Some Very Poor Painters

Why should I tell you about very poor painters？ If a painter cant paint good pictures， why mention him at all？ Because... these poor painters in this chapter did paint good pictures. They were poor in money， not poor in painting.

One of these poor， good painters was a Frenchman named Corot （Ko-ro）. He was poor because no one would buy his paintings. Not until he was fifty years old did he sell a single picture. He wasnt quite as poor as that sounds， however， because his father gave him an allowance of so much a year. It was a very small allowance， but Corot managed to get along on it.

After Corot finished school he wanted to be a painter. But his father was in the linen business， and into the linen business the son had to go. Still he kept hoping he could be a painter， and finally his father let him stop selling linen and begin to study painting. Corot went to Italy for several years and became a landscape painter. Then he went back to France. He painted many fine landscapes， but no one seemed to want to buy them.

Now， at this time some other painters who were very poor in money， found they could live more cheaply in the little village of Barbizon than they could in the city of Paris. And they found， too， that the country around Barbizon was a much better place in which to paint landscapes. There they could see the forests and streams and fields that they loved to paint. So these poor-in-money painters moved to little cottages in and near Barbizon.

我為什么要向你介紹貧乏的畫家呢？如果一個(gè)畫家不能畫出優(yōu)秀的作品，我們?yōu)槭裁匆岬剿?？因?yàn)椋乙谶@一章里給你們介紹的貧乏畫家，是畫出過優(yōu)秀作品的。他們只是在錢財(cái)上貧乏，但在畫技上絕不貧乏。

科洛就是這些窮困潦倒又非常優(yōu)秀的畫家之一，他是法國人。他很窮，因?yàn)闆]有人愿意買他的畫，直到五十歲時(shí)他才賣出第一幅作品。不過他也沒聽上去的那么窮，因?yàn)樗职置磕甓紩?huì)給他一點(diǎn)錢，盡管不是很多但也足夠他生活所需。

完成學(xué)業(yè)后，科洛想做一名畫家。但是科洛的爸爸是做亞麻生意的，所以想讓科洛繼承亞麻產(chǎn)業(yè)，于是科洛就只好跟著父親學(xué)做生意。不過，科洛一直都沒放棄自己的畫家夢，終于，科洛在父親同意下不再從事亞麻生意，并且開始學(xué)習(xí)繪畫?？坡迦ヒ獯罄麑W(xué)習(xí)了幾年繪畫，成為風(fēng)景畫家。他回到法國后畫了許多漂亮的風(fēng)景畫，但就是沒有人愿意買他的畫。

那時(shí)，還有其他許多畫家也很窮。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)巴黎附近有一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村，叫巴比松，住在那里要比在巴黎市區(qū)生活成本低很多。不僅如此，他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)巴比松附近有許多樹林、溪流、田野都很適合寫生，比巴黎市區(qū)更適合畫風(fēng)景畫。所以這些貧窮的畫家就都搬去了巴比松附近，住在小木屋里。

By? V. M. Hillyer

——V. M. 希利爾（仲秋? 譯）

V. M. 希利爾（1875—1931），美國著名兒童教育家、科普作家，創(chuàng)建了卡爾弗特教育體系。他為孩子們編寫了一套趣味盎然的歷史、地理、藝術(shù)讀物，即《寫給孩子看的世界歷史》《寫給孩子看的世界地理》《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》。本文選自《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》，該書寫于20世紀(jì)二三十年代。

It was Corots idea to live in Barbizon. He liked to get up early in the morning and go out to study the trees and fields in the early light of dawn， when often the dew was on the ground and everything looked misty. He would make sketches， or quick drawings， of what he saw， and then come home and paint. He liked twilight and moonlight， too， and often painted twilight and moonlight landscapes. His pictures have a magical， dreamy beauty that has made them famous all over the world.

When he was an old man Corots pictures began to sell. Money and fame came rolling in at last. Corot had always loved to help other people in any way he could， so now that he was wealthy he had a fine time giving most of his money away to people who needed it.

Corot was always cheery and happy with his friends， although his landscapes often seem dreamy and sad instead of cheerful and gay. Everyone loved him and called him Father Corot， and so it is pleasant to learn that he finally became so famous.

