Green red brown blue white

1. When Bill saw my new car her was __ with envy. 2. Tina never comes here now. We only see her once in a __ moon. 3. When the visitors from Japan arrived, the company gave them the __ carpet treatment. 4. I’m fed-up with this job. I feel completely __ off. 5. Julie’s letter was unexpected. It arrived completely out of the __. 6. The ___-collar workers received a rise, but the workers on the shop floor were told they had to wait. 7. We decided to celebrate by going out and painting the town __. 8. Tony can’t be trusted yet with too much responsibility, he’s still __. 9. You can talk until you’re __ in the face, but he still won’t listen. 10. They fell deeper and deeper into the __ and then went bankrupt.

Text 4

STUDYING A PAINTING

A painting can be studied on several levels and from a variety of perspectives. Here is an example of how pictures can be described, analyzed, interpreted and evaluated.

A.

from “Christmas Holiday” by W.S.Maugham

“Chardin,” he said. “Yes, I've seen that before... I've al­ways rather liked his still lifes myself.”

“Is that all that means to you? It breaks my heart."

“That?” cried Charley with astonishment. “A loaf of bread and a flagon of wine? Of course, it's very well painted.”

“Yes, you're right; it's very well painted; it's painted with pity and love. It's not only a loaf of bread and a flagon of wine; it's the bread of life and the blood of Christ, but not held back from those who starve and thirst for them and doled out by priests on state occasions; it's the daily fare of suffering men and women. It's so humble, so natural, so friendly; it's the bread and wine of the poor who ask no more than that they should be left in peace, allowed to work and eat their simple food in freedom. It's the cry of the despised and rejected. It tells you that whatever their sins, men are good at heart. That loaf of bread and that flagon of wine are symbols of the joys and sorrows of the weak and lowly. They ask for your mercy and your affecti­on; they tell you that they are of the same flesh and blood as you. They tell you that life is short and the grave is cold and lonely. It's not only a loaf of bread and a flagon of wine; it's the mystery of man's lot on earth, his craving for a little friendship and a little love, the humility of his resignation when he sees that even they must be denied to him.

... And isn't it wonderful that with those simple objects, with his painter's exquisite sensibility, moved by the charity of his heart, that funny dear old man should have made something so beautiful that it breaks you? It was as though unconsciously, perhaps, hardly knowing what he was doing, he wanted to show you that if you only have enough love, if you only have enough sym­pathy, out of pain and distress and unkindness, out of all the evil of the world, you can create beauty.”

B.

Still life with Soup Tureen by Paul Cezanne (1883-1885)

...Apart from oranges, and above all the apples which he has made famous the accessories used by Cezanne all have this in com­mon: they were never objected to luxury. On this point Cezanne is more austere than Chardin who always painted the more ordinary objects, but ones not locking in a certain refinement of shape.

With Cezanne this is never the case. The round jam pots, the plain plates, the pots and jugs of grit stone, ordinary bottles -these are his favourite materials. Everything is sacrificed to volume and shape. The decorated and almost luxuriant soup tureen, which appears in this still life is an exception.

The background in his pictures is always furnished; never, or hardly ever, is it neutral in shade. Behind these still lifes there is always a second still life: curtains, wall-paper or fur­niture, serving as decoration to the objects in the foreground. In this picture it is pictured hanging on the wall. Among them on the left is a landscape; it's a road seen in perspective, giving a depth to the background of Cezanne's picture.

C.

“Dedham Lock and Mill”. Landscape by John Constable (1820)

... This is a brilliant example of Constable's new painting at its complete maturity. The salient features of the landscape are trea­ted in sharp painting contains, in syntheses, all the elements of landscape, which Constable loved best: the river, the boats, the soaked logs, the river vegetation, the sun shining through the foliage of the tall trees, the scenes of rural life. The cultural origins of this work are apparent in the traditional composition, in the use of chiaroscuro, in the way the landscape fades into the distance, after the Dutch manner, and in the complex, laboured pallette. The compact tree mass in the foreground is blocked in against a sky filled with movement, reflected in the calm and transparent waters on which plays a pallid sun. It was works such as this which are meant to ensure Constable's place in official art history. (From "Constable" by Giuseppe Gat)

D.

“Cottages of Cordeville”. Landscape by Vincent Van Gogh (1890)

...The little village of Auvers has attracted many painters: Corot, Daubigny, Pissarot. Cezanne evoked its peaceful charm. Van Gogh transformed it into a volcanic territory, the houses of which seem twisted by a tempest. This picture shows stability in its construction, with its houses well propped up in the hollow of a hill, and a lay-out of superimposed terraces in the sun. But this effect is in contrast to the dishevelled, tormented draw­ing which causes the roof to go in waves, forms the branches of the tree in spirals bigger than itself, transforms into arabesques the menacing accumulation of clouds, changes the little field in­to a green waterfall and gives the whole scene an aspect of fan­tasy. (From "Impressionist Painting in the Louvre" by G.B.)

E.

“Picnic” by Claude Monet (1866)

This picture is a study of light on an enormous scale. Monet noticed the pools of colour with which the light, filtering through the leaves, splashed the clothing and the faces; but he also noticed an effect contrary to the teaching in the schools, namely that light does not dim but intensifies colour, rescues it from the shadow. Colour, therefore, when submitted to the play of light and shade, tends to break up. (Ibid. Extract)

F.

Portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio by Antonis Van Dyck (after 1621)

The portrait, dated shortly after 1621, is ranked as one of Van Dyck’s finest. The influence of Rubens and the Venetian masters is evident in the treatment of light and brushstroke. Van Dyck’s emphasis on the cardinal’s aristocratic features and hands and the richness of his ecclesiastical robes leave no doubt as to the social position of the sitter. (From “Pitti Palace” by Claudio Pescio. Guide)

G.

“Lady Elizabeth Delme and Her Children” by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1777-1779)

It is a typical family group portrait in the. Grand Style of English portrait painting. Lady Delme was the wife of a member of Parliament and belonged to the privileged class of the landed nobility. Here, with an air of apparently casual informality, she is shown on the terrace before her country-house, while behind stretch the broad acres of her family estate.

Reynolds has taken care that the gestures, facial expressions and poses of his subjects are appropriate to their age, character, and social status. So, in this portrait, Lady Delme is dignified and gracious, secure in the knowledge of her beauty and wealth. Her son John, aged five, as if sensing the responsibilities of manhood, gazes sternly toward the distant horizon. Her other son, Emelias Henry, in unmasculine skirts as befits his three years, is coy and winsome. The fourth member of the group, the unkempt Skye terrier, is the embodiment of loyal affection. Note the simplicity of the pyramidal design and the low-keyed colour scheme. These features were for Reynolds symbols of dignity and good taste.