美国国家公共电台 NPR What's It Like To Pose For David Hockney? We Asked The People In His Portraits

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

At the age of 80, the artist David Hockney has put on a show in Los Angeles called "82 Portraits And 1 Still-life," which got NPR's Susan Stamberg thinking about the people who posed for him.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE¹: The youngest is Rufus Hale, 11 when Hockney painted him in 2015. His mother was making a film of the artist and took Rufus along. Rufus sat in a corner of Hockney's studio, sketching³. Why don't I paint you, Hockney asked.

RUFUS HALE: Right then and there, he just started.

STAMBERG: Rufus was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt, nice pants, good shoes and a red tie that day.

RUFUS: Yeah, I often wear suits and fancy clothes.

STAMBERG: Do you have to do it for school?

RUFUS: No, I don't. It's not a school thing. I just like to. It's the sort of thing I like to do.

STAMBERG: He sat in his fancy for three hours and was fidgeting. Hockney didn't mind - got a pretty good likeness⁴, Rufus says, except for one thing. The kid's eyes are brown, but...

RUFUS: He gave me blue eyes for some reason. Aside from that, it was basically identical to me. It's weird⁵ (laughter).

STAMBERG: I think blue-eyed David Hockney saw himself in the boy, a young, blond Brit sitting there with his sketchbook, just as young David would have done. Young, not so young - many ages populate these 3-foot-high squarish canvases. Curator Stephanie Barron says all kinds of sitters posed.

STEPHANIE BARRON: It's a snapshot of David's life. You can have an eminent⁶ museum director or an architect or an actor next to the fellow who comes to wash his cars or some of the women who help run his household. There's a democracy.

STAMBERG: They all sit in the same yellow armchair against the same blue or green background - Hockney's choice - on the same blue or green floor. On that floor, first, an assistant draws lines around their feet so they can reposition properly after breaks. Then Hockney charcoals⁷ a rough sketch² on the blank canvas.

BARRON: There is nothing except the canvas, the artist, his gaze and you. That's it. The rest of the world just fades away.

STAMBERG: And he begins.

DAGNY CORCORAN: He stands very erect⁸.

STAMBERG: Dagny Corcoran - friend and art bookseller.

CORCORAN: He puts one hand behind his back like this, holds his arm out with a long brush, and it's like, whoa, that's amazing. That's what painters look like.

STAMBERG: And they look and look, paint, look for three hours, then a break for lunch - excellent food, Rufus says - and then they work another few hours in the afternoon. By the end of day one, it's becoming a portrait.

DOUGLAS ROBERTS: David has an uncanny way of capturing someone quite quickly.

STAMBERG: Longtime friend Douglas Roberts, an art dealer⁹, says Hockney starts with the head, then the body, goes back to the head and hands on day two, and finishes up on day three.

ROBERTS: It's completely silent in the studio. He works absolutely quietly. And, you know, he's a bit deaf, you know, David. He's got hearing aids to assist. There was always music in the studio - opera playing or something - but now, not at all.

STAMBERG: Silence, scrutiny¹⁰, sitting. Curator Stephanie Barron thought she would go to work every day after she posed.

BARRON: What I found instead is that I was so exhausted¹¹ from the intensity¹² of the scrutiny, I went home and took a nap.

STAMBERG: But David Hockney kept going. In a way, he had to.

ROBERTS: He had had a minor¹³ stroke, which sort of slapped him in the face a bit, I think. And the best therapy was to begin painting right away.

STAMBERG: And he decided¹⁴ to paint friends - easy to gather and to be with.

ROBERTS: He just needed the company to sort of get through.

STAMBERG: At LACMA, where the portraits are hung in chronological¹⁵ order, Douglas Roberts can see his octogenarian friend's health improving from canvas to canvas.

ROBERTS: He says when he stands at the easel and paints, he feels 30 years old.

STAMBERG: That renewed health, the vigor¹⁶ resulted in 82 vivid, colorful portraits. Then there's the one still life. Instead of a person, there's a bright blue wooden bench with bananas, red pepper, lemons, oranges. Seems the friend scheduled to sit that day had to cancel. Her father was very ill. But the paints were all set up, so Hockney painted the veggies and fruit instead.

What strikes me is how wonderful, when the sitter doesn't show for sad reasons, the joy he makes.

BARRON: I think that's one of David's gifts.

STAMBERG: One of so many gifts on view through the end of July at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Seeing it is like going to a lively party - David Hockney and his friends. I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News, Los Angeles.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

3 sketching   

n.草图

参考例句：

• They are sketching out proposals for a new road. 他们正在草拟修建新路的计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. “飞舞驰骋的想象描绘出一幅幅玫瑰色欢乐的场景。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

5 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

6 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

7 charcoals   

n.炭，木炭( charcoal的名词复数 )；深灰色

参考例句：

• Irons__red-hot charcoals were used to heat up the irons. 使用时．把烧红了的炭放在熨斗内．待热力传遍。便可用来熨衣服。 来自互联网
• The gallery specialises in beautiful charcoals and watercolours. 这个画廊专营美丽的木炭画和水彩画。 来自互联网

8 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

9 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

10 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

11 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

12 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

13 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 chronological   

adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的

参考例句：

• The paintings are exhibited in chronological sequence.这些画是按创作的时间顺序展出的。
• Give me the dates in chronological order.把日期按年月顺序给我。

16 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。