The Latest Exhibition at Exhibition Hall

 

1. Has there been any exhibition held lately at Exhibition Hall?

2. When did it open? For how long was it open? 3. Have I any chance of seeing the exhibition? Is it still open? 4. What is on show? 5. Do you happen to remember any new names? 6. Whose pictures impressed you most? 7. Did anything in particular catch your attention?

Ex. 49. Read the following. Answer the questions, using the vocabulary of the lesson and retell the passage.

 

Picasso is perhaps the best known and most influential* of modern artists. Many people have made fun of his paintings; others have dis­liked them; but thousands believe him to be a great artist. What is cer­tain is that more people will admire Picasso as the years go by.

In 1960 a large and impressive exhibition of Picasso's paintings was held in the Tate Gallery in London. Several hundred of his canvases were exhibited and the public came in their thousands to see them. At last people could see his paintings properly in their true colours and they were certainly impressed by his great variety** of styles.

Picasso, who was born in Malaga in Spain in 1881, took up painting seriously in about 1895. During his long life he has always tried to find new ways of expressing himself in art. Most of his early pictures are easy to understand and like: gay scenes of Paris, and rather sad pictures of actors, players and poor people, for example. Then he became a cubist, painting people and objects*** as if they were made of cubes, squares and triangles. His later cubist pictures are very abstract and painted in browns and greys.

In the nineteen-thirties Picasso's art often expressed sorrow**** and anger with great power. His best known painting of the period is Guer­nica showing the horrors***** of war.

Picasso's art has always been restless, searching; symbolic, senti­mental, satirical, it has never been simply formal.

Questions

 

1. What part does Picasso play in modern art? 2. Why can there be no doubt that more people will admire Picasso as the years'go by?. What exhibition was held in the London Tate Gallery in I960? 4, What did the exhibition offer the public? 5. Why are Picasso's exhibitions always an important event?'6. What nationality was Picasso? 7. When did he take up painting seriously? 8. What had he been searching for all his life? 9. What are his early pictures like? 10. What are cubist pain­tings? 11. What is abstract art? 12. What sort of feelings can be discov­ered in many of his paintings of the nineteen-thirties? 13. What is his most famous painting of the period? 14. Why is Guernica of parti­cular interest? 15. Why is Guernica believed to have marked a turning point in modern art? 16. Why is the public usually greatly impressed by Picasso's works? '17. What can be said of Picasso's art?

 

* влиятельный

** разнообразие

*** предмет

**** печаль

***** ужасы

 

Ex. 50. Read the following, answer the questions, retell the text in English.

 

ДОБРЫЙ ДЕНЬ, ЧУДЕСНАЯ ВОДА СЕГОДНЯ

 

Двадцативосьмилетний англичанин Уильям Хонивилл возвра­щался домой из Австралии на борту теплохода. После непродолжи­тельной остановки теплоход покинул остров Гран-Канария. Была глубокая ночь. Хонивилл отправился к себе в каюту, но, дойдя до двери, передумал — его соседи по каюте продолжали шумно весе­литься и явно не собирались ложиться спать. В поисках тишины Хо­нивилл вновь поднялся на палубу и устроился с сигаретой на самой корме.

Он просидел так больше часа. Потом встал и бросил рассеянный взгляд на часы. Они показаывали 4.30 утра. Хонивилл шагнул...

Вот как он вспоминает о дальнейшем: ^

— Я не помню, как летел вниз с высоты двадцати метров. Первой мыслью после того, как я очутился в воде было — скорей догнать корабль. Но теплоход был уже далеко. Я продолжал плыть. Море было спокойно. Я стал обдумывать свое положение. Соседи по каюте вряд ли хватятся меня. Чтобы отвлечься от грустных мыслей, я стал думать о насущных делах — неоплаченных счетах, сделанных заказах.

К двум часам дня я начал ощущать усталость. Только тут я об­ратил внимание, что не снял с себя туфли. Подумав, я решил остать­ся в них — какой смысл раздеваться? Я заметно слабел.

Было около четырех часов, когда я увидел приближающийся ко мне теплоход, но подумал, что это игра воображения. На палубе не было ни одного человека: «Ну конечно, файф-о-клок» — с горечью подумал я.

В девять часов утра капитану доложили, что исчез пассажир. Капитан приказал развернуться и искать пассажира. Его нашли через шесть с половиной часов.

— Добрый день, чудесная вода сегодня! — с трудом произнес Уильям, когда его подняли на борт, и рухнул на палубу.

Questions

 

1. Where was William Horneville going? 2. How was he travelling? 3. For how long did the ship stop over at Grand Canary? 4. What made orneville change his mind about going to bed? 5. What was taking place in his cabin? 6. What sort of a party were his fellow-passengers having? 7. Why did he go to the stern? 8. How did he happen to fall overboard? 9. Why was there no hope of catching up with the ship? 10. What did he realize as he started thinking over his situation? 11. Why were his fellow-passengers unlikely to miss him? 12. Why were unpaid bills, orders and other business matters likely to keep his mind off sad­der thoughts? 13. What did he take the approaching ship for at first? 14. Why did he feel so bitter about the five o'clock tea-drinking ritual? 5. When was the disappearance of a passenger reported to the ship's master? 16. What were the captain's orders? 17. How much time had passed before the man on watch finally noticed Horneville? 18. What did Horneville say on finding himself on deck?

