Reading in Depth
Read the following quotes about what painting can do.Choose one that you like most and then explain it.
Bad artists copy.Good artists steal.
—Pablo Picass o
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things,but their inward significance.
—Aristotle
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture,society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.
—John F.Kennedy
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
—Michelangelo
If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint”,then by all means paint,and that voice will be silenced.
—Vincent Van Gogh
I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.
—Georgia O’Keeffe
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
—Thomas Merton
When I think of art I think of beauty.Beauty is the mystery of life.It is not in the eye;it is in the mind.In our minds there is awareness of perfection.
—Agnes Martin
There hasn’t been any art yet.Art is just beginning.
—Constantin Brancusi
My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art.
—Clara Schumann
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.
—Pablo Picasso
An artist must be free to choose what he does,certainly,but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.
—Langston Hughes
Write one or two statements on the lines below about what you think painting is.
TEXT
The Van Gogh Dossier:Mad or Genius
Pre-reading
Answer the following questions about Van Gogh and his life.
1.What do you know about “The Van Gogh Dossier”?
2.What do other people think about Van Gogh’s exhibition?
3.What do you think is the relationship between Van Gogh’s mental instability and paintings?
4.Do you think whether Van Gogh was a madman or a genius?
Initial Reading
Read the following text as quickly as you can,and underline the topic sentences or the key words to help understand the main idea of the text.Then complete the exercises that follow.
[1]Throughout Van Gogh’s life,the artist showed signs of mental instability.In December 1888,he experienced a psychotic episode in which he threatened the life of Gauguin,his fellow artist and a personal friend,and cut off a piece of his own left ear before offering it as a gift to a prostitute.
[2]The Dolhuys Museum in Haarlem presents the exhibition The Van Gogh Dossier:Mad or Genius.The exhibition offers new insights into the personality of Vincent Van Gogh.
[3]The exhibition focuses on the possible link between his mental instability and his artistic calling.Attention is also paid to image-building,since Van Gogh is commonly thought to have been a mad artist.It was exactly 120 years ago on 29 July 1890 that Van Gogh died,two days after attempting to commit suicide.
[4]The exhibition focuses on the last two years of Van Gogh’s life,half of which he spent in an asylum in Saint-Remy,France.Since his death in 1890,various psychiatrists have tried,with hindsight,to analyse his state of mind,basing their diagnoses on the evidence provided by his paintings.
[5]The Swiss psychiatrist Karl Jaspers,for example,thought that Van Gogh was a schizophrenic genius whereas the American psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison maintains that he was a manic depressive.Then again,in the film Lust for Life,based on Irving Stone’s biographical novel,images of which are shown at the exhibition,portrays Van Gogh mainly as an artist who suffered from psychoses that drove him to paint at lightning speed.
[6]While going through the exhibition,however,one’s view of the artist gradually changes,particularly because of what Van Gogh himself says about the connection between his mental state and his artistic output.He wrote to his brother Theo,for example:As far as I can judge I’m not mad,strictly speaking.You’ll see that the canvases I’ve done in the intervals are calm and not inferior to others.An item of interest,to which attention is paid here for the first time,is a petition,signed by his neighbors in Arles after the ear incident,insisting on his confinement to a hospital or psychiatric institution.
[7]The Van Gogh Dossier is an interactive exhibition where it is possible to compile one’s own dossier on the artist.By answering a series of questions about Van Gogh,visitors can decide for themselves whether he was a madman or a genius.This exhibition is mounted in cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
New Words
dossier /ˈdɒsieɪ/ n.档案材料，卷宗
genius /ˈdʒiːniəs/ n.天才；天赋
instability /ˌɪnstəˈbɪlɪti/ n.不稳定，不稳固
psychotic /saɪˈkɒtɪk/ adj.精神病的；患精神病的n.精神病患者；疯子
episode /ˈepisəud/ n.插曲；片段；插话
prostitute /ˈprɒstɪtjuːt/ n.卖淫者；妓女
exhibition /ˌeksɪˈbɪʃn/ n.陈列；展览
personality /ˌpɜːsəˈnæləti/ n.人格；个性；品格
image-building /ɪmɪdʒ'bɪldɪŋ/ n.形象塑造
psychiatrist /saɪˈkaɪətrɪst/ n.精神病专家
hindsight /ˈhaɪndsaɪt/ n.事后聪明；事后领悟
diagnose /ˈdaɪəɡnəʊz/ vt.诊断 vi.做出诊断