Another Barbizon painter was much poorer in money than Corot. He was one of the first to go to Barbizon. He took his wife and children and lived in a little three-room house that had no wooden floors， just packed earth. Yet he was one of the greatest painters of France， Jean Fran?ois Millet.

Millet had always been poor. His father was a farmer， and when Millet was a boy he worked on his fathers farm. When he saw some pictures in an old Bible， he started to draw. At the rest hour in the fields the other workers would all take naps， but young Millet would spend the time drawing pictures. Finally the village where he lived gave him a little money to go to Paris to study art.

科洛是最先想搬到巴比松居住的人。他喜歡早起，觀察和享受晨曦中的樹木和田野，清晨地面的露水還沒有干，所有東西看起來都霧蒙蒙的?？坡逋ǔ?huì)把看到的景色快速畫成草圖或素描，然后回家根據(jù)素描畫油畫。他還喜歡暮色和月光，畫了許多暮色和月光下的風(fēng)景畫?？坡宓娘L(fēng)景畫世界聞名，因?yàn)樗漠嬘幸环N夢幻般的神美。

等到科洛年老時(shí)，他的畫開始賣出去了，最終收獲了金錢和名聲。科洛一直都盡其所能幫助他人，所以有錢以后，他更加慷慨地資助那些缺錢的人。

盡管科洛的風(fēng)景畫總是透著一股夢幻和淡淡的憂傷，但是他和朋友們在一起的時(shí)候總是非常開心快樂。大家也都很喜歡他，親切地叫他“科洛爸爸”。所以當(dāng)大家聽說科洛出名了的時(shí)候，也都非常高興。

巴比松那里還有一位畫家比科洛更窮困，他也是最早搬去巴比松的畫家之一。他帶著他的妻子和孩子一起住在一個(gè)小小的有三個(gè)房間的房子里。房子里沒有木地板，有的只是夯實(shí)的土地。他就是讓·弗朗西斯·米勒，法國最著名的畫家之一。

米勒從小就很貧窮，他父親是一位農(nóng)夫，所以他小時(shí)候常常跟著父親到地里干活。后來米勒在一本舊的《圣經(jīng)》上看到一些圖畫，就很有興趣地開始照著畫。在地里干活休息時(shí)，其他人都會(huì)打個(gè)盹、休息一下，小米勒卻把所有休息的時(shí)間都用來畫畫了。后來，村子里的人給了他一筆錢，讓他去巴黎學(xué)美術(shù)。

Word Study

cottage /'k?t?d?/ n. 小屋;村舍

sketch /sket?/ n. 素描;速寫

v. 畫素描;畫速寫

The artist is making sketches for his next painting.

He quickly sketched the view from the window.

When Millet got to Paris he had a terrible time. He was awfully shy and not used to city ways， so he didnt get along well at all. He barely made enough money for food， by selling little pictures he painted. He liked best to paint the poor farmer people or peasants whose life he knew so well， and at last when he was almost starving someone bought one of his peasant paintings. This gave him enough money to get out of Paris and go to Barbizon， and in Barbizon he lived the rest of his life.

Millets pictures of peasants at work were painted in an unusual way. The painter would go out on the farms and watch the people at work—digging， hoeing， spreading manure， sawing wood， churning butter， washing clothes， or sowing grain. Then he would come home and paint what he had seen. His memory was so good that he could paint at home without a model and get all the movements of his figures right. When he did need a figure to go by he would ask his wife to pose for him.

One of Millets paintings is called “The Sower”. It shows a man planting seed. Have you ever seen a farmer sowing a field？ In our country it is so often done with horses and a machine， that perhaps you dont know what a swing there is to it when it is done on foot. The sowers hand keeps time with his step. It reaches into his bag for seed and then swings backward to scatter the seed， and with each swing of his hand the sower strides forward. In Millets picture the sower has been working hard， but his swinging step and outflung arm still move smoothly， in time， like a machine.

