Oarsmen at Chatou《夏都的劃槳手》

愛藝譯

In this canvas， Renoir has returned to one of his favorite spots along the Seine to explore again the beauties of the glinting water. True to Impressionist practice， the artist focuses on the glorious spectrum of outdoor light as it floods the landscape. With a technique that is at once dashing and rigorously controlled， he recomposes in paint his own soft vision of natures radiance. Yet he remains sensitive to the wealth of contrasting textures that greet his eye， and adjusts his brushwork to evoke not only the color but the “feel” of grass or water or windy， cloud-filled sky. That he accomplished this double task without sacrifice of internal consistency of technique， or loss of an overall sense of artistic personality， shows how completely Renoir assimilated the Impressionist method to his own purposes. Almost casually he takes in the sweep of the landscape and the happy fellowship of the group of four sketched figures in the lower left of the composition.

The very presence of the boaters suggests another characteristic of Renoirs art. Though like the other members of the Impressionist group he painted landscape for itself， he loved to include his friends in his canvases. The rapport of the figures and their setting is complete. They are seen within nature， not distinct from it. They share the same qualities of texture， light， and color， as with easy informality they merge with the beauties of their surroundings. But their function is structural， as well as narrative. The accent of the group anchors the slashing diagonal of the vermilion boat， as it in turn counters the generally leftward movement of the river and its banks into the far distance at the upper left. The verticals of the figures moreover serve to support and clarify the horizontal elements of boats and farther river banks， which at once define and amplify the flow of the broad and sparkling waters.

In one passage alone is the painters intention perhaps unclear， where a blue-gray patch of sky at the upper left seems to move aggressively forward from its place on the distant horizon. Elsewhere the reconciliation of space and surface is extraordinary—particularly in reds. The artist traces his color line through a range from scarlet to the palest pinks， and weaves it into the web of his contrasting tones. The result we all can see： a light-hearted world aglow with shimmering summer light.

在這幅畫中，雷諾阿回歸塞納河沿岸他最喜歡的某處，再次探尋粼粼波光之美。雷諾阿完全遵照印象派畫法，專注于表現燦爛的戶外光，城市風景浸沒在各色光線中。他運用技巧時既自由奔放又嚴加控制，通過繪畫重構自己對大自然光輝的柔和印象。不過他仍保持著對眼前豐富事物的那份敏感，這些事物質感不同，對比鮮明;同時，他調整了筆法，讓人們不僅注意到色彩，還感覺到綠草、碧水、輕風和云天。沒有犧牲技術的內部一致性，也沒有喪失畫作整體的藝術個性，雷諾阿成功完成了這雙重任務，表現出他已將印象派技法完全融入畫筆，技法可以隨意為其所用。似乎不經意的寥寥數筆，他便勾勒出遠處的一片風景和畫面左下方的快樂四人組。

特別呈現的船夫形象暗示了雷諾阿繪畫的另一個特點。雖然他也像印象派其他成員一樣單純描繪風景，但他喜歡把自己的朋友嵌入畫中。這些人物與畫面背景和諧一致，呈現完整。他們看上去就是自然的一部分，并沒有格格不入之感。他們與自然擁有相同的質感、光線和顏色，所以能與身處的美景輕松融合。這些人物的作用不僅體現在敘事上，還體現在構圖上。這群人的中心是那條朱紅色小船，醒目地斜在河面上，似是要逆流而上，因為一眼望去，河水及河岸皆向左延展，一直伸向遙遠的左上角。此外，直立的人物撐起了河面上多只小船和更遠的河岸，讓小船和河岸的水平線條更為明晰，這不僅突顯而且強化了這條水面寬闊、波光粼粼的河流。

或許只有一小塊畫面讓人看不透雷諾阿究竟想表現什么，就是左上角的那塊藍灰色天空，它似乎要從遙遠的地平線直沖而來。在其他地方，天空與水面的調和無與倫比——尤其是那些深淺不一的紅色。從極深的紅到極淺的粉，雷諾阿始終用這一系列紅色點彩勾描，并將其編入對比鮮明的色調構成的色網中。最終呈現在每位觀者面前的就是：一個無憂無慮的世界，閃耀著夏日的微光。