How we listen

1 We all listen to music according to our separate capacities. But, for the sake of analysis, the whole listening process may become clearer if we break it up into its component parts, so to speak. In a certain sense we all listen to music on three separate planes. For lack of a better terminology, one might name these: (1) the sensuous plane, (2) the expressive plane, (3) the sheerly musical plane. The only advantage to be gained from mechanically splitting up the listening process into these hypothetical planes is the clearer view to be had of the way in which we listen.

2 The simplest way of listening to music is to listen for the sheer pleasure of the musical sound itself. That is the sensuous plane. It is the plane on which we hear music without thinking, without considering it in any way. One turns on the radio while doing something else and absent-mindedly bathes in the sound. A kind of brainless but attractive state of mind is engendered by the mere sound appeal of the music.

3 The surprising thing is that many people who consider themselves qualified music lovers abuse that plane in listening. They go to concerts in order to lose themselves. They use music as a consolation or an escape. They enter an ideal world where one doesn't have to think of the realities of everyday life. Of course they aren't thinking about the music either. Music allows them to leave it, and they go off to a place to dream, dreaming because of and apropos of the music yet never quite listening to it.

4 Yes, the sound appeal of music is a potent and primitive force, but you must not allow it to usurp a disproportionate share of your interest. The sensuous plane is an important one in music, a very important one, but it does not constitute the whole story.

5 The second plane on which music exists is what I have called the expressive one. Here, immediately, we tread on controversial ground. Composers have a way of shying away from any discussion of music's expressive side. Did not Stravinsky himself proclaim that his music was an "object", a "thing", with a life of its own, and with no other meaning than its own purely musical existence? This intransigent attitude of Stravinsky's may be due to the fact that so many people have tried to read different meanings into so many pieces. Heaven knows it is difficult enough to say precisely what it is that a piece of music means, to say it definitely, to say it finally so that everyone is satisfied with your explanation. But that should not lead one to the other extreme of denying to music the right to be "expressive".

6 Listen, if you can, to the 48 fugue themes of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavichord. Listen to each theme, one after another. You will soon realize that each theme mirrors a different world of feeling. You will also soon realize that the more beautiful a theme seems to you the harder it is to find any word that will describe it to your complete satisfaction. Yes, you will certainly know whether it is a gay theme or a sad one. You will be able, in other words, in your own mind, to draw a frame of emotional feeling around your theme. Now study the sad one a little closer. Try to pin down the exact quality of its sadness. Is it pessimistically sad or resignedly sad; is it fatefully sad or smilingly sad?

7 Let us suppose that you are fortunate and can describe to your own satisfaction in so many words the exact meaning of your chosen theme. There is still no guarantee that anyone else will be satisfied. Nor need they be. The important thing is that each one feels for himself the specific expressive quality of a theme or, similarly, an entire piece of music. And if it is a great work of art, don't expect it to mean exactly the same thing to you each time you return to it.

8 The third plane on which music exists is the sheerly musical plane. Besides the pleasurable sound of music and the expressive feeling that it gives off, music does exist in terms of the notes themselves and of their manipulation. Most listeners are not sufficiently conscious of this third plane.

9 It is very important for all of us to become more alive to music on its sheerly musical plane. After all, an actual musical material is being used. The intelligent listener must be prepared to increase his awareness of the musical material and what happens to it. He must hear the melodies, the rhythms, the harmonies, the tone colors in a more conscious fashion. But above all he must, in order to follow the line of the composer's thought, know something of the principles of musical form. Listening to all of these elements is listening on the sheerly musical plane.

10 Let me repeat that I have split up mechanically the three separate planes on which we listen merely for the sake of greater clarity. Actually, we never listen on one or the other of these planes. What we do is to correlate them – listening in all three ways at the same time. It takes no mental effort, for we do it instinctively.

11 Perhaps an analogy with what happens to us when we visit the theater will make this instinctive correlation clearer. In the theater, you are aware of the actors and actresses, costumes and sets, sounds and movements. All these give one the sense that the theater is a pleasant place to be in. They constitute the sensuous plane in our theatrical reactions.

