文森特·梵高《星夜》

《星夜》

作者：文森特·梵高

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The Starry Night
星夜

Perhaps my favourite painting is The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).
也许我最喜欢的画是文森特·梵高（1853-1890）的《星夜》。
Born in the Netherlands, Van Gogh had always been interested in art, and tried to live as a professional painter starting from 1883.
梵高出生于荷兰，一直对艺术很感兴趣，从1883年开始尝试以职业画家的身份生活。
His early work was dark and sad, so in 1886 Van Gogh's brother Theo invited him to come to live in Paris.
他早期的作品是黑暗和悲伤的，所以1886年梵高的哥哥提奥邀请他来巴黎生活。
Theo hoped that the bright colours of the Impressionist movement there would influence his work.
提奥希望那里的印象派运动的明亮色彩能影响他的作品。
Van Gogh moved to the south of France in 1888. Later that year, he suffered a mental collapse and went to live in a hospital.
1888年，梵高搬到法国南部。同年晚些时候，他精神崩溃，住进了医院。
He made more than twenty paintings of the view from his hospital window, during all times of the day and all kinds of weather.
他画了二十多幅画，画的都是医院窗外的景色，在一天中的任何时候，任何天气。
However, he only made one painting of the scene at night.
然而，他只画了一幅夜景的画。
As Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in June, 1889, "This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big."
正如梵髙在1889年6月写给弟弟提奥的信中所说："今天早上，我在日出前很久就从窗门看到了乡村，除了晨星，什么都没有，晨星看起来非常大。”
The "morning star" Van Gogh referred to was actually the planet Venus. Van Gogh had longed to paint a night scene, and the sight of Venus inspired him.
梵高所说的“晨星”其实是金星。梵高一直渴望画一幅夜景，而金星的景象给了他灵感。
On the left side of The Starry Night, there is a large tree which shoots up from the ground like a dark fire.
在《星夜》的左侧，有一棵大树，它像一团黑火一样从地面射出。
It reaches all the way to the top of the painting. In the background are rolling hills, with a small village in a valley.
它一直延伸到画的顶端。背景是连绵起伏的群山，山谷里有一个小村庄。
In the centre of the village is a white church. Its tower points up into the sky like a sharp knife.
村子的中心是一座白色的教堂。教堂的塔楼像一把尖刀一样指向天空。
Here and there, you can see houses with windows shining with yellow light.
在这里和那里，你可以看到房屋的窗户闪着黄色的光。
Above all this is dark blue sky. A quarter moon fills the top-right corner of the painting with yellow.
在这一切之上，是深蓝色的天空。一轮四分之一的月亮在画的右上角充满了黄色。
Venus sits low near the tree. It burns with white light. Here and there in the sky above Venus are yellow, orange, and red stars.
金星低低地坐在树旁。它燃烧着白色的光。在金星上方的天空中，这里和那里是黄色、橙色和红色的星星。
Around these are lines of pure paint in different shades of blue, yellow, and white. They flow out of control, like river rapids.
在这些周围是蓝色、黄色和白色不同色调的纯颜料线条。它们不受控制地流动着，就像河流的激流。
The Starry Night is not a realistic painting of the scene Van Gogh saw out of his window. For example, in real life there is no village in that valley.
《星夜》并不是梵高看到的窗外的真实景象。比如在现实生活中，那个山谷里并没有村庄。
However, perhaps the painting shows the deeper reality of what Van Gogh could see with his mind's eye.
然而，也许这幅画表现了梵高用他的心灵之眼所能看到的更深层次的现实。
Though the scene is dark and quiet, the painting is full of light and life.
虽然画面黑暗而安静，但画中却充满了光明和生命。
It gives us a look, perhaps, into the complex mind and genius of Van Gogh.
它也许能让我们一窥梵高复杂的思想和天才。