April Love

April Love

April Love (oil on canvas, 89cm×50cm) is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hughes (1832–1915) which was created between 1855 and 1856. It was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1856.

[2]At its first showing Hughes accompanied the painting with an extract from Tennyson’s poem “The Miller’s Daughter”:

Love is hurt with jar and fret, Love is made a vague regret, Eyes with idle tears are set, Idle habit links us yet; What is Love? For we forget. Ah no, no.

[3]The painting depicts a young couple at a moment of emotional crisis. The male figure is barely visible, his head bent over the young woman’s left hand. The woman, in a blue dress and blue scarf, is looking down at fallen blossoms, suggesting the end of spring, and of early and young love.

[4]John Ruskin (1819–1900) was an English art critic and social thinker. He, like Hughes, supported the pre-Raphaelite movement. After seeing the painting unfinished, he suggested Hughes name the piece “Hide and Seek”. Hughes wrote to friend William Allingham that the fictitious girl in the painting was “rejoicing in the more graceful title of ‘April Love’.”Ruskin later wrote of the finished one,“Exquisite in every way; lovely in colour, most subtle in the quivering expression of the lips, and the sweetness of the tender face…” The model for the principal figure was Tryphena Ford, whom Hughes married in 1855.

《四月之戀》（布面油畫，89厘米×50厘米）是拉斐爾前派畫家阿瑟·休斯（1832—1915）的作品，創作于1855至1856年間，1856年在皇家美術學院首次展出。

[2]該畫首展時，休斯在畫旁配了幾行文字，節選自丁尼生的詩作《磨坊主的女兒》：

愛到心傷懊惱生，

如今愛已悔朦增。

不覺雙眼淚涔涔，

趣意恬習連愛繩。

何為愛？已成忘。

啊不不。莫相忘！1此段譯文為英國威爾士班戈大學英語文學院在讀博士許景城應約助譯，特此致謝。

[3]畫作描繪了一對感情陡遇危機的戀人。男子模樣依稀難辨，頭垂向年輕女子的左手。女子身著藍裙，肩披藍色圍巾，低頭望向落花，寓意春將去，早戀逝。

[4]約翰·拉斯金（1819—1900）是英國藝術評論家和思想家。他和休斯一樣支持拉斐爾前派運動。這幅畫尚未完成時他便看到了，還建議休斯將畫命名為“捉迷藏”。休斯后來寫信給朋友威廉·阿林厄姆說，畫中虛構的那個女孩“會喜歡‘四月之戀’

[5] It shows a distinctly Pre-Raphaelite style in which a soft approach to nature and femininity is found. Bright colors and red-haired women as well as an emphasis on nature and symbolism characterize this style which can be found in the late 1800s as a response to industrialization.

[6] Originally acquired by William Morris, the painting was purchased by the Tate Gallery, London (now Tate Britain) in 1909 and has remained in the Tate collection to the present day. ■

這個更雅致的名字”。拉斯金后來看到成畫，評論道：“（此畫）無論從哪方面看都很精致，色彩悅目，顫抖的嘴唇尤為精細，溫柔的面龐如此甜美……”為該畫主角做模特的是特麗費娜·福特，休斯1855年娶其為妻。

[5]全畫展現出明顯的拉斐爾前派風格，對自然和女性的刻畫筆觸輕柔。明亮的色彩、紅發的女子，以及對自然和象征的突出表達，都是這一風格的體現。19世紀末，拉斐爾前派的作品被當作對工業化的一種回應。

[6]此畫最初為威廉·莫里斯所獲，1909年由英國倫敦的泰特美術館購得，收藏至今。 □

《四月之戀》

譯/愛藝