The Poet 《詩人》

愛藝

What Chagall was aiming at in meaning and form in the little portrait study of Mazin1 is made surprisingly evident by The Poet （oil on canvas， 197 cm × 146 cm， 1911-12）. In the basic features of the composition and the buildup of the figure it follows the Mazin portrait study， but in the construction of the plane， the transparency of forms， and the fragmented analysis of the material things depicted， it is totally different. It is as though the artist， proceeding from the suggestions which occurred to him while painting the portrait， had stripped the skin off the natural motif and deliberately exposed the underlying construction.

The color holds the fragmented figurative forms together in groups. The basic harmony is provided by an active red which rules the table zone and a meditative blue which is given to the figure. The active red corresponds to the dynamic mobility of the diagonals， which bring the whole right-hand side， including the individual objects， into stormy motion. The knife rolls between the two spherical objects on the table as if on ball bearings; the fork worms its way upward， in a perfect example of Futurist movement theory; and the bottle jumps out of the perpendicular2 and zooms away like a bullet. At the top right the red movement explodes in a scattered pattern of small shapes. This is actually the design on a curtain， but in the formal context seems like a slow-motion vortex of forms blown in by the wind. Only the elegant little still life of the delicate drinking glass and the accurately folded paper remains in a vertical position， but by its fragile though stable character makes us doubly aware of the commotion3 all around.

The way the green is used is very curious. This color is used for the head crowning the blue figure， and is repeated in the cat and in the ball on the table. Wherever it appears， it is used to create a plastic quality， in marked contrast to the general flatness of the construction. The vertex of the green accents is the head， which through its modeling looks like a strange globe floating upwards. The head has been twisted around so that it no longer sits on the neck.

The Poet is currently exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art， Philadelphia.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 夏加爾在為馬津畫的小幅肖像習作中以一定形式表達了某種意義，而其目的則通過《詩人》（布面油畫，197厘米×146厘米，1911—1912年）一畫得到彰顯，令人驚訝。在構圖的基本特征和對人物的塑造上，該畫遵循了馬津肖像習作，但在平面的構建、形式的透明性和對所描繪物質的碎片式分析上，它與前者完全不同。就好像夏加爾是在追隨畫肖像時產生的靈感，他剝去了自然圖案外在的形式，故意暴露出圖案底層的構造。

畫家將碎片式具形按色彩分組。調和的畫面基本由活躍的紅色和沉穩的藍色構成：紅色占據了桌面部分，藍色則用來表現人物。活躍的紅對應多條斜線的動態移動，使包括各個物體在內的整個畫面右部呈現出劇烈運動狀態。一把餐刀在桌上的兩個球體之間滾過，就像在滾珠軸承上;一把餐叉蠕蟲般慢慢向上爬去，完美體現了未來主義的運動理論;酒瓶斜向跳出，似乎要像子彈般飛速射出。畫面右上角，運動的紅色爆裂成小片圖形，構成一個散亂的圖案。這其實是窗簾的花樣，但在正常的背景中卻看似緩慢行進的旋渦，這個旋渦由多種形狀構成，被風吹進畫面。桌上有一個精致的小酒杯和一張整齊折疊的紙，兩者構成了畫面局部的小型靜物畫，只有這組線條簡單的靜物保持豎直狀態，但其既脆弱又穩定的特性卻讓觀畫者倍感周圍的騷動。

夏加爾對綠色的使用很不尋常。人物頭部是綠色的，安置在藍色軀干上，貓也是綠色的，還有桌上的綠球。但凡用綠色描繪的物體都呈現出立體感，與構圖整體的平面感形成鮮明的對比。綠色調的焦點是頭部，其造型看起來像一個向上飄浮的奇怪球體。頭部被扭轉，以致不再與下方的脖子相連。

《詩人》現藏于美國費城的費城藝術博物館。

1詩人，夏加爾的朋友。夏加爾以他為模特創作了《詩人馬津》（Mazin， the Poet，布面油畫，73厘米×54厘米，1911）。

2 out of the perpendicular傾斜。perpendicular垂直線（或位置、方向）。? 3 commotion（突然發生的）喧鬧，騷動。