刘慧
百余件雕塑、绘画精品散发独特艺术魅力
9月27日上午,由法国驻上海总领事馆、杭州市文化广电新闻出版局共同主办,杭州图书馆承办的“杭州图书馆·欧洲艺术馆”在市民中心杭州图书馆展览艺术中心开幕。现场人头攒动,人们与来自欧洲的艺术精品近距离接触。
博物馆,是人类文明的殿堂,延续着文化的脉络。欧洲艺术馆落户杭州,可以让我们不出国门,便能跨越时空欣赏欧洲艺术品。与此同时,也弥补了中国博物馆缺少世界级精品收藏的遗憾,彰显了杭州这座城市的包容性。
出席开幕式的嘉宾。
欧洲艺术馆位于杭州图书馆的地下一楼,展厅面积近3000平方米,分为“雕塑工作室”“古典主义或新古典主义”“人像”“从风景画到写实主义”“让·巴普蒂斯特·卡波的人像雕塑”“雕塑家及其影响”等展厅,共展出百余件欧洲18至19世纪的精美展品,包括雕塑、绘画、珐琅艺术品等,全年免费开放。
走进展厅,一眼就看到了雕像《蒙面纱的女人》。它由意大利雕塑家朱塞佩·克罗夫雕刻,曾在1853年的国际工业博览会上展出。据推断,这尊雕塑的历史比华盛顿美术馆收藏的同类作品《蒙面纱的修女》更为久远。因为其艺术价值极高,华盛顿美术馆馆长曾多次询问“能否出让这座雕像”。
艺术馆中绘画作品不多,但每一幅都是精品。在“人像”展厅的油画《对话》中,18世纪的德·庞斯侯爵夫人坐在一把镀金扶手椅上,迪尔福骑士和德·马尔格里先生侧身面左而立,身旁有一条西班牙猎犬。头发卷曲的弧度、猎犬的毛发、手指的肌肉等细节都被画了出来,令人仿佛置身其中。
曾获得1883年威尼斯双年展金奖的油画《爷爷和我》,色彩丰富、立体感强,爷爷脸上的皱纹,被勾勒得栩栩如生。
“让·巴普蒂斯特·卡波的人像雕塑”展厅的《渔童》无疑是卡波最著名的作品:一个年轻小男孩赤裸着身体蹲在地上,戴着渔民帽,手里拿着一个贝壳贴近耳边,笑着听着贝壳里的回声,準备再次起身奔跑。人物柔软的肌肉、浓密的卷发和迷人的微笑跃然纸上,活灵活现。
卡波的弟子,就是传统雕塑艺术的集大成者罗丹。在这里,还展出了罗丹的陶艺雕塑《多西亚》。罗丹年轻时的作品不多,这尊半身雕塑是他刚从事雕塑时的作品。
在欧洲艺术馆,你还可以看到世界上最大的珐琅盒子和世界上最大的青铜花瓶。珐琅盒子高28.5厘米、长56厘米、深42.5厘米,由19世纪最伟大的珐琅画师查尔斯·勒贝克特别定制,见证了其赞助人阿尔弗雷德对妻子的爱慕与眷恋;青铜花瓶高240厘米,仅底座就高95厘米,盆饰带有比利时雕塑家阿方斯·伯格特的签名,曾在1885年安特卫普美术国际博览会上展出。
“只有机缘巧合,才能遇到好的作品,而能把合乎心意的作品加入自己的收藏并带到中国,更是一件不容易的事。”
欧洲艺术馆的大部分藏品,来自华裔收藏家吴静。吴静是出生于温州的华裔女企业家,也是法国知名的古董钟表收藏家和鉴赏家,收藏有大量古董钟表,其中不少为欧洲国宝级藏品。
吴静说,这里的很多展品,她都与卢浮宫、罗丹美术馆、华盛顿美术馆等博物馆“争”了很多年。可以说,艺术馆中几乎每一件展品背后,都藏着一个千回百转的故事。
作为18世纪法国具有代表性的雕塑作品,《亨利四世》雕像落地中国,也历经了一番波折。当时,吴静和卢浮宫都想买下这件作品,整整4年僵持不下。最终,这座雕像被吴静收藏。卢浮宫馆长马丁内茨在雕像出关前,特意跑去和雕像合影道别,他说:“为了这尊汉白玉雕像整整跑了4年,真的舍不得。”
欧洲艺术馆开幕式现场。
这样的故事,还有很多。美国洛杉矶盖蒂中心曾出高价,希望收购“世界上最大的花瓶”;美国大都会博物馆总监在看到“世界上最大的珐琅盒子”时,对吴静感慨:“我们找了几百年都没找到的珐琅盒子,没想到被你运回了杭州。”
18世纪雕像《戴头纱的女孩》的故事,令吴静充满感激与感动。“展品的原主人,是一位60多岁的欧洲先生。当时有许多人找他,希望买下这件作品,但是都无法谈拢。因为实在太喜欢这件雕像,我忍不住致电表达愿望。”吴静说,这位先生得知她要在中国开一个欧洲艺术馆时,只问了她三个问题:你怎么看待这件作品?你规划中的欧洲艺术馆是什么样子?你为什么要办这样一个博物馆?