schizophrenic /ˌskɪtsəˈfrenɪk/ adj.精神分裂症的
maintain /meinˈtein/ vt.保持；维持
mount /maʊnt/ v.登上；增加；上升
cooperation /kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃn/ n.合作；协作
manic /ˈmænɪk/ adj.躁狂的
depressive /dɪˈpresɪv/ adj.郁闷的n.抑郁症患者
lust /lʌst/ n.渴望；欲望
biographical /ˌbaɪəˈɡræfɪk（ə）l/ adj.传记的
portray /pɔːˈtreɪ/ vt.画像；描述
psychosis /saɪˈkəʊsɪs/ n.精神病（复数为psychoses）
lightning /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/ adj.闪电般的；快速的
particularly /pəˈtɪkjələli/ adv.特别；尤其
output /ˈautput/ n.产量；输出
canvase /ˈkænvəs/ n.帆布；油画
illustrate /ˈiləstreit/ vt.说明；表明
interval /ˈintəvəl/ n.间隔；休息
inferior /ɪnˈfɪəriə（r）/ adj.（质量等）低劣的
petition /pəˈtɪʃn/ n.请愿书；请愿
confinement /kənˈfaɪnmənt/ n.监禁；关押
interactive /ˌɪntərˈæktɪv/ adj.互相作用的；相互影响的
compile /kəmˈpaɪl/ vt.汇编
Phrases and Expressions
cut off 切掉；切断；隔离
commit suicide 自杀
focus on 集中；关注
attempt to 尝试；企图；试图做某事
pay attention to 注意；重视
spend in 把……花费于，花……做
at the exhibition 展示；参展
go through 参加；经受；仔细检查；通过
Related Information
1.Gauguin：高更，法国后印象主义画家，法国象征主义运动的主要人物。他的艺术活动反映了当时欧洲艺术回归原始、追求野犷、奇异的倾向，在许多方面与文学中的象征主义思潮是一致的。
2.Karl Jaspers：瑞士精神病学家卡尔·雅斯贝尔斯（Karl Theodor Jaspers，1883年2月23日—1969年2月26日），德国存在主义哲学家、神学家、精神病学家。雅斯贝尔斯主要探讨内在自我的现象学描述，以及自我分析及自我考察等问题。他强调每个人存在的独特和自由性。
3.Lust for Life：电影《梵高传》。
4.Irving Stone：欧文•斯通，作家，《渴望生活：梵高传》是其年仅26 岁时的作品。70 余年来，梵高悲惨而成就辉煌的人生震撼无数读者。这部作品也成为欧文•斯通的成名作，被译成80 余种文字，发行数千万册。
5.Van Gogh Museum：梵高美术馆，位于荷兰的阿姆斯特丹，建于1973年，馆藏梵高黄金时期最珍贵的200 幅画作，占其作品的1/4。2013年9月11日，梵高美术馆宣布新发现一幅梵高作品《蒙马茹耳日落》。
Exercise 1
Read the text in more detail and decide whether the following statements are True(T)or False(F).
( )1.When Van Gogh experienced a psychotic episode,he cut off a piece of his own left ear before offering it as a gift to his friend.
( )2.The exhibition The Van Gogh Dossier provides the visitors with some new ideas about the personality of Vincent Van Gogh.
( )3.Since Van Gogh died,he is commonly thought to have been a mad artist.
( )4.Various psychiatrists have tried to use the evidence which provided by Van Gogh’s paintings to analyse Van Gogh’s state of mind.
( )5.Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo and told him that he thought he was not mad.
( )6.By answering a series of questions about Van Gogh,visitors can’t judge whether he was a madman or a genius.
Exercise 2
Match the paragraphs on the left column with the information on the right.
1—______;2—______;3—______;4—______;5—______;6—______;7—______.
Re-reading
Read in more detail and complete the following exercises according to the text.
Exercise 1
Answer each of the following questions with the information from the text.
1.What did Van Gogh do when he experienced a psychotic episode in December 1888?
2.What does the exhibition offer?
3.What time does the exhibition focus on?
4.When did Van Gogh die?
5.What did Van Gogh think about himself when he wrote to his brother Theo?
Exercise 2
Choose the best answer to complete each of the statements according to the text.
1.In December 1888,Van Gogh experienced a psychotic episode in which he________________.
A.threatened the life of Theo,his brother
B.had a happy life with Gauguin,his fellow artist and a personal friend
C.cut off a piece of his own right ear before offering it as a gift to a prostitute
D.cut off a piece of his own left ear before offering it as a gift to a prostitute
2.The exhibition focuses on________________.
A.the possible link between Van Gogh’s physical instability and his artistic calling
B.the possible link between Van Gogh’s mental instability and his artistic calling
C.the last two years of Van Gogh’s life,half of which he spent in Haarlem,Holland
D.the first two years of Van Gogh’s life,half of which he spent in an asylum in Saint-Remy,France
3.It was________________ that Van Gogh died.
A.on 29 July 1890,two days after attempting to commit suicide
B.on 29 June 1890,two days after attempting to commit suicide
C.at the time when Van Gogh was commonly thought to have been a mad artist
D.at the time when Van Gogh was commonly thought to have been a great artist
4.The psychiatrists didn’t think that________________.
A.Van Gogh was a schizophrenic genius
B.Van Gogh was a normal genius
C.Van Gogh was a manic depressive
D.Van Gogh was an artist who suffered from psychoses that drove him to paint at lightning speed
5.He wrote to his brother Theo and said that________________.
A.strictly speaking,he could not judge whether he was mad or not
B.strictly speaking,he could judge that he was not mad
C.the canvases he had done in the intervals were not calm and inferior to others
D.the canvases he had done in the intervals were calm and not superior to others
6.The Van Gogh Dossier :Mad or Genius is________________.
A.an interactive exhibition
B.an inactive exhibition
C.not mounted in cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
D.impossible to compile one’s own dossier on the artist