Уровень

“Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose”

John Singer Sargent was an American artist who came to live and work in London. He painted some beautiful pictures of people out of doors and then became famous for grand portraits of rich and fashionable people. "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" was painted while Sargent was living in England. It isn't actually a portrait, even though the young girls do look very life-like and take up quite a lot of space, which makes them seem important. The real subject (what it was about) of the picture is light and how it can affect the way in which we see things-especially the colour of things. This is one of the few pictures Sargent painted out of doors during his time in England.

Sargent wanted to show in this picture a special kind of light which can only be seen at a particular time of day and year. This was the beautiful mauve (a kind of purple) light of twilight (when the sun is just below the horizon early in the morning or evening). There are several things in the picture which look partly mauve because the light is making them look that colour. The lanterns are making reflections of a different colour. Most of the picture has a mauvish look which gives it a certain kind of mood or atmosphere.

Because Sargent painted "Carnation, Lily. Lily, Rose" only during these minutes it took a long time — nearly two years — for him actually to finish the picture.

This can be seen best of all in late summer.

Вопросы

1. What are the girls doing?

2. Do you know the name for the kind of lantern they are holding?