2006年VOA标准英语-Getty Center Restores Art Treasures

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
19 September 2006

The Getty Center is one of the leading art institutions in the United States. It is also major center for restoration of damaged art works. The Getty museum has been embroiled¹ in recent controversies² over allegations of trafficking in stolen artwork. Here's a look at the conservation process and at several important paintings now undergoing restoration.

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Much of the work that is done at the Getty has been overshadowed by the bad news. A former curator, Marion True, is on trial in Italy for allegedly trafficking in stolen art treasures. Italy has demanded the return of scores of Getty art works, and Greece has pressed claims for the return of other antiquities³. Last month, the museum returned two artifacts to Greece.

Getty officials say they are working to resolve disputes over contested art works, and say similar controversies affect other major museums.

And life goes on at the Getty's striking hilltop campus, and its antiquities museum in a recreated Roman villa⁴ overlooking the nearby coastline. Every day, thousands of visitors view the museum's extensive collections, or take part in its educational programs. Behind the scenes, experts conduct research and engage in art conservation. 

 
Getty Museum conservators Mark Leonard (l) and Tiarna Doherty (r)consult with Staatliche Museum Conservator Jutta Michels (center)
  
Some of that work involves the careful restoration of damaged pieces of art that belong to other museums. Mark Leonard heads the Getty's paintings conservation department.

"We do the work for free in exchange for having the opportunity to put the pictures on view in our public galleries," said Mark Leonard. "In many cases, they simply are integrated into the existing collection for a period of six months or so, and in some cases they actually catalyze⁵ entire exhibitions."

Leonard is now restoring several 18th century paintings for a German art museum. They will be the focus of an exhibition that will open here next year. The highlight is a huge portrait of an Indian rhinoceros⁶ painted by the French artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry.

 
Mark Leonard retouching Jean-Baptiste Oudry's painting of Rhinoceros Clara
  
"Her name was Clara," he said. "She was quite a famous rhinoceros in her day, an animal that was traveled throughout Europe in the middle of the 18th century, was in Paris around 1749, 1750, which is when Oudry made this portrait of her."

Next to the painting are two others, also by Oudry. Restoration work on one will be finished in time for the exhibition, and it will go on display along with the portrait of Clara. The second large painting depicts⁷ a lion from the animal collection of the French King Louis XV.

The art works are owned by a museum in the town of Schwerin in northern Germany, and were once part of the collection of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Scott Schaefer, the Getty's curator of paintings, says they had been in storage for decades when they were rediscovered.

"They were the pictures most difficult for them to deal with over the years when the ducal collection went into public hands," said Scott Schaefer. "And during the communist era particularly, and Schwerin was part of communist East Germany, it was easier to forget about them and not think about them than smaller more easily handled pictures."

Today, the art works are getting a second life. The canvases have been repaired and flaked-off sections of paint have been covered. Luckily, says conservationist Mark Leonard, these art works suffered only from neglect, not from the intervention⁸ of overzealous conservators.
 
 
Clara 
  
"If a picture has been damaged in cleaning, meaning that someone has used a strong solvent⁹, abraded¹⁰ away original paint, broken through original layers, those are the kinds of damages that are irreversible, because once the surface has been broken and the artist's final workings on the surface have been interrupted or destroyed, that's a bit of magic that you can't put back," said Mark Leonard.

He says each picture has a story, and the story of the portrait of the rhinoceros Clara is an engaging one. The animal was brought to Europe by a Dutch seaman¹¹ and toured the continent for 17 years. It was the first time Europeans had ever seen such a creature, and Clara became a sensation, inspiring an industry of memorabilia and souvenirs, and this oversized painting.

The story of Clara, King Louis' lion and the other animals will be told in a Getty exhibition called Oudry's Painted Menagerie, which will open in May of next year.

1 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

3 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

4 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

5 catalyze   

v.催化

参考例句：

• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。
• They are highly specific for the reactions that they catalyze.它们对被它们催化的反应有很强的专一性。

6 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

7 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

9 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

10 abraded   

adj.[医]刮擦的v.刮擦( abrade的过去式和过去分词 )；（在精神方面）折磨（人）；消磨（意志、精神等）；使精疲力尽

参考例句：

• Much of the skin on her arm was abraded. 她胳膊上的大片皮肤被擦破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their gossips abraded her into restlessness. 他们的流言蜚语使她心烦意乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 seaman   

n.海员，水手，水兵

参考例句：

• That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手。
• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。