惠斯勒绘画的美学趣味及对本土印象派的影响

Aesthetic Concepts of the Works by James Whistler and Their Influence on American Impressionist Artists

美国印象派画家和他们的法国前辈一样都受到了日本艺术的影响,不过他们对日本艺术的兴趣还来自一个重要的中介人物——旅居画家詹姆斯·惠斯勒。在对东方艺术和观念的吸收与表现上,惠斯勒是一个重要的传播者,他通过自己的作品为美国印象派画家们理解和欣赏日本艺术搭起了一座视觉的桥梁。与早先法国印象派对东方艺术中的元素借鉴和装饰表象的挪用相比,惠斯勒在对日本艺术的构图、色彩以及美学上有更为深层的认识和理解,而美国19世纪末印象派画家们对日本风格的一种不同步的吸收,也正是体现了他们所接受的作为中介的惠斯勒艺术的不同影响。

Impressionist artists in the U.S.,like their French pioneers,came under the influence of Japanese art.However,their interest in Japanese art had a very critical source:James Abbott McNeill Whistler,an American artist residing in London.As an important conveyer of oriental arts and concepts,Whistler enabled American Impressionist artists to understand and appreciate Japanese art through his works.Compared with his predecessors in France who simply borrowed or drew references from oriental art elements and features,Whistler went deeper into interpreting the composition,colors and aesthetic values of Japanese art.Meanwhile,the phenomenon that American Impressionist artists in the late 1900s assimilated Japanese style unevenly also reflects the different levels of impact Whistler’s art had on them as a bridge.