吴静告诉他,第一眼看到《戴头纱的女孩》就被她的美深深打动。因此,希望能把这件作品带到中国,让更多人欣赏。而这也是她办艺术馆的目的所在——让公益性的欧洲艺术馆落地中国,让更多人可以不出国门就欣赏到国外的艺术精品。
令吴静感动的是,这位先生在听完她的一番话后,什么也没说,只是拉开抽屉,从里面拿出一张发票给了吴静,告诉她:“你想要买这座雕像,就按这个价格来吧。”那是一张30年前收购雕像时的价格单,吴静拿着这张单子呆住了。“不敢相信那么多人都想要买走的雕像,收藏者居然以30年前的价格转让给了我。”这位先生告诉吴静:“我只希望为雕像找到一个真正爱它的人,而不是一个出价更高的人。你是爱它的,所以我愿意把它交给你。”
从计划开办欧洲艺术馆起,吴静就遇到了很多像这位先生一样支持她的人。因此,从设想到落地实施,选场地、挑藏品、布展,吴静只用了一年左右的时间,就完成了旁人看来几乎不可能完成的事情。endprint
吴静说,她开办欧洲艺术馆的出发点很纯粹,就是想让国内的博物馆变得多元化,让大家更方便地接触欧洲文化。自己只是“文化的搬运工”。或许,正是她的不忘初心,简单纯粹,感染了身边的人。
杭州图书馆馆长褚树青,听完吴静开办欧洲艺术馆的初衷后,立即将杭图地下一层展厅的3年使用权交给吴静,并且不收取任何费用。褚树青说:“图书馆不仅是阅读的场所,也可以在这里听讲座、看展览。欧洲艺术馆的落成,是杭州图书馆多元化发展布局的体现。”
法国资深收藏家洛朗·凡利安,把祖辈150年的收藏转让给欧洲艺术馆,还特意飞到杭州,当了两天义务的搬运工和组装工,事事亲力亲为。
世界权威博物馆布展大师于贝·勒·加尔利用3天假期,飞到杭州帮助欧洲艺术馆布展,遭遇杭州接连40℃以上的高温天,于贝先生打趣道:“我这辈子和下辈子的汗都在杭州流完了。”第一天工作结束,他的脚上已经满是水泡。
卢浮宫馆长马丁内茨十分赞赏吴静的行为,他认为在杭州开设欧洲艺术馆有利于东西方文化的交流,还表示要为欧洲艺术馆图录写序。
更让吴静感到欣喜的是,一些中国企业家也加入到这项公益事业中来。艺术馆中的油画《两个牧羊人》就由企业家郑联军捐赠。“卢浮宫不是一朝一夕就建成现在这个样子的,很多藏品都是后来慢慢通过捐赠而来的。”吴静告诉记者,“所以我有信心,这可以影响更多人,特别是一些有责任心的企业家,希望未来公益艺术馆能开遍全国。”
开幕式上出现了许多国外知名博物馆代表以及法国收藏家、艺术家的身影。包括卢浮宫博物馆宣传教育部主任西里尔·玛利·帕特里克、罗丹博物馆副馆长于格·艾尔潘、美国费城艺术博物馆总监奥利维耶·于斯泰尔、法国建筑遗产博物馆馆长埃玛纽埃尔·布雷翁、法国赛弗勒博物馆馆长克里斯蒂娜·吉尔嫚、法国资深藏家洛朗·凡利安等。他们都表达了对欧洲艺术馆在杭州落成的支持和赞赏。
法国驻上海总领事馆文化参赞费保罗表示:“欧洲艺术馆的开幕体现了法国文化与中华文化的交流合作,感谢每一个为了欧洲艺术馆而努力的人,是他们造就了艺术馆的诞生。”在现场,费保罗先生还带来了法国总理的贺信,信中提到:“祝贺中国第一个展示西方古老艺术的公益艺术馆开幕,祝贺拥有悠久历史文化名城的杭州。”
“文化是相通的,中国博物馆需要世界各地的精品收藏,以彰显大国风范。”此次,吴静把欧洲艺术馆开在杭州,将欧洲的珍贵艺术作品搬到杭州,正是文化交流合作的有益尝试,同时也给杭州新添了一张文化金名片。對此,褚树青说,欧洲艺术馆的落成,有利于杭州国际化水平的提升。未来,杭州乃至全国各地的艺术爱好者都能有更多机会欣赏到国外的艺术精品。
European Art Museum Set up in Hangzhou
By Liu Hui
On the morning of September 27, 2017, a ceremony was held at the art center of Hangzhou Library to unveil European Art Museum. The ceremony was jointly sponsored by French Consulate in Shanghai and Hangzhou Culture, Radio, TV and Press Administration. Paul Freches, a consul of cultural affairs with the French Consulate in Shanghai, spoke at the ceremony and read a letter of congratulation by French Premier. Among the guests at the ceremony were representatives of some museums across the world and European art experts and collectors.
With an exhibition floor space of about 3,000 square meters, the museum occupies the first underground floor of the library. The museum features artworks mostly in the collection of Wu Jing, a Chinese collector based in France. Most of the exhibits are from the womans art collection.
Wu is from a family of entrepreneurs in Wenzhou, a port city in southeastern part of Zhejiang. She is now well known in France for her collection of antique clocks and watches, and art works. Wu Jing comments that she competed with heavyweight museums such as the Louvre, Rodin Art Museum and Washington Art Museum for years for some exhibits.
Every piece in her collection tells a story.
