，整幅畫作洋溢令人愉悅的藝術性，所有這些都明明白白。”

[3]該畫描繪了一個坐在大樹腳下的少女。她的籃子放在身子一側的樹根上，她的雙手緊緊攥著籃子。整個場景沐浴在森林植被深淺不一的綠色和林木背后閃爍天空的藍色中。苔蘚覆蓋的巖石、蕨類植物和幾朵小花營造出美好和生機盎然的氛圍，讓人一看便知是休斯的作品。不過，此畫之所以廣受歡迎，是因為那只一臉好奇的紅棕色松鼠，它從樹頂爬下，趴在一段低垂的樹枝上，觀察著已經入睡的女孩。松鼠的胸口一片白毛，尾巴上翹，無疑為休斯的這幅名畫增添了些許詩意的想象。