The Moon And Sixpence 44.2

I amdisappointed that I cannot report any extravagances in his opinions on the oldmasters. There is so much in his character which is strange that I feel itwould complete the picture if his views were outrageous. I feel the need toascribe to him fantastic theories about his predecessors, and it is with acertain sense of disillusion that I confess he thought about them pretty muchas does everybody else. I do not believe he knew El Greco. He had a great butsomewhat impatient admiration for Velasquez. Chardin delighted him, andRembrandt moved him to ecstasy. He described the impression that Rembrandt madeon him with a coarseness I cannot repeat. The only painter that interested himwho was at all unexpected was Brueghel the Elder. I knew very little about himat that time, and Strickland had no power to explain himself. I remember whathe said about him because it was so unsatisfactory.

"He's allright, " said Strickland. "I bet he found it hell to paint. "

When later, inVienna, I saw several of Peter Brueghel's pictures, I thought I understood whyhe had attracted Strickland's attention. Here, too, was a man with a vision ofthe world peculiar to himself. I made somewhat copious notes at the time,intending to write something about him, but I have lost them, and have now onlythe recollection of an emotion. He seemed to see his fellow-creaturesgrotesquely, and he was angry with them because they were grotesque; life was aconfusion of ridiculous, sordid happenings, a fit subject for laughter, and yetit made him sorrowful to laugh. Brueghel gave me the impression of a manstriving to express in one medium feelings more appropriate to expression inanother, and it may be that it was the obscure consciousness of this thatexcited Strickland's sympathy. Perhaps both were trying to put down in paintideas which were more suitable to literature.

Strickland atthis time must have been nearly forty-seven.

我感到很失望，不能写下他在评论一些老派画家时的谬论。他的性格既然如此怪异，如果他在品评绘画时也有一些奇谈怪论，我笔下的这个形象就更加完美了。我觉得我很需要叫他对过去的一些画家发表些荒诞的理论，但是我还是得讲老实话，他同一般人一样，对这些画家也是赞不绝口，这叫我非常失望。我看他根本不知道谁是埃尔·格列柯。他对委拉斯凯兹相当敬佩，尽管怀有某种厌烦不耐的情绪。他喜欢夏尔丹，伦勃朗则使他感到入迷。他给我讲伦勃朗的绘画给他的印象时，用的语言极其粗鄙，我在这里无法引述。谁也想不到他最喜爱的一位画家竟是老布鲁盖尔②。我当时对老布鲁盖尔不太了解，而思特里克兰德也没有能力表达自己。我之所以记得他对布鲁盖尔的评论是因为他这句话实在太词不达意了。

②彼得·布鲁盖尔（1522？—1569），佛兰德斯画家；其子扬·布鲁盖尔（1568—1625）亦为画家。

“他的画不错，”思特里克兰德说，“我敢说他发现画画儿是件受罪的事。”

后来我在维也纳看过彼得·布鲁盖尔的几幅画以后，我想我才懂得为什么这位画家引起了思特里克兰德的注意。这是另一个对世界怀着自己独特幻觉的画家。我当时作了大量笔记，准备将来写一本关于布鲁盖尔的书，但是这些材料后来都遗失了，留下来的只是一种感情的回忆。在布鲁盖尔的眼睛里，人们的形象似乎是怪诞的，他对人们这种怪诞的样子非常气愤；生活不过是一片混乱，充满了各种可笑的、龌龊的事情，它只能给人们提供笑料，但是他笑的时候却禁不住满心哀伤。布鲁盖尔给我的印象是，他想用一种手段努力表达只适合于另一种方式表达的感情，思特里克兰德之所以对他同情，说不定正是朦胧中意识到这一点。也许这两个人都在努力用绘画表现出更适合于通过文学表达的意念。

思特里克兰德这时大概已经四十七岁了。