《春天的花束》

爱艺

For all its apparent looseness， this painting Spring Bouquet has a precise structure. The flowers spill over into the lower left-hand corner in joyous profusion， with an asymmetry as free and as wild as nature. But at once the artist proceeds to counter this unbalance. To the right of the vase， Renoir has developed a heavy shadow area， rich in purples， shaggy in contour， and sharply contrasted with the pool of light below it. Especially important is the placing of the ruler-straight lines in the lower right side of the canvas. In the setup from which Renoir painted there was perhaps no such line as the diagonal which breaks into a zigzag in the extreme corner; yet something of the kind is patently necessary. If the reader will cover this diagonal， he will see that the composition becomes lopsided.

This leads to an awareness of the basic structure. The composition is held in two triangles： a lower one with its apex at the rim of the bowl under the flowers; and the other with its apex at the top of the bouquet.

The Impressionist technique had not yet evolved when Renoir painted this picture. The brushing here is bold， the pigment fat and rich， suggesting the influence of Gustave Courbet.

Yet the canvas glows with light and color， indicating that Impressionism is just around the corner; there is something of that school in the feeling of the out-of-doors that Renoir has captured in this canvas. The texture of the flowers is marvelously rendered， and one is tempted to say that the very perfume of the flowers is there， too.

The silvery blue tonality is enlivened by accents of black; the lovely sprinkling of yellow starlike blossoms is sheer delight.

Renoir bio

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 1841. He began working as a young painter of porcelain and textiles. At age 21， Renoir entered the ?cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and went on to study under the instructions of painter Charles Gleyres， where he met and befriended Claude Monet， Alfred Sisley， and Frederic Bazille.

Along with these painters， Renoir is considered one of the most important artists of Impressionism. And even though his paintings had been initially rejected by the Academy and the public， similarly as those of his friends， with time he became one of the most admired artists of his generation. Even the French government bought one of his works.

Renoir portrayed mainly landscapes and people. Vibrant colors and seemingly insignificant daily moments are a trademark of his work.

Unfortunately， in 1899， he was afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that causes a lot of pain and inflammation in the joints. In addition， the person affected by it may also have deformities. In the case of the painter his hands were deformed. Consequently， his movements became very restricted and each movement was a big and certainly painful effort.

His son， Jean Renoir， recounts in the book Renoir， My Father， the reaction of the people to the painting of the father， after seeing his hands：

Visitors who were unprepared for this could not take their eyes off his deformity. Though they did not dare to mention it， their reaction would be expressed by some such phrase as “It isnt possible！ With hands like that， how can he paint those pictures？ Theres some mystery somewhere.”

He continued painting until his death in 1919. How possibly could he have painted so much and make anything look so beautiful if even moving his wrists was such a painful task for him？ Perhaps we find an answer in his own words， as he once said： “Pain passes， but beauty remains.”

这幅《春天的花束》尽管表面构图松散，但整体结构严谨。盛放的鲜花欢欣漫溢，有花朵散落在左下角，这种自然产生的不对称自由而奔放。不过，与此同时，画家想要抵消这种不平衡。在花瓶右侧，雷诺阿留下了一片浓重的阴影——色调丰富的紫色，参差不齐的轮廓，与下方的一片光亮形成鲜明的对比。尤其重要的是画面右下那几条笔直的线条。在雷诺阿的绘画体系中，或许没有对角线这样的线条——直直的斜线在最角落处突然变成弯曲的折线;然而这样的处理显然是必要的。如果观画者盖住这条对角线，会发现整个构图偏向一侧。

这使人注意到此画的基本架构。整个构图包含两个三角形：较低的一个，顶点在鲜花掩映下的花盆的边缘;另一个，顶点就在整个花束的最高点。

雷诺阿创作此画时，印象派技法尚未发展成形。看此画，笔法大胆，颜料厚重，色彩豐富，透出居斯塔夫·库尔贝的影响。

然而，画中闪耀的光和色，表明印象派呼之欲出——雷诺阿在这幅油画中捕捉到了印象派描绘户外场景的些许感觉。花朵纤毫毕现，令人惊叹，不禁让人感觉，空气中也充溢着那些花的芬芳。

在几处黑影的衬托下，银蓝色的花显露出勃勃生机;可爱的星形黄花零星绽放，带给人纯粹的快乐。

雷诺阿小传

皮埃尔-奥古斯特·雷诺阿生于1841年。他年纪轻轻就踏入绘画行业，以绘制瓷器和纺织品起步。21岁时，雷诺阿进入巴黎美术学院，师从画家夏尔·格莱尔，在格莱尔门下，他结识了克劳德·莫奈、阿尔弗雷德·西斯莱和弗雷德里克·巴齐耶。

雷诺阿和这些画家一道，被认为是印象派最重要的画家。尽管他遭遇到跟朋友们相似的命运，他的画最初也不被学院和公众所接受，但随着时间的推移，他成为了那一代最受尊敬的画家之一。甚至法国政府都购买收藏了他的一幅作品。

雷诺阿的绘画主题主要是风景和人物。鲜活的色彩和看似微不足道的日常琐事是其作品的标志。

1899年，他不幸患上了类风湿性关节炎。这种病会引起关节长久疼痛并伴随炎症。此外，患者关节还可能发生畸变。雷诺阿患病后，他的手变形了。这导致他的行动非常受限，一笔一画都十分费力，自然也要承受巨大的痛苦。

他的儿子让·雷诺阿在《我的父亲雷诺阿》一书中叙述了人们看到父亲的手后对其画作的反应：

对他因病致残毫不知情的来访者都无法将目光从他变形的手上移开。尽管他们不敢提及畸变，但会发出诸如此类的感叹：“这不可能！手都这样了，他怎么能画出那些画呢？这太神奇了。”

他始终坚持作画，直到1919年去世。如果连动动手腕对他来说都是无比痛苦的事，他怎么可能还留下这么多画作，怎么可能把万物都画得那么美？也许我们可以从雷诺阿自己的话中找到答案，他曾说过：“痛苦终会消失，而美丽长存不败。”