, a statue created in the 18th-century France, came into her collection after she and the Louvre had competed for good four years. When it eventually came into her possession, Jean-Luc Martinez, director of the Louvre Museum, posed for a picture with the famed statue of white marble before it left for China.endprint
The Getty Center in Los Angeles went all out to bid for the worlds biggest bronze vase against Wu Jing, but Wu Jing laughed the last laugh. Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York wanted to put its hands on the worlds biggest enamel box, but lost it to Wu Jing. Wu Jing learned that the American institution had long since wanted it.
A statue called on display at the museum came from a European collector. Many collectors had eyed the treasure sculpture. Wu visited the owner and asked him to let her have the beloved statue. After learning the Wu wanted to start up a museum of European art in China, he asked Wu three questions: whats your take of the masterpiece? What does the museum looks like? And why do you desire to set up such a museum?
Wu replied that she fell for the beauty of the statue at first sight, that she wanted to take it to China so that more people can appreciate it. She said that she wanted to set up a museum in China simply because she wanted more Chinese people to enjoy seeing art masterpieces from overseas without going abroad. After hearing the explanation, the owner showed her an invoice dated 30 years before and said he would sell for the price on the invoice, much to Wus astonishment. He would let Wu have it simply because she really loved it.
When she was making preparations for setting up the museum back in China, she ran into many warm-hearted people who really helped her. It took her about a year to translate the idea into reality. Some European collectors and exhibition experts flew to Hangzhou to help her out with the museum affairs. She received help in deciding upon a site, in selection exhibits, and in arranging the exhibits on display. It was like a mission impossible.
After giving a good listen to Wus pitch, Zhu Shuqing, director of Hangzhou Library, said without hesitation that the library would like to give her a three-year use of the first underground floor of the library for the museum. Zhu emphasized, “A library offers more than a reading space. A library also hosts lectures and exhibitions. The Museum of European Art on the site signifies the librarys desire to diversify.”
Many Chinese entrepreneurs helped Wu Jings nonprofit public project, which has made Wu happy. , an oil painting on display at the museum, comes from the collection of Zheng Lianjun, a businessman.
“The Louvre Museum hasnt become what it is overnight. Many of its exhibits have come from private collectors over a long time,” commented Wu Jing. “That is why I am confident that this project will influence the public in general and businesspeople in particular. I hope China has more such nonprofit public art museums.”endprint