Young Girls at the Piano《钢琴前的少女》

爱艺

In this picture， Young Girls at the Piano， we have a detailed and felicitous account of the surroundings of French family life at the end of the nineteenth century， and yet it does not break down into a clutter of things asking for attention. We see the piano with its candle holders， the chairs， the tasseled draperies， and in the room beyond we get a glimpse of a stuffy but inviting confusion. We may study the costumes and the hairdos the girls wear， and on the piano is a typical “old-fashioned” bouquet of the time.

This documentary character of Renoirs earlier work seldom conflicts with its qualities as art. The scene before us is bathed in a soft glow of light—its source and direction are not specific—and the rosy warmth helps us to join in the unself-conscious pleasure of the moment. This is a picture of leisure and relaxation and companionship. We feel this not only in the obvious indications of the subject， but more persuasively in the way the picture is put together.

The harsh， the rigid， and the angular are absent or suppressed; the gentle golden light that dilutes the colors brings them into the same family. Yet Renoir here has given a surprising animation to a canvas that shows so little action. Our eyes are carried along sweeping lines and across forms that continue or stop one another. The foreground community of russet tones—the pillow on which the girl sits， the overstuffed chair with its music， and the piano—creates an arc moving to our right and toward the wall; the bodies of the girls lean forward in a similar but opposed arc; and this arc is restated in the drapery. The relation of the three arms and hands in the center of the canvas is a masterly variation on this theme. The girls， a lovely range of delicate pastel tints， are a beautifully organized group， typically Renoir in their vivacious postures and facial expressions. Also typ-ically Renoir is the brilliant clustering of the heads and ornamental details at a point where many lines converge from above and below.

在《鋼琴前的少女》这幅画中，我们看到了对19世纪末法国家庭生活环境细腻而真实的描绘，而画面上并没有什么杂七杂八的东西扰乱视线。画中有钢琴，琴上安置着烛架，还有椅子、带流苏的隔帘，远处房间露出模糊的一角，透着一丝古板，却又让人忍不住想一探究竟。两个女孩的服装和发型或许值得研究，钢琴上还摆放着那会儿时髦的“老式”花束。

雷诺阿早期作品的这种纪实性与其艺术品质鲜少冲突。整个画面沐浴在一片柔光中——光源和指向都不明确——那种安逸的温暖帮助我们体验到画中人那一刻油然而生的愉悦。这幅画呈现出悠闲、松弛和友情。这一点不仅可从主题的明显暗示中感受到，构图给人的感受更强烈。

画面上看不到刺目、僵硬和棱角分明的东西，或者那些都被掩盖了。柔和的金色光线淡化了各种颜色，使之协调统一。然而，雷诺阿赋予了这个几乎静止的画面令人惊喜的动感。观画者目光所及，但见连绵的线条和错落有致的轮廓。红褐色调的前景区包含女孩的坐垫、厚实的软垫椅和椅子上的乐谱，还有钢琴——这一切构成一道弧线，向观画者右侧和墙壁延伸——两个女孩身体前倾也形成一道弧线，方向恰与其相反，这道弧线在隔帘上再度呈现。画面中央的三条手臂和三只手相互关联，是对这一主题的另一种精湛的表达。女孩的着色很养眼，色调素雅柔和。她俩构成了一个美妙的组合，无论那充满活力的姿态还是面部表情，都体现出典型的雷诺阿风格。两个女孩的脑袋凑在一起，和一些装饰性细节巧妙地汇聚到一处，来自画面上方和下方的许多线条同聚于此，这也是雷诺阿风格的典型体现。