Van Gogh’s Self-portraits: Astonishing and Gripping凡·高自画像：令人惊讶，扣人心弦

马丁·盖福德　邓安儿/译

In September 1889， Vincent van Gogh sent his brother Theo a new self-portrait from the mental hospital at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. ‘You must look at it for some time， he instructed， then ‘youll see， I hope， that my physiognomy1 has grown much calmer， although the gaze may be vaguer than before， so it appears to me.

1889年9月，文森特·凡·高从法国普罗旺斯圣雷米的精神病院给弟弟提奥寄去一张新的自画像。“你必须好好瞧瞧这幅画，”他嘱咐道，这样“你就会发现（我希望如此），我的脸显得平静多了，不过眼神可能比以前更散了，在我看来是这样。”

Vincent was severely ill and was in the hospital to recover from his affliction2， the nature of which remains controversial. Yet he carried on creating marvellous pictures， including several of himself. One of the questions raised by Van Gogh. Self-Portraits， the wonderful exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery， is simple but fundamental： why？

那时文森特病得很重，在这所医院疗养，至于所患何病仍存在争议。不过，他还是坚持创作了一批非凡的画作，其中就包括数张自画像。考陶德美术馆曾举办一场名为“凡·高自画像”的精彩展览。这场展览引人思考一系列问题，其中之一虽然简单，却十分重要，那就是：为何要画？

We take it as a given3 that artists depict themselves; but some never do， and others only rarely. Vincent produced roughly 35 images of himself between early 1886 and autumn 1889 （the precise number depends on how you define ‘self-portrait）， which averages almost ten a year.

人们都认为画家肯定会画自己，但有些画家从未如此，还有些画家极少这么干。从1886年初至1889年秋天，文森特创作了大约35幅自画像（具体是多少幅，要看你如何定义“自画像”），平均下来，每年画近10幅。

Collectively， they begin to provide some answers to that conundrum4： why did Van Gogh paint himself so much？

所有自画像一同提供了答案，开始为我们解答难题：为何凡·高如此频繁地画自己？

The first and most mundanely5 practical is： because he was there. Vincents greatest ambition， clearly stated in his letters， was to paint people. But he had recurring difficulties finding models for two reasons： firstly， paying them cost money， of which he was always short; secondly， his disquieting6 manner apparently made many potential sitters7 nervous of spending time alone in his company. In Arles the locals seemed to have been afraid hed put the evil eye on them. But Van Gogh was always ready and willing to pose for himself.

第一个原因，也是最为普通的现实原因：他是现成的模特。文森特曾在信中明确表示，自己最大的追求是畫人。但他在找模特时一再遇到困难，原因有二：其一，他得付模特钱，而他总是缺钱；其二，他令人不安的举止显然让许多潜在的模特人选感到焦虑，不愿与他单独相处。在阿尔勒，当地人似乎都害怕凡·高在作画时用可怕的目光盯着自己，而凡·高自己则随时都能且愿意为自己摆姿势。

This helps to explain the abundance of self-portraits—more than two dozen—from 1886 and 1887， the period he spent living in Paris. These are， among other things， five-finger exercises8 in which he tried out new techniques and experimented with the brighter， impressionist palette9 that he was adopting at that time. In a picture such as Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat （September–October 1887） you can see the Van Gogh ‘signature style coming into being—the broad strokes10 of the brush with which he draws in paint， the brilliant use of complementary colours， so his head is surrounded by a whirling halo of blue and red and forehead furrowed11 with lines of green. Here is a portrait of the artist learning to be ‘Van Gogh.

这就有助于解释1886年至1887年凡·高客居巴黎期间，其自画像为何如此高产（超过24幅）。在凡·高的众多画作中，这些自画像是其练手作品，他以此尝试新技巧，试验他在这段时期所采用的更为明亮的印象派色调。如《戴灰毡帽的自画像》（1887年9月至10月），你能从中看出凡·高的“标志性风格”逐渐成形——笔触粗犷，巧妙运用互补色。因此，画中的他，头部四周红蓝光晕缭绕，前额之上蹙起绿色皱纹。这幅自画像画的正是学着成为“凡·高”的凡·高本人。

But looking at these self-images suggests another reason why he painted himself so much： because even to himself Vincent was an interesting subject. He must have had an extraordinarily intense presence12. In a picture from summer 1887， his hair seems to be bristling13 as if with an electrical charge. This helps to explain why， as Martin Bailey points out in a catalogue essay14， quite a few other artists， including Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec， made pictures of him too.

