梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白

quill mark

梵谷的書信集,我之前介紹過的中譯本,是節譯自《梵谷傳》作者 Irving Stone 所著 "Dear Theo" 的《梵谷書簡全集》(藝術家出版)。(請見「梵谷書簡全集 Part IPart 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6」)

而上述的「全集」,雖然還頗具內容與份量,但已經是從精選本中又節譯的,離「全集」是非常遙遠。

梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白

我現在要介紹的這一本梵谷書信集——《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》,則比《梵谷書簡全集》更精簡,因為書中只收錄了四十五封信,且這四十五封,也並不完整。

梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白

 梵谷自畫像 作者:梵谷/文,圖
譯者:徐孝貴/譯
出版社:格林文化
出版日期:2002年02月05日
語言:繁體中文
ISBN:9577454909
裝訂:平裝

此書是由格林文化出版,城邦讀書花園的簡介如下:

內容簡介


藝術史上,梵谷的一生可謂是最具戲劇張力且賺人熱淚的故事。他在經濟拮据的窘況中,不顧一切摯著於藝術的創作,繪出一幅幅竭盡生命的精采畫作。然而,梵谷驚人的意志力,但卻也顯現出他令人懼怕的偏執傾向,彷彿已注定了悲劇收場的命運,一步步走向自己挖掘的墳墓。

本書選錄梵谷信簡中重要的45封信,透過這位驚世奇才的自白,彷彿踏上一條通往梵谷內心深處的捷徑,閱讀他在藝術創作上的執拗與掙扎,見證他短暫生命中所歷經的生活艱辛與精神苦悶,同時也感動於西奧不僅僅是以有形的金錢支持他的兄長,更是用他最寶貴的生命伴隨著梵谷,在奧維寧靜的麥田裡,一個距離藝術不算遙遠的地方長眠。

這本書是全彩印刷,共計四百四十四頁。圖、文的比例差不多是一半一半吧,所選的信件、所配的圖畫,也都非常有代表性。我個人覺得,這是一本編輯相當用心的書信集。

譯者徐孝貴,他翻譯的文筆亦相當流暢,在閱讀上不曾有滯礙難解之處。我一直不太喜歡那些過度著重編排美感的書籍,因為其矯飾的外觀,往往是為了掩蓋其內容的貧乏,但這本《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》卻沒有給我這樣的感覺。

中、英對照

以下我節錄書中的一段,並附上原信件的英文文字,供有興趣的朋友參考:

親愛的西奧:

在你生日的這一天,謹獻上我最衷心的祝福,祝你身體健康、心情開朗。其實今天我應該把「食薯者」這幅畫給你送去的,因為它已經完成的差不多了,只是還不能算完美。

雖然這幅畫花了我整個冬天在練習畫中主角的頭和手的部分,而且畫中景象又是憑著我腦海中的記憶,不過完成的時間還算快。在我作畫的這些日子裡,每天都好似一場苦戰,然而我卻甘之如飴,充滿了戰鬥精神,有時候甚至怕自己會無法停止,不過繪畫可是一門「行動派」的行業。

當織工們在織布時,他們的目的是要織出他們想要的布,那種特殊的雜色和灰色,多種顏色組成棋盤格的布料,花色既協調又平衡,它的圖案從某個距離來看相當和諧,一點也不俗麗。

由紅色、藍色、黃色、灰白色和黑色絲線織成的灰色、綠色、橘紅色或攙雜著黃色的藍,看起來絕對和純粹單色不同。然而,對織工或是布料的設計者而言,要準確的預估絲線的數量和走向不是那麼容易的事,就像繪畫,要融合那麼多的筆觸使畫面協調,也不容易。

……「食薯者」將會是一幅充滿金色的精彩畫作……在這幅畫裡面,我試著強調那些在油燈旁,正吃著馬鈴薯的人們,他們從盤子裡拿食物的手,正是白天挖著泥巴的手,他們是勞動的粗工,他們是如此辛苦、誠實的賺到自己的三餐。

