有人说，艺术是我们认识世界的一扇大门。今天推荐的便是打开大门的一串钥匙：绘画。艺术就不能不那么艰深难懂吗？下面的几幅作品，也许能改变我们对绘画艺术的印象。
1. 西班牙印象派画家索罗拉
Sorolla was a Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the sunlight of his native land. (Source: Wikipedia)
西班牙画家华金·索罗拉以肖像、风景以及历史与社会题材绘画见长，其笔下沐浴着西班牙阳光的风景与人物的灵动描绘构成了他鲜明独特的个人风格。
The Skipping Rope（1907）
Painted in summer 1907 during his stay in La Granja de San Ildefonso, Spanish painter Sorolla painted Elena, his younger daughter, seen here in the foreground playing with other girls with a skipping rope near one of the fountains in the gardens of the Royal Palace near Segovia. The whole work is marked by the search to capture the instant impression, brought to life by the movement of all the figures momentarily frozen, as in a photographic snapshot.
西班牙画家索罗拉1907年在圣伊尔德丰索宫逗留期间创作了这幅作品，画中的地点是塞哥维亚附近皇家宫殿的花园，画前方可以看到他的小女儿正和其他女孩在喷泉附近玩跳绳。画家捕捉了一霎那的印象，如同摄影一般将人物凝结在瞬息之间，整幅作品生机盎然。
2. 同样具有处理光影和层次天赋的柯罗耶
Summer Evening on Skagen's South Beach（1893）
This is one of Krøyer's most cherished images. From the early 90s Krøyer started mostly depicted the moods of romantic anecdotes, occasionally coloured with a soft and romantic, melancholic touch of bleakness. The mood of several of Krøyer's blue paintings reflects the so-called twilight hour, the “blue hour”, when the sky and the sea appear to merge in a range of blue tones and create the mood of so-called ‘nocturne’. Krøyer got the idea for the painting from seeing the views of the backs of Anna and Marie engaged in intimate conversation after a dinner party in June 1892 at the family's home in Skagen.
这是柯罗耶本人最为珍视的作品之一。柯罗耶从19世纪90年代初开始大量尝试进行爱情轶事的氛围描绘，不时使用柔和且浪漫的色调，夹杂苍凉忧郁的笔触。他的一些蓝色系的绘画反映了所谓“黄昏时分”，也即“忧郁时分”，彼时天空与大海的蓝色相互交融，营造出一种“夜曲”的意境。1892年6月，柯罗耶的妻子玛丽安在他们斯卡恩的家中与安娜晚宴后亲密交谈着，柯罗耶从这两人的背影中获得了灵感并创作了这幅作品。
3. 爱画天光水色的莫奈
另一位印象主义画家莫奈则声名更甚，很多人记住他是因为大名鼎鼎的《日出·印象》(Impression, Sunrise)。该作品的重要性毋庸多言，甚至成为印象画派“印象”一词的由来。事实上，《日出·印象》是莫奈利用海水反射来表达色彩的典型作品，但绝对不是唯一精彩的一幅。通过反复描绘同一处的海景来捕捉变化的光线，试图重现季节的流逝，这样的反复揣摩让莫奈在画作光影和色彩上的处理炉火纯青。
Shadows on the Sea. The Cliffs at Pourville（1882）
This view is from west of Pourville and includes part of the village, the cliffs between it and nearby Dieppe, and the headlands stretching beyond the harbor there to the northeast. In his treatment of the sea surface, Monet's Impressionist technique can be seen fully developed. Shadows, reflections and movements are depicted in a series of short, curved brush strokes in pure, unmixed pigments.
这是从布维尔村庄西边看上去的景象，包含村庄的一部分，以及位于布维尔和附近迪耶普之间的悬崖，还有延伸到东北海湾的岬角。从对海平面的处理上可以看出，莫奈的印象派技巧得以全面施展。一系列短促弯曲的笔触，纯净、未经调配的颜料，组成了这幅充满阴影、反射兼具动态的作品。
莫奈也将这些运用在海景画上的技巧迁移到了其他的静物画上，下面这幅作品就体现了其色彩运用异乎常人的细腻与实验性。
Peony Garden（1887）
Claude Monet once said: “I must have flowers, always, and always.” The artist lived for forty-three years, from 1883 to 1926, in his house in Giverny. With a passion for gardening as well as for colours, he conceived both his flower garden and water garden as true works of art. Walking through his house and gardens, visitors can still feel the atmosphere which reigned at the home of the Master of Impressionism and marvel at the floral compositions and water lillies, his greatest sources of inspiration. Some of Monet's favorite flowers, seen at Giverny are Japanese anemones, asters, nasturtiums, delphiniums, mullein, lupins and peonies. Monet was passionate about mixing different types of plants, from the simplest wildflower to the most rare variety, as long as he achieved the effect he wanted.
莫奈曾说过：“我一定要有鲜花，永远永远都要有。” 这位艺术家从1883年至1926年在他吉维尼的房子居住了43年。怀着对园艺以及对色彩的热爱，他把花圃和水园都视作真正的艺术品。游客走过他的房子和花园，仍可以感受到主导印象派大师之家的气氛，仍会对花的作品和水中合花感到惊叹，这些是他最大的灵感来源。莫奈有些最喜爱的花在吉维尼可以看到，比如日本海葵、紫苑、旱金莲、飞燕草、毛蕊花、羽扇豆和牡丹。他喜欢把不同品种的植物混合养植，不拘是最简朴的野花还是最稀有的品种，只要能达到他想要的效果就好。
4. 被我们穿在T恤上的安迪·沃霍尔
19世纪后，印象画派每况愈下后，最为大众所熟知的应该是当代艺术中的一朵奇葩——波普艺术（pop art），安迪·沃霍尔作为其开创者及代表人物，留下了大量被后世不断复制且商业化的艺术作品。
Quadrant Mickey Mouse（1981）
After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, author, and member of highly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy patrons. Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression “15 minutes of fame.”
继在商业插画上取得成功后，沃霍尔成为了举世闻名的画家、先锋电影制片人、唱片制作人、作家以及囊括波西米亚街头艺术死忠粉、杰出知识分子、好莱坞红人以及富有资助者在内的高度多元化社会群体中的成员。至今，沃霍尔可谓是无数回顾性展览、书籍与纪录片中的宠儿。正是他创造了广为人知的“15分钟名气”这种说法（“15 minutes of fame”指转瞬即逝的名气）。
Andy Warhol once stated, “I am a deeply superficial person”, and this is a great paradox to approach his work: rooted in pop culture, his pieces speak to the modern appeals of contemporary society—the urge for consumption; the taste for standardised and vibrant visuals used to advertise those products; the eagerness for entertainment and distractions…
安迪·沃霍尔曾经说过，“我是一个非常肤浅的人”，但这句话就是悖论，因为他的作品根植于流行文化，诉说了当代社会的现代诉求 ——冲动消费，宣传产品时偏好采用标准化、活力四射的视觉效果，渴望娱乐和消遣……
Who wouldn't recognise Mickey Mouse? Friendly childhood reminiscences smile towards this fluorescent painting. In enthusiasm we welcome this frenetic repetition, sparing concerns just for the thrill of it.
谁会不认识米老鼠呢？荧光涂料上微笑的米老鼠是我们童年美好的回忆，我们欣然接受这种作品对童年的狂热重现，不遗余力地关注，只为它带给我们的激动和狂喜。
