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WHAT makes an artist great? Brilliant composition, no doubt. Superb draughtsmanship, certainly. Originality of subject or of concept, sometimes. But surely true greatness means that the creator of a painting has brought a certain je ne sais quoi to the work as well.
是什么成就了一名伟大的画家?出色的构图?高超的画技?这两点毋庸置疑。有时也靠创作主题或理念的新颖性。但真正的伟大指的是画家为作品赋予一种难以描述的特质。
There is, however, a type of person who seems to sait perfectly well what that quoi is, and can turn it out on demand. In 1945, for example, a Dutchman named Han van Meegeren faced execution for selling a national art treasure, in the form of a painting by Vermeer, to Hermann Göring, Hitler’s deputy. His defence was that it was a forgery he had painted himself. When asked to prove it by copying a Vermeer he scorned the offer. Instead he turned out a completely new painting, “Jesus Among the Doctors”, in the style of the master, before the eyes of his incredulous inquisitors.
然而,有这样一种人,他们似乎能准确把握这个难以名状的东西,并且能够按要求把它复制出来。例如,1945年,一位名叫汉·凡·米格伦(HanvanMeegeren)的荷兰人因将一幅国家艺术珍品,也就是维米尔(Vermeer)的一幅画作,卖给希特勒的副手赫尔曼·戈林(HermannGöring)而面临死刑。他辩称这只是幅赝品,由他本人仿造。当被要求现场模仿一幅维米尔的画作来证明自己时,他表示十分不屑。在审判者怀疑的眼神下,他以维米尔的风格创作了一幅全新的作品《基督在博学者中间》。
此处例子功能题:作者为何提及荷兰画家?
Göring, who was facing a little local difficulty at the time, did not sue van Meegeren. But that has not been the experience of Glafira Rosales, an art dealer in New York who admitted this week that she has, over the past 15 years, fooled two local commercial art galleries into buying 63 forged works of art for more than $30m. She is being forced to give the money back, and is still awaiting sentence.
戈林当时在本国遇到了点麻烦,所以就没有起诉凡·米格伦。但格拉菲拉·罗萨莱斯(GlafiraRosales)可没那么好运了。作为纽约的一位艺术品商人,罗萨莱斯于本周承认了在过去的十五年里曾向两个当地的商业艺术画廊卖出了63幅假画,总收益达三千多万美元。她被强制要求退还所有收入,目前仍在等待法院的判决。
此处细节题,考有关Rosales 的例子内容。
Ms Rosales is guilty of passing goods off as something they are not, and should take the rap for the fraud. But although art forgers do a certain amount of economic damage, they also provide public entertainment by exposing the real values that lie at the heart of the art market.
罗萨莱斯女士因出售赝品获罪,应承担相应的刑事责任。但虽然这些艺术品伪造者给他人造成了一定的经济损失,但他们也通过揭露艺术品市场上核心艺术品的真实价值而娱乐了大众。
此处词汇理解题:解释take the rap。
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