A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING

西方绘画艺术简史

What is Western art? It is hard to give a precise definition. As there have been so many different styles of Western art, it is impossible to describe them all in a short text. Perhaps the best way to understand Western art is to look at the development of Western painting over the centuries.

啥是西方艺术?很难给出一个精确的界说。因为西方的艺术个性多种多样，在短短的一篇课文里不可以能进行全部的描绘。或许晓得西方艺术的最佳办法就是看看几个世纪以来西方绘画的打开。

The Middle Ages (from the 5th to the 15th century)

中世纪(5世纪到15世纪)

During the Middle Ages, the purpose of Western art was to teach people about Christianity. Thus, artists were not interested in painting realistic scenes. Their works were often primitive and two-dimensional, and the main characters were often made much larger than everyone else to show their importance. This began to change in the 13th century with Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). While his paintings still had religious themes, they showed real people in a real environment. In particular, his paintings are set apart from other paintings by their realistic human faces and deep emotional impact.

在中世纪，西方艺术的意图是向我们教授基督教因而，艺术家对写实场景不感快乐喜爱。他们的作品一般较为粗糙且二维化，主体人物一般比其别人物大得多，以闪现他们的重要性。这种情况在13世纪时因乔托·迪·邦多纳(1267-1337)而初步改动。尽管他的画仍然带有宗教主题，但它们展示的是真实的环境中的真实人物。特别是他的画作，因其传神的人物容颜和深化的情感冲击而从其他画作中锋芒毕露。

The Renaissance (from the 14th to the 17th century)

文艺复兴时期(14世纪到17世纪)

New ideas and values gradually replaced old ones from the Middle Ages. As a result, painters concentrated less on religious themes. They began to adopt a more humanistic attitude to life. An important breakthrough during this period was the use of perspective by Masaccio (1401-1428). Influential painters such as Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519), Michelangelo(1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520) built upon Giotto and Masaccio’s innovations to produce some of the greatest art that Europe had ever seen.

新的思维和价值观逐步替代了中世纪的思维和价值观。因而，画家较少重视宗教主题。他们初步采纳一种更人道化的日子情绪。这一时期的一个重要打破是马萨乔(1401-1428)对透视法的运用。一些颇具影响力的画家，例如莱昂纳多达芬·奇、米开畅琪罗和拉斐尔，在乔托和马萨乔的立异基础上持续打开，创造出欧洲?醇囊恍┳罹薮蟮囊帐踝髌?/span>

Another innovation was the use of oil paints. With their deep colours and realism, some of the best oil paintings look like photographs. While painters as early as Da Vinci had used oil, this technique reached its height with Rembrandt(1606-1669), who gained a reputation as a master of shadow and light.

另一个立异是油画颜料的运用。因为其深重的颜色和实际主义个性，一些最佳的油画看上去就像是相片。尽管早在达芬奇年代一些画家就运用油彩绘画，但伦勃朗使得这种技艺抵达顶峰，他具有“光影大师”的雅称。

In subject matter, the emphasis increasingly shifted from religious themes to people and the world around us. Kings, nobles, and people of high rank wanted to purchase

accurate pictures of themselves and the people they loved. Others wanted paintings showing important historical events or stories from mythology. Finally, most clients wanted paintings that were beautiful and interesting to look at.

在体裁上，要点逐步从宗教主题转移到人和咱们周围的世界。国王、贵族和上流社会人士都想收购自个和所爱之人的精确相片。其别人则想要展示重要前史作业或神话故事的画作。最终，大大都客户都想要看起来秀丽风趣的画作。

Impressionism (late 19th to early 20th century)

形象派时期(19世纪后期到20世纪前期)

The development of Western art slowed until the invention of photography in the mid-19th century. After that, paintings were no longer needed to preserve what people and the world looked like Hence, painters had to find a new way of looking at their art. From this, Impressionis emerged in

France. The name of this new movement came from the painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926) called Impression, Sunrise. In this work, Monet’s aim was to convey the light and movement in the scenethe subjective impression the scene gave him-but not a detailed record of the scene itself.

直到19世纪中叶拍摄术创造之前，西方艺术的打开缓慢。在那之后，不再需要绘画来保存人和世界的容颜了。因而，画家们不得不寻找一种新的方法来看待他们的艺术。由此，形象派在法国应运而生。这个新运动的名字来历于克劳德·莫奈(1840-196)的一幅名为《形象日出》的画作。在这幅作品中，莫奈想传达场景中的光线和运动一场景给他的片面形象逐个而不是场景本身的具体记载。

While many Impressionists painted scenes of nature or daily life, others, such as Renoir (1841-1919), focused on people. Unlike the cold, black-and-white photographs of that

time period, Renoir’s paintings are full of light, shadow, colour, and life. He sought to show not just the outer image of his subjects, but their inner warmth and humanity as well.

尽管许多形象派画家描绘了天然或往常日子场景，但其他画家，如雷诺阿(1841-1919年)则以人物为重视目标。雷诺阿的画作与那个年代冷酷的是非相片不一样，充溢了光、影、颜色和生命。他不只企图展示他笔下人物的外在形象，而且还展示他们心里的温温暖人道。

Modern Art (from the 20th century to today)

现代艺术(20世纪至今)

After Impressionism, subsequent artists began to ask, “What do we do next?” Painters such as Picasso (1881-1973tried to analyse the shapes which existed in the natural world but in a new way, with Cubism. Others gave their paintings a realistic but dream-like quality Still others turned to abstract art. What they attempted to do was no longer show reality,but instead to ask the question, “What is art?

在形象派之后，后来的艺术家初步问纷歧步咱们该做啥?”像毕加索(1881-1973)这样的画家企图用一种新的办法立体主义来分析天然界中存在的形状。其别人则赋予他们的画中一种写实但又像梦相同的质量特征。还有一些人转向笼统艺术。他们企图做的不再是展示实际，而是提出一个疑问“啥是艺术?”

（本材料仅供师生自个教育运用，文本版权归公民教育出书社一切）