叶子南16 Van Gogh.docxVIP

16 Van GoghAlthough art historians have spent decades demystifying Van Gogh’s legend, the have done little to diminish his vast popularity.尽管艺术史家们数十年来一直在淡化梵高传奇的神秘色彩，但梵高受观迎的程度几乎丝毫未减。Auction prices still soar, visitors still overpopulate Van Gogh exhibitions, and The Starry Night remains ubiquitous on dormitory and kitchen walls.梵高画的拍卖价仍然飙升，梵高展的参观者依旧爆满，《星夜》仍是宿舍和厨房墙壁上少不了的画。So complete is Van Gogh’s global apotheosis that Japanese tourists now make pilgrimages to Auvers to sprinkle their relatives’ ashes on his grave.梵高在全球被神化，其影响无远弗届，连日本游客现在都去奥威尔参拜，将亲属的骨灰洒在梵高墓上。What accounts for the endless appeal of the Van Gogh myth.为什么梵高的神话会经久不衰？It has at least two deep and powerful sources.这至少有两个深刻且有说服力的原因。At the most primitive level, it provides a satisfying and nearly universal revenge fantasy disguised as the story of heroic sacrifice to art.表面上看，梵高神话是一则为艺术英勇牺牲的故事，但它满足的是人性，激起的是人人皆有的复仇幻想。Anyone who has ever felt isolated and unappreciated can identify with Van Gogh and hope not only for a spectacular redemption but also to put critics and doubting relatives to shame.任何一个感到被人冷落，遭人轻视的人，都能与梵高心心相印，进而希望能像梵高那样有朝一日被人肯定，让批评他的人，怀疑他的亲属无地自容。At the same time, the myth offers an alluringly simplistic conception of great art as the product, not of particular historical circumstances and the artist’s painstaking calculations, but of the na?ve and spontaneous outpourings of a mad, holy fool.但同时，梵高神话将伟大艺术的概念呈现的未免过于简单，因而相当诱人，在这个概念里，伟大的艺术品并非特殊历史环境的产物，也非艺术家精心雕琢的作品，而是一位癫狂的，神圣的愚者自然流露纯真的结果。The gaping discrepancy between Van Gogh’s long-suffering life and his remarkable posthumous fame remains a great and undeniable historical irony.梵高生前长期饱受磨难，死后却声名卓著，差别如此之大，无疑是历史上的极大讽刺。But the notion that he was an artistic idiot savant is quickly dispelled by even the most glancing examination of the artist’s letters.有人认为他是只懂艺术，不谙世事的白痴。但是只要稍微看一下这位艺术家写的信，便会认为此说法站不住脚。It also must be dropped after acquainting oneself with the rudimentary facts of Van Gogh’s family background, upbringing, and early adulthood.而如果再了解一下梵高的家庭