12 The expressive plane in the theater would be derived from the feeling that you get from what is happening on the stage. You are moved to pity, excitement, or gaiety. It is this general feeling, generated aside from the particular words being spoken, a certain emotional something which exists on the stage, that is analogous to the expressive quality in music.

13 The plot and plot development is equivalent to our sheerly musical plane. The playwright creates and develops a character in just the same way that a composer creates and develops a theme. According to the degree of your awareness of the way in which the artist in either field handles his material will you become a more intelligent listener.

14 It is easy enough to see that the theatergoer never is conscious of any of these elements separately. He is aware of them all at the same time. The same is true of music listening. We simultaneously and without thinking listen on all three planes.

我們是怎樣聽音樂的

1 我們都按照各自不同的能力來聽音樂。 但為了便于分析，如果把聽的整個過程分成幾個組成部分，那么這個過程會更清晰一些。 從某種意義上來說，我們聽音樂有三個不同的層次。 由于缺乏更好的術語，我們姑且把它們命名為：（1）感官層次；（2）表現(xiàn)層次；（3）純音樂層次。 把聽的過程機械地分割為以上三個假想的層次，唯一的好處是讓我們更清楚地了解自己是怎樣聽音樂的。

2 聽音樂最簡單的方式是去獲取樂聲帶來的純粹的愉悅感，這是音樂的感官層次。 在這個層次上，我們只是聽音樂，不做任何思考。 我們打開收音機，一邊做著其他的事情，一邊心不在焉地沉浸在音樂中。 樂聲本身的魅力帶我們進入一種無需思考的美妙心境。

3 令人意外的是，許多自認為合格的音樂愛好者在聽音樂時過多地使用了這一層次。 他們去聽音樂會是為了忘卻自我。 他們把音樂當成一種慰藉，一種逃避，由此他們進入了一個可以忘卻日常生活的理想世界。 當然，他們也沒有思考音樂。 音樂允許他們離開現(xiàn)實，到另一個地方去做夢，因為音樂而做夢，做有關音樂的夢，卻從沒有真正欣賞過音樂。

4 的確，音樂的聲音魅力是一種強勁的原發(fā)力量，但不能聽任它主次不分地篡奪了聽者的那份興趣。 感官層次是音樂的一個重要層次，非常重要，但并不是音樂的全部。

5 音樂存在的第二個層次就是我所說的表現(xiàn)層次。 一提到這個問題，我們馬上就進入到一個頗具爭議的領域。 作曲家總是設法避開有關音樂表現(xiàn)方面的討論。 斯特拉溫斯基不是曾經聲稱他的音樂是一個“物體”，是一件有自我生命的“東西”，除了純音樂性的存在之外沒有任何別的含意嗎？ 斯特拉溫斯基這種不妥協(xié)的態(tài)度可能源于這樣的一個事實：有那么多的人嘗試著從眾多的音樂作品中讀出完全不同的含意。 確實，要準確地說出一部音樂作品的含意已經很難了，要肯定并確定地說出來，還要使每個人對你的解釋都感到滿意，是難上加難。 但我們不該因此走到另一個極端，去剝奪音樂“表現(xiàn)”的權利。

6 可能的話，你不妨聽聽巴赫的《平均律鋼琴曲集》中的 48個賦格主題。 依次地、一個個地聽聽其中的每一個主題，你很快就會意識到每個主題都反映了一個不同的情感世界，你很快也會意識到你越覺得某個主題美妙，就越難找到令你完全滿意的字眼來描述它。 是的，你當然知道那個主題是歡快的還是悲傷的。 換句話說，你能夠在腦海中勾勒出那個主題的情感框架。 那么就更仔細地聽一下這個悲傷的主題吧，要明確悲傷的性質。 是悲觀厭世的悲傷，還是無可奈何的悲傷？是時運不濟的悲傷，還是強顏歡笑的悲傷？

7 假設你很幸運，能用許多詞句充分表達你對選中主題的確切理解。 但這仍然無法保證其他人對你的理解都感到滿意，他們也完全沒有必要感到滿意。 重要的是，每個人能親自感受某個主題的表現(xiàn)力，或以同樣的方式去感受一部完整的音樂作品獨特的表現(xiàn)力。 如果是一部偉大的音樂作品，就別指望每次去聽它都能給你帶來相同的感受。