我就是要描寫一種和我們習以為常的城市生活完全不同的生存景象,因此我並不期待所有人一眼就喜歡它或是欣賞它。

整個冬天,我都在想著我的絲線理論,尋找終極的模式。這張畫經過證實是一幅名副其實的農民畫——我知道它是。那些想看經過矯飾後的農民畫的人,可以維持他們的品味;然而就我個人的角度,我喜歡表現這些勞工們最真實的原始面貌,使他們傳統的魅力自然的散發出來。

……

《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》,第 44~46 頁

The Potato Eaters

英文書信全文,請見:http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/15/404.htm。而與上面中譯的對照部分,如下:

My dear Theo,

My warmest good wishes for good health and peace of mind on your birthday. I should have liked to send the painting of the Potato Eaters for this day, but although it's coming along well, it isn't quite finished yet.

Though the actual painting will have been completed in a comparatively short time, and largely from memory, it has taken a whole winter of painting studies of heads and hands.

And as for the few days in which I have painted it now - it's been a tremendous battle, but one for which I was filled with great enthusiasm. Even though at times I was afraid it would never come off. But painting, too, is “agir-créer.” [acting-creating.]

When weavers weave that cloth which I think they call cheviot, or those curious multicoloured Scottish tartan fabrics, then they try, as you know, to get strange broken colours and greys into the cheviot - and to get the most vivid colours to balance each other in the multicoloured chequered cloth - so that instead of the fabric being a jumble, the effet produit [overall effect] of the pattern looks harmonious from a distance.

A grey woven from red, blue, yellow, off-white and black threads - a blue broken by a green and an orange, red or yellow thread - are quite unlike plain colours, that is, they are more vibrant, and primary colours seem hard, cold and lifeless beside them.

...... As for the Potato Eaters - it is a painting that will do well in gold - of that I am certain...... The point is that I've tried to bring out the idea that these people eating potatoes by the light of their lamp have dug the earth with the self-same hands they are now putting into the dish, and it thus suggests manual labour and - a meal honestly earned. I wanted to convey a picture of a way of life quite different from ours, from that of civilized people. So the last thing I would want is for people to admire or approve of it without knowing why.

I've held the threads of this fabric in my hands all winter long and searched for the definitive pattern - and although it is now a fabric of rough and coarse appearance, the threads have none the less been chosen with care and according to certain rules. And it might just turn out to be a genuine peasant painting. I know that it is. But anyone who prefers to have his peasants looking namby-pamby had best suit himself. Personally, I am convinced that in the long run one gets better results from painting them in all their coarseness than from introducing a conventional sweetness.

vs.《梵谷書簡全集》

《梵谷書簡全集》中的文字,因已經過 Irving Stone 和譯者雨云的編刪,故少了其中幾段:

我欣然於你生日時,把畫寄給你。實際的畫是在比較短時間內繪成的,但花了我一整個冬天去製作頭部及手部的油彩習作。而在繪製成畫的數天裡,卻免不了一番奮鬥,那是我覺得精神抖擻的一場戰役。

我嘗試表露這些正在吃馬鈴薯的人,如何以其掘地的一雙手伸入盤內;讓圖畫來訴說勞動者如何誠實地賺取他們的食物。我欲使觀者感知那是一種迥異於我們文明人的生活方式。因此,我一點也不渴望每個人立即喜歡它或讚美它。

整個冬季,我手頭一直握這塊布料的紗線,並在尋索某一花樣;縱使它的面貌粗拙,那些紗線可是按照著規則而經仔細挑選出來的。它終將被視為一幅真正的農民畫,我有把握。

《梵谷書簡全集》第 326~329 頁

DSC_3225以內容而論,《梵谷書簡全集》比較豐富,所觸及的領域也比較廣泛,這部分我比較推薦;而若以譯筆而論,我更喜歡《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》的文字水準;以售價而論,《梵谷書簡全集》定價台幣六百,而《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》原價四百八,特價 299。

總的來說,上述兩本以梵谷書信為主的書,各有其優缺點。要是由我來評分的話,《梵谷自畫像:驚世奇才的自白》的缺點雖然只有一個——內容太少,但這個缺點太過致命,因此我會給缺點頗多的《梵谷書簡全集》較高的評價。




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