然而，看着这些自画像就会发现凡·高频繁描绘自己的另一原因：即便对他而言，文森特也是一个有趣的主题。他的外貌与举止肯定极具特色。在1887年夏天完成的一幅自画像中，他的头发粗硬毛糙，就像是通了电。正如马丁·贝利在一篇展览图录文章中指出的那样，这有助于解释为何不少画家，包括高更和土鲁斯-劳特累克在内，也会以他作画。

On the other hand， Vincent was also highly changeable. He once wrote to his sister that one sitter could be the subject for many different portraits. This phenomenon， a general truth， is in part because the artists interest changes over time， but also because no subject will be quite the same from one day to the next day. Some people alter more than others; Van Gogh evidently changed a lot， partly for physical reasons. In some pictures he looks hollow-cheeked， possibly because he was not wearing his false teeth （hed had about 12 extracted）. He also intermittently shaved off， then regrew his whiskers. Above all his moods swung wildly， the depths and heights growing more extreme as time went on.

另一方面，文森特也十分多變。在给妹妹的信中，他提到同一模特可以充当不同肖像画的描绘对象。这是个普遍现象，一来是因为画家的兴趣会随着时间的推移而改变，二来是因为没有哪个绘画对象日复一日完全相同。有些人比其他人变化更大。凡·高的变化就很明显，部分原因在于其身体状况。在一些自画像中，他的脸颊深陷，或许是因为他没戴假牙（他已经拔了大约12颗牙）。他剃胡子并不规律，络腮胡剃了又长回来。最重要的是，他的情绪起伏巨大，随着时间的推移，情绪的高度和深度越发极端。

It is too romantic to imagine Van Gogh was deliberately producing a diary or autobiography in paint. On the other hand， he explicitly wanted to make portraits that were deeper than photography （of which he had a low opinion）， images that recorded ‘passionate expressions.

设想凡·高故意通过绘画来创作日记或自传，那未免太过不切实际。另一方面，他曾明确地表示自己想创作出比照片（他对摄影的评价很低）更有深度、能记录“热烈神情”的画像。

This certainly applied to his own， ever more drastic metamorphoses15. The climax lies in the juxtaposition16 of three pictures from the last full year of his life， 1889. In Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear done within weeks of his ear-mutilation at Christmas 1888， he is pale， shaken17 and withdrawn18， but also—amazingly—back at work in his studio.

凡·高无疑已将这一理念运用于描绘自己那较以前更甚的剧变。1889年，凡·高度过了人生中的最后一个整年，在此期间完成的三幅画作一并体现了他对该理念的极致运用。《耳缠绷带的自画像》是凡·高在1888年圣诞节割耳后的几周内完成的。画中的他苍白、烦闷、孤僻，却也令人惊叹——他竟然能回归画室，重拾工作。

A picture from late August， painted during a bad attack， is even more of a victory over circumstances. Here Vincents electric gaze is switched off， eyes dead， posture slumped. But he still managed somehow to summon the concentration and energy to produce this work. Within a week or two he had created a masterpiece， begun on ‘the first day I got up19 and showing himself， ‘thin， pale as a devil but back again at his easel， brushes and palette in hand. In Vincent the will to paint was more powerful， apparently， than the will to live.

1889年8月末，凡·高在严重发病期间完成的自画像，更是他战胜逆境的体现。此图中，文森特眼里的光芒熄灭了，眼底死寂一片，体态颓然萎靡。但他还是设法提起精神、集中精力，完成了这幅画作。此后一两周内，他又画就另一幅杰作。他在“起床的第一天”开始动笔，画中的他“瘦削苍白得跟鬼一样”，虽然状态如此，他依然再次回到画架前，重拾画笔和调色板。在文森特身上，绘画的意愿显然要比生存的意愿更为强烈。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）