米勒來到巴黎后，生活過得很艱辛。他特別害羞，不習(xí)慣城市生活，因此剛到巴黎時(shí)很不適應(yīng)，而他賣畫掙的錢也只夠勉強(qiáng)糊口。米勒最喜歡畫的就是貧苦的農(nóng)民，因?yàn)樗浅Ｊ煜まr(nóng)民的生活。最終，生活艱難的他快要餓死的時(shí)候，有人從他那兒買了一幅反映農(nóng)民生活的畫?？恐@筆錢他才終于離開巴黎去了巴比松。之后，米勒在巴比松度過了他的余生。

米勒畫作中勞苦農(nóng)民的形象創(chuàng)作得很獨(dú)特。他經(jīng)常到農(nóng)場去觀察農(nóng)民勞作，比如挖掘、鋤地、施肥、鋸木頭、攪拌黃油、洗衣服、播種。然后回到家里，他再把自己看到的東西畫下來。米勒的記憶力極佳，甚至不用模特兒就可以把人物動(dòng)作畫得很得當(dāng)。偶爾需要模特兒的時(shí)候，他就讓妻子幫忙擺一些姿勢。

米勒有一幅畫叫《播種者》，畫的是一個(gè)正在播種的農(nóng)民。你有沒有看過農(nóng)民播種？在美國，播種通常是由馬或機(jī)器完成的，所以你可能對(duì)徒步播種完全沒有概念。徒步播種的時(shí)候，播種的農(nóng)民要手腳協(xié)調(diào)得非常好才行：手先從胸前的口袋里抓一把種子，然后轉(zhuǎn)過身向后擺臂，把種子撒在地里，并且每撒一次種子，農(nóng)民的腳就要緊跟著往前邁出一大步。米勒畫中的播種者顯得十分疲憊，但播種者的步伐和揮動(dòng)的手臂仍然配合得非常協(xié)調(diào)，就像機(jī)器一樣靈活。

Millet made several pictures of “The Sower”， all somewhat alike. The most famous “Sower” is now in the United States， in Boston.

Another picture that is as famous as “The Sower” is called “The Gleaners”. A gleaner is someone who picks up what is left in the field after the wheat has been harvested. When farmers are very poor， as they were near Barbizon， even the little that the gleaners can find is a help. You can see from Millets picture what back-breaking work gleaning must be. And it is done by women！

Many copies have been printed of still another picture by Millet. You can sometimes buy them in the ten-cent stores. This famous painting is called “The Angelus”. It shows a French farmer and his wife stopping their work in the fields to bow their heads as they hear the church bell ring out the call to prayer， the Angelus.

Like Corot， Millet at last was recognized as a great painter before he died. But he always remained poor， and when he died his friend Corot had to give his widow money to live on.

Some of the other Barbizon painters became famous too. They all used to meet in a big barn where they had tacked drawings on the walls， and there they would talk about the painting they all loved so to do.

米勒畫過許多幅看起來相差不多的《播種者》。最有名的一幅現(xiàn)在保存在美國的波士頓。

米勒還有一幅畫叫《拾穗者》，它與《播種者》一樣有名。拾穗者，是那些在收割后的地里收撿遺漏的麥穗的人。當(dāng)農(nóng)民非常窮的時(shí)候，比如巴比松附近的農(nóng)民，即使拾起的這些糧食很少，但對(duì)他們的生計(jì)來說也是一份幫助。從米勒的畫中我們可以看出，拾穗是一項(xiàng)非常辛苦的工作，而這項(xiàng)工作是女人來做的！

米勒的另一幅畫直到今天還有很多它的復(fù)制品，有時(shí)你甚至可以在一元店里買到這幅畫。這幅著名的畫叫作《晚禱》?！锻矶\》畫的是一個(gè)法國農(nóng)夫和他的妻子在田地里低頭禱告，因?yàn)樗麄冊诟苫顣r(shí)聽到附近教堂傳來的晚禱鐘聲，就暫時(shí)停下了手中的農(nóng)活。

與科洛一樣，米勒在晚年時(shí)終于被公認(rèn)為一位偉大的畫家。不過米勒一直都很窮，在他去世后，他的遺孀只能依靠科洛的資助生活。

住在巴比松的畫家還有一些后來也很有名。他們曾經(jīng)常常在一個(gè)大倉庫里會(huì)面，把各自的畫掛在倉庫的墻上討論，然后一起評(píng)價(jià)喜歡的繪畫作品。

Word Study

barely /'be?li/ adv. 僅僅;勉強(qiáng)可能

We barely had time to catch the train.

sow /s??/ v. 播種

The fields around had been sown with wheat.

scatter /'sk?t?（r）/ v. 撒;撒播

Scatter the grass seed over the lawn.