In 1907, Georges Braque (1882-1963) visited Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) studio to see his new work Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which was notorious at the time (see Bilingual Arts on Oct. 26 for photo). The two artists immediately built up a rapport and worked closely together until 1914, experimenting with new artistic styles.
The inconsistent perspective, disjointed body shapes, and the reference to traditional African masks in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon preluded Cubism. The works of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), shown at retrospective exhibitions in 1903 and 1907, further indicated a set of visual methodologies, leading to the birth of Cubism. As Picasso put it, Cezanne was “the father of us all.”
Cezanne’s lesson to “treat nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere, and the cone” was taken by the Cubists as a formula for reinterpreting what they saw in daily life. Subject matter included objects, landscapes, people and musical instruments, which the Cubists turned into geometric shapes and other variations on the theme, resulting in ambiguous and abstract appearances.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
Cezanne’s influence can be seen more clearly in early Cubism. Comparing Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque (1908, photo 1) and Cezanne’s Houses in Provence: The Riaux Valley near L’Estaque (photo 2), we can see that Cezanne’s houses on the hill are depicted with simple cubes and shadows, just enough to communicate the sense of volume. In contrast, the hill and houses in Braque’s hands are minimalist and more cubic, like flattened cartons filling up the picture. The tree on the left was depicted with Cezannian cylinders.
The intial reception of Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque was negative: art critic Louis Vauxcelles called Braque a daring man who despises form, “reducing everything, places and figures and houses, to geometric schemas, to cubes.” This was where Cubism got its name from.
Cezanne is said to be the bridge connecting the 19th century’s Impressionism and the 20th century’s new line of artistic inquiry. Mill on the River (c. 1906, photo 3) demonstrates typical impressionist short, thick strokes of paint to create a highly blended finish. A similar technique can be seen in the greens in Braque’s The Castle in La Roche Guyon (1909, photo 4), yet the uneven and jumbled houses on the hill demonstrate the repetitiveness and variation of cubes, hinting at the more sophisticated Cubist compositions to come.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
(Lin Lee-kai, Taipei Times)
一九○七年,喬治‧布拉克(一八八二~一九六三)造訪帕布羅‧畢卡索(一八八一~一九七三)的工作室參觀畢卡索當時惡名昭彰的新作《亞維儂的姑娘》(圖片請參見十月二十六日的「雙語藝術」),兩人一見如故,開啟了此後至一九一四年間對新風格的共同實驗。
《亞維儂的姑娘》所觸碰的畫面切割、不連貫的身體形狀,以及原始非洲面具,成為立體派的前奏。而一九○三及○七年的保羅‧塞尚(一八三九~一九○六)回顧展,更明確指出一套視覺方法學,催生了立體派,畢卡索即說道:「塞尚是我們所有人的父親」。
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
塞尚將自然形式簡化∕歸納為「圓柱體、球體和圓錐體」,立體派藝術家們便據此程式將週遭重新改造──物品、風景、人物、樂器等人們習以為常的事物,轉換為幾何形狀及其變奏,其面貌曖昧而抽象。
早期的立體派作品中,更可以看到這種從塞尚汲取的養份。比較布拉克的《埃斯塔克的房屋》(一九○八年)(圖一),以及塞尚的《普羅旺斯的房屋:埃斯塔克近郊之希奧谷》(一八八三年)(圖二),我們可以看到塞尚作品中山丘上的房舍,是以簡略的光影塑造出來的方塊體積來處理;而到了布拉克手中,山丘與房屋變得更簡略、更抽象、更方塊,像壓扁的紙盒填滿整個畫面。而布拉克畫幅左方的樹木,便是以塞尚所說的圓柱體構成。
布拉克的《埃斯塔克的房屋》最初即招致批評,藝評家路易‧沃克塞爾說布拉克膽大妄為、對形式不屑一顧,「把風景、人物和房子等一切都簡化成幾何圖形與方塊(cubes)」,立體派(Cubism)之名便是由此而來。
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
塞尚被認為是連接十九世紀印象派與二十世紀現代藝術的樞紐,《河畔的磨坊》(約一九○六年)(圖三)即可見印象派特有的以小面積色塊建構出的畫面整體。布拉克《拉侯舍吉永城堡》(一九○九年)(圖四)中的綠色樹木,也是筆觸重複堆疊而成,錯落的房屋呈現了立體方塊造型的重複與變奏,預示了立體派後來更複雜的構圖。
(台北時報林俐凱)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
There are several methods to prevent or slow down enzymatic browning in fruit. __3__ This lowers the pH level of the fruit tissue, causing the PPO to be far less active. Another method is to store the fruit in an airtight container or to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Doing this will reduce its exposure to oxygen. __4__ Although fruit that has undergone enzymatic browning may look less appealing, it is still safe to eat. However, by using one of these simple methods, you can enjoy fresh-looking fruit for a longer period. 有一些方法能避免或減緩水果的酶促褐變。其中一個有效的方式就是在切片水果的表面塗上酸性物質,像是檸檬汁或醋。這樣做能降低水果組織的酸鹼值,讓 PPO 更不為活躍。另一個方式是將水果存放在密封的容器內,或用保鮮膜將其緊緊包住。這樣做會減少水果與氧氣的接觸。快速蒸一下切片水果或將其短暫浸泡在滾水中也能使PPO失去活性,並終止 PPO 與空氣的作用。 雖然經歷酶促褐變的水果可能看起來較不吸引人,但仍然可以安全食用。然而,藉由採用這些簡單方法中的其中一個,你就能在更長的一段時間享用看起來新鮮的水果。 What Did You