2006年VOA标准英语-Trove of American Art in Newly Renovated Smiths

By Carolyn Weaver¹
Washington, D.C.
14 November 2006
 
watch Smithsonian museum report

 
The north entrance to the two museums now reopened to the public
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, two museums in one historic building, re-opened last summer after a painstaking² six-and-a-half-year renovation³. Long a favorite of Washington museumgoers, the collection now gleams in its pristine⁴ new settings inside the restored Old Patent Office Building in Washington, D.C.

 
Eleanor Jones Harvey
"We are the only place where you can go to see every facet⁵, style and idiom in American art, from the Colonial era to the present day," says Eleanor Jones Harvey, curator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "We have put together a collection that is deeper and broader than almost any other American art collection, anywhere in the world."

 
The building once served as the offices for patent and trademark⁶ workers
The Old Patent Office Building that houses the museum is the third oldest in Washington, constructed around the same time as the U.S. Capitol.  President Abraham Lincoln held his second inaugural⁷ ball, in 1865, in its sweeping⁸ center gallery. The building was also used during the Civil War as a temporary barracks and hospital for wounded soldiers –- and as a morgue.

After decades of use as a government office building, the Smithsonian annexed⁹ the building in 1968 to house the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. But for the last six and a half years, the building has been closed for a renovation -- one aimed at matching the art to its surroundings.

 
A contemporary sculpture of a horse seems at home in the 19th century building
"So, we're in Lincoln Gallery," said Eleanor Jones Harvey, during a recent interview in the restored museums. "This is the space with the tallest ceilings, the broadest vistas¹¹, the most elegant vista¹⁰ that you have in the entire building. It seemed perfectly¹² suited for large-scale contemporary works, as a way of allowing them to soar, and allow you to be transported along with them. On the first floor, where our galleries have lower ceilings and groin vaults¹³, it was brilliantly suited to folk art and to traveling exhibitions. And the second floor encapsulates the character of the 19th century, which is where those collections are now housed."

One new feature is a visible conservation center, where visitors can watch conservators cleaning and repairing works of art. Another is a system for storing art in glass-fronted cases, opening up to view nearly 3400 works of art that would otherwise be in closed storage.

 
"Electronic Superhighway," by the late artist Nam June Paik
A highlight of the collection, says Harvey, is "Electronic Superhighway," by the late South Korean-born video artist Nam June Paik.  It uses TV screens and video loops to create an endlessly changing map of the United States more than eight meters long and nearly six meters tall. Harvey calls it Paik's "video diary of the 50 states of America."

"What he did was take his scrapbook impressions of each of the 50 states," she says, "and wound them into 50 different 20-minute loops, each one devoted¹⁴ to an individual state in America. Each state is outlined in strip neon, and the longer you look, the funnier, the more poignant¹⁵, the more outrageous¹⁶, and the more thought-provoking the piece becomes."

 
A portrait of the first U.S. president, George Washington
Art of the American west at the museum includes many portraits of Native Americans by the 19th century painter George Catlin. Eleanor Jones Harvey also points to the collection's landscape paintings of the new American territories, particularly "Sierra Nevada," by another 19th century painter, Albert Bierstadt.

"He probably did more to introduce east coast Americans to the topography of the western third of the country than any other artist," she says. "And when you stand in front of this piece, bear in mind your ancestors paid what is now $5 to stand in front of this painting and marvel¹⁷ at it. It's like an Imax theater experience for the 19th century."

 
James Hampton's "Throne of the Third Millennium¹⁸"
Harvey is equally proud of the museum's folk art collection, which includes James Hampton's "Throne of the Third Millennium."  Hampton was a government janitor¹⁹ who labored²¹ 14 years, after hours, creating the massive piece, which he meant to become his church. It is an elaborate, almost room-sized altar made of silver, though the silver is aluminum²² foil.  Hampton worked in a rented garage only blocks from the museum. The piece was discovered there after his death in 1964, still unfinished.

"He built a shrine²³ to a personal religious system, Old and New Testament²⁴, out of spent light bulbs, tinfoil²⁵, abandoned furniture, and cardboard," Harvey says. "He wrote gospels in a code we haven't broken yet, and it was clearly a very personal and spiritual labor²⁰ of love."

 
One of the portrait competition finalists
The other wing of the building, the National Portrait Gallery, draws many visitors for its paintings of American presidents, from George Washington to more recent incumbents²⁶, including Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and the first president George Bush.  Portraits of ordinary people are also included -- for example, those from a 2006 national competition, in which artists were asked to portray²⁷ someone close to them. Wisconsin painter David Lenz's portrait of his mentally retarded²⁸ son, and Yuqi Wang's portrait of himself and his wife overlooking the rooftops of Brooklyn, New York, took the first and second prizes in a field of 51 finalists from around the United States. 

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

3 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

4 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

5 facet   

n.(问题等的)一个方面；(多面体的)面

参考例句：

• He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
• Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。

6 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

7 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

8 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

9 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

10 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

11 vistas   

长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景

参考例句：

• This new job could open up whole new vistas for her. 这项新工作可能给她开辟全新的前景。
• The picture is small but It'shows broad vistas. 画幅虽然不大，所表现的天地却十分广阔。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

15 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

16 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

17 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

18 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

19 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

20 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

21 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句

22 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

23 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

24 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

25 tinfoil   

n.锡纸，锡箔

参考例句：

• You can wrap it up in tinfoil.你可以用锡箔纸裹住它。
• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto tinfoil.Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.用大餐勺把刚刚搅拌好的糊糊盛到锡纸上，烘烤9至11分钟，直到变成金黄色。

26 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

27 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

28 retarded   

a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• The progression of the disease can be retarded by early surgery. 早期手术可以抑制病情的发展。
• He was so slow that many thought him mentally retarded. 他迟钝得很，许多人以为他智力低下。