彼埃尔-奥古斯丁 雷诺阿(1841-1919)

船会午餐，作于1880-1881
帆布油画
收藏于1923

杰作背后的故事

关于艺术家
他的父母都是裁缝。当雷诺阿3岁的时候他的全家迁到了巴黎，他在那儿成长并渡过了一生中大部份的时光。从1854年到1858年他见习于某个瓷器绘匠，同时也在晚上学习绘画，并且自1864年起获得在卢浮宫临摹的资格。在1860-1861年雷诺阿开始在CHARLES GLEYRE画室正式学习艺术并于1862年进入艺术学院。艺术学院里雷诺阿和莫奈(1840-1926) ，巴斯雷及西斯莱结下友谊。这四位曾经在学生时代共同外出写生的艺术家后来成为众人皆知的印象派运动的骨干。

 1874年，当雷诺阿参加第一次印象派展时，他也同时结识了Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) and Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) 。1870年末雷诺阿受到相当的注目并且获得了他职业生涯中的第一份财源。他从为巴黎的时媛名流作肖像画中获取报酬，同时通过巴黎Paul Durand-Ruel画廊出售作品，1883年他在那儿开了第一次个展。

1880年前后，雷诺阿遇见了Aline Charigot随后于1890年和她结婚。他们的长子Pierre在1885年诞生，接着是1894年诞生的Jean (有名的电影大师) 和1901年诞生的Claude。19世纪90年代艺术家和他的家人开始不长住在巴黎，而是Essoyes (他妻子的故乡) 及Cagnes。雷诺阿在90年代后的作品反映了他对古典派艺术和女性裸体的持续不断的兴趣。尽管遭受使人衰落的关节炎的折磨，雷诺阿在他的余生里坚持作画，甚至于1913年开始了雕塑创作。他死于Cagnes，享年78岁。

 

先翻译前三段，剩下的让我慢慢来

 

[粗看了一下，后面的好象越来越难，对当时巴黎的风土人情和艺术气氛不了解的话根本无法译。不过自己很喜欢这段西方艺术的流金岁月，所以我试试看罢]

Leisure Pastimes along the Seine
The upper left hand corner of Luncheon of the Boating Party, beyond the awning, Renoir included the blue-gray outline of the Chatou railroad bridge -- a visual reminder of the government's recently completed transportation projects that had made this riverside fête possible. By the 1860s, new French railroad lines changed many rural areas along the Seine surrounding Paris into suburban sites for leisure. The railroad crossed the winding path of the Seine, providing weary Parisians with many accessible weekend retreats. From his Paris studio, Renoir, for example, could walk ten minutes to the Saint-Lazare train station and catch -- on the half hour -- a train for the suburbs. One of Renoir's favorite places was the town of Chatou where, on a nearby island, he painted Luncheon of the Boating Party that depicts a group of his friends on the balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise.

Once the exclusive domain of the upper class, the riverside towns of Bougival, Asnières, Argenteuil, and Chatou were transformed into popular retreats for all members of society. Many amusements including guinguettes (see vocabulary list below), dance halls, bath houses, boat rentals, and sailing clubs were established to cater to the growing numbers of weekend revelers. Bougival was known for La Grenouillère, a popular spot for swimming, boating and dancing where, in 1869, Renoir and Monet first painted scenes of riverside leisure. The natural characteristics of the Seine often determined the sport of choice in certain towns. In Chatou, the popular pastime was rowing, while in Argenteuil, where the river was somewhat wider, sailing prevailed.

The Maison Fournaise
Parisians would flock to Chatou's Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night. In 1857, the entrepreneur Alphonse Fournaise bought land in Chatou to open a boat rental, restaurant, and small hotel for the new tourist trade. From the mid 1870s, Renoir often visited the Maison Fournaise to enjoy its convivial atmosphere and rural beauty. He painted scenes of the restaurant, as well as several portraits of Fournaise family members and landscapes of the surrounding area. In fact, Renoir occasionally traded paintings with the Fournaise family for food and lodging.

Renoir and Friends
Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party not only conveys the light-hearted leisurely mood of the Maison Fournaise, but also reflects the character of mid- to late-nineteenth century French social structure. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes including bourgeois businessmen, society women, artists (Renoir and Caillebotte), actresses, writers (Guy de Maupassant), critics and, with the new, shorter work week--a result of the industrial revolution--seamstresses and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society that accepted, as it continued to develop and advanced the French Revolution's promise of liberté, egalité, fraternité.


With a masterful use of gesture and expression, Renoir painted youthful, idealized portraits of his friends and colleagues who frequented the Maison Fournaise. In the background and wearing a top hat, the wealthy amateur art historian, collector, and editor of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Charles Ephrussi (no. 8) speaks with a younger man wearing a more casual brown coat and cap who may be Jules Laforgue (no. 5), the poet, critic, and personal secretary to Ephrussi. In the center, the actress Ellen Andrée (no. 6) drinks from a glass, while seated across from her and dressed in a brown bowler hat, Baron Raoul Barbier (no. 4), a bon vivant and former mayor of colonial Saigon, faces the smiling woman leaning on the railing thought to be Alphonsine Fournaise (no. 3), the daughter of the proprietor. Wearing traditional straw boaters' hats, both she, and her brother, Alphonse Fournaise Jr. (no. 2), who was responsible for the boat rentals and stands at the far left of the composition, are placed within, but at the edge, of the party.

同时在炫耀船员帽的还有右上角的艺术家Paul Lhote (no. 12) 小官僚？？e Pierre Lestringez (no. 11). 这几位雷诺阿的好朋友经常为他的画当模特儿，看上去正在和穿着时髦的著名女演员Jeanne Samary (no. 13) 调情。 Lhote并不是出现在船会上的唯一的艺术家; 雷诺阿也画了一位他的年轻同事的肖像：Gustave Caillebott(1848-1894) (no. 9),他的密友，也是个富有的教会赞助人。他深深地坐在右前方的椅子里和女演员Ang？e (no. 7) 及意大利专栏作家Maggiolo (no. 10) 聚在一起；Caillebott既是个热心的划艇者和水手，也曾画了很多这些体育运动的场面。他被绘成穿了件白色的划艇衫戴着平顶划艇草帽。Caillebotte隔着桌子凝视着一位正在亲热地和小狗说话年轻女性，她就是擅长女红的Aline Charigot (no. 1), 雷诺阿最近才遇见她，后来和她结了婚。

 

这是最后一段的翻译

 

我再去睡会儿

[知了单调地叫着，楼下网球场里两个男人正在练习，球从地上弹起发出“托，托” 的回声，阳光从遮帘的花纹中透过懒洋洋地漂浮在空气中，屋子里半明半暗。这时候正好睡觉，哈哈]