Ex. 51. Retell the following in English.

 

ВЕРЕЩАГИНСКАЯ КАРТИНА НАЙДЕНА!

 

В одно прекрасное утро... Да, для меня оно стало действительно прекрасным, счастливым. В это утро молодой москвич Эрик Ко-вальцик купил ноябрьский номер «Техника — молодежи» за 1966 год. Статья под заголовком «Загадка старой открытки», рассказы­вающая о картине «Наполеон I при реке Березине», заинтересовала его. Еще минута, и он понял, что вполне возможно, что речь идет о той картине, что находится у него дома! Она досталась ему от дедуш­ки.

На следующий же день Эрик связался по телефону с Государст­венным историческим музеем. Если это действительно полотно Вере­щагина, то он должен предложить его музею, где собраны и экспони­руются все произведения об Отечественной войне 1812 года.

В тот же день я зашел к Эрику Ковальцику. В глубоком волнении жду минуты встречи с картиной, поискам которой отдано столько лет. Вот она — передо мной! Нет ни малейшего сомнения в том, что она стоила всех затраченных мной усилий. Картина производит сильное впечатление. Суровое, даже гневное выражение лица Напо­леона. Его взгляд обращен в сторону Березины, где остатки фран­цузской армии с трудом переправляются на другой берег реки. Идет снег. Солдаты прижались друг к другу. Какая-то леденящая атмосфе­ра. Пейзаж усиливает это впечатление.

Я осматриваю каждую фигуру картины, внимательно изучаю де­тали. На обратной стороне картины читаю строчки: «Картина эта написана мужем моим Василием Васильевичем Верещагиным» и под­пись «Л. В. Верещагина. 4 декабря 1904 года». Именно в декабре 1904 года была организована выставка произведений замечательного баталиста. Картина наверняка выставлялась на этой выставке. В 1967 году отмечалось 125-летие со дня рождения художника, и я был счастлив, что мне удалось найти его последнее незавершенное полотно.

Более десяти лет я собираю все, что связано с Верещагиным. Шли годы, собрание мое росло. Летом прошлого года я передал коллекцию в дар городу Череповцу. В доме, где родился выдающийся художник-баталист, открывается музей.

Е. Успенский

 

"Science for Youth"; "The Mystery of the Old Picture Postcard";

"Napoleon I at the Berezina"; the State Historical museum; the Patrio­tic War of 1812; the remnants of; a landscape; a painter of battle pieces; Cherepovets.

 

Ex. 52. Read and retell the passage. Retell it in the person of Foinet, Philip's teacher. Speak on how difficult it is to give up some­thing you love.

Foinet's Advice

 

Philip knew that on the days Foinet came to the studio he lunched at a little restaurant in the Rue d'Odessa*, and he hurried his own meal so that he could go and wait outside till the painter came out. Philip walked up and down the crowded street and at last saw Monsieur Foinet walking towards him; Philip was very nervous, but he made him­self go up to him.

"I should like to speak to you for one moment," he began.

Foinet gave him a quick look, recognized him, but he did not smile a greeting.

"Speak," he said.

"I've been working at the studio nearly two years now under you. I want to ask you to tell me frankly if you think it worth while** for me to continue."

Philip's voice was shaking a little. Foinet walked on without look­ing up.

"I'm very poor," Philip continued. "If I have no talent I would rather do something else."

"Do you live near here?"

Philip told him where his studio was. Foinet turned round.

"Let us go there? You shall show me your work."

"Now?" cried Philip.

"Why not?"

Philip had nothing to say. He walked silently by the master's side. He felt terribly frightened. In his heart he hoped that Foinet would look at his pictures, would shake his hand and say: "Not bad. Go on, my boy. You have talent, real talent."

They arrived at the house. Philip suddenly felt that he did not want to know the truth; if he could he would have asked Foinet to go away.

In the room Foinet sat down; and Philip without a word placed before him two portraits, two or three landscapes, and a number of sketches.

"That's all," he said with a nervous laugh.

Foinet lit a cigarette. "You have very little money?" he asked at last.

•'Very little," answered Philip, with a sudden feeling of cold at his heart. "Not enough to live on."

"With hard work there is no reason why you should not become a painter. You would find hundreds who painted worse than you, hund­reds who painted as well. I see no talent in anything you have shown me. You will never be anything but mediocre."*

Philip made himself answer calmly. "I'm very thankful to you for having taken so much trouble, I can't thank you enough."

Foinet put his hand on Philip's shoulder.

"But if you were to ask me my advice, I should say: try your luck at something else. It sounds very hard but let me tell you this: I would give all I have in the world if someone had given me this advice when I was your age and I had taken it."

Philip looked up at him with surprise.

"It's cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late."

He gave a little laugh as he said the last words and quickly walked out of the room.

(from "Of Human Bondage" by W. S. Maugham)

 

* Odessa Street (in Paris)

** иметь смысл, стоить

 

 

Ex. 53. Use the following in situations.