The Poet 《诗人》

爱艺

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.                              夏加尔在为马津画的小幅肖像习作中以一定形式表达了某种意义，而其目的则通过《诗人》（布面油画，197厘米×146厘米，1911—1912年）一画得到彰显，令人驚讶。在构图的基本特征和对人物的塑造上，该画遵循了马津肖像习作，但在平面的构建、形式的透明性和对所描绘物质的碎片式分析上，它与前者完全不同。就好像夏加尔是在追随画肖像时产生的灵感，他剥去了自然图案外在的形式，故意暴露出图案底层的构造。

画家将碎片式具形按色彩分组。调和的画面基本由活跃的红色和沉稳的蓝色构成：红色占据了桌面部分，蓝色则用来表现人物。活跃的红对应多条斜线的动态移动，使包括各个物体在内的整个画面右部呈现出剧烈运动状态。一把餐刀在桌上的两个球体之间滚过，就像在滚珠轴承上;一把餐叉蠕虫般慢慢向上爬去，完美体现了未来主义的运动理论;酒瓶斜向跳出，似乎要像子弹般飞速射出。画面右上角，运动的红色爆裂成小片图形，构成一个散乱的图案。这其实是窗帘的花样，但在正常的背景中却看似缓慢行进的旋涡，这个旋涡由多种形状构成，被风吹进画面。桌上有一个精致的小酒杯和一张整齐折叠的纸，两者构成了画面局部的小型静物画，只有这组线条简单的静物保持竖直状态，但其既脆弱又稳定的特性却让观画者倍感周围的骚动。

夏加尔对绿色的使用很不寻常。人物头部是绿色的，安置在蓝色躯干上，猫也是绿色的，还有桌上的绿球。但凡用绿色描绘的物体都呈现出立体感，与构图整体的平面感形成鲜明的对比。绿色调的焦点是头部，其造型看起来像一个向上飘浮的奇怪球体。头部被扭转，以致不再与下方的脖子相连。

《诗人》现藏于美国费城的费城艺术博物馆。

1诗人，夏加尔的朋友。夏加尔以他为模特创作了《诗人马津》（Mazin， the Poet，布面油画，73厘米×54厘米，1911）。

2 out of the perpendicular倾斜。perpendicular垂直线（或位置、方向）。  3 commotion（突然发生的）喧闹，骚动。