8 音樂存在的第三個層次是純音樂層次。 除了令人愉悅的樂聲及其所表現(xiàn)的情感之外，音樂也因其音符本身以及對音符的處理而存在。 多數(shù)聽眾都沒有充分認識到音樂的這第三個層次。

9 對我們所有人來說，更加充分地認識這個純音樂層次非常重要。 畢竟樂曲使用的是實實在在的音樂材料。 聰明的聽眾一定要做好準備，隨時提升自己對音樂材料以及這些材料的使用的理解。 他必須要更加有意識地傾聽音樂的旋律、節(jié)奏、和弦及音色。 但最重要的是，為了能夠跟上作曲家的思路，他還必須了解一些音樂形式方面的知識。 去聽所有這些成分就是在純音樂層次上欣賞音樂。

10 讓我重復一遍，我僅僅是為了講解得更清楚才把聽音樂的三個層次機械地分割開來的。 事實上，我們從來都不會只在其中的一個層次上聽音樂。 我們其實是把它們聯(lián)系起來，同時在三個層次上聽音樂。 這并不需要付出多少腦力，因為我們是憑本能這么做的。

11 也許，與看戲時我們所做的作類比，能使這種本能的聯(lián)系更加明白易懂。 在劇院里，你能注意到男女演員、服裝和布景、聲音和動作。 這些東西組合在一起，會讓我們覺得劇院是一個令人愉悅的地方，它們構成了我們欣賞戲劇的感官層次。

12 戲劇的表現(xiàn)層次來自于你看舞臺表演時獲得的感受。 它激起你的憐憫、興奮或是愉悅。 正是這種籠統(tǒng)的感覺，除了聽臺詞所感受到的，主要是存在于舞臺上的某種情感的東西，與音樂的表現(xiàn)性相類似。

13 劇情以及劇情的發(fā)展相當于我們所說的純音樂層次。 劇作家塑造和發(fā)展戲劇人物的方式，和作曲家創(chuàng)造和發(fā)展主題的方式是一樣的。 你能否成為一個聰明的聽眾，取決于你對劇作家或音樂家處理藝術材料的手段的了解有多深。

14 顯然，看戲的人從來就不會單獨注意到這其中的一個元素。 他是同時注意到了一切。 聽音樂的道理也是一樣的，我們同時地、不假思索地在三個層次上傾聽音樂。

The photo

1 On Tuesday afternoon, August 14, 1945, Americans could practically taste the victory over the Japanese Empire. But that wasn't enough. They wanted to see it and never forget what it looked like. They needed a picture – one so sensational that those yet to be born could experience the same exhilaration and always remember what the end of World War II felt like.

2 While many newspapers and magazines hunted for such an image, the expectation of one publication far exceeded the others. Subscribers of that leading photo journal had come to expect eye-catching photographs, especially during World War II. Now, with victory in their grasp, the magazine's subscribers looked for a one-in-a-million photo to mark the occasion.

3 In pursuit of this image, the photo journal's most prominent photographer searched the streets of Times Square. He understood his charge. The magazine that employed him had earned a reputation for always getting the picture. So had he – and today his reputation was once again on the line. On this day, he looked for a picture that would represent the American victory.

4 Finding such an image grew increasingly challenging. As the early afternoon progressed, the nation's most famous Square filled with people celebrating. The photographer's field of vision narrowed. Keeping track of people's movements bordered on the impossible. Focusing on any one person proved especially futile. The noise of clacking feet, laughing voices, and escalating commotion added multiple layers of distraction. Despite the crowds, the photographer persisted in his search for the photo.

5 Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tall sailor swooping in on a shorter woman dressed in white. Without conscious thought, he acted quickly. Spinning around, he raised his Leica camera and took a photo of what appeared to be a sailor and nurse kissing. He had taken thousands of pictures during his celebrated career. Many commanded the world's attention. None looked like this one. Ultimately, that photo came to represent the victory at the end of World War II.

6 While in the future many would marvel at the sailor's and nurse's captured pose, in truth the shoot required no posing or fussing. In fact, the photographer exercised no role in bringing the moment about. However, his contribution proved enormous. He acted without thinking, aimed accurately, and took the shot at the most moving moment. The image he captured allows one to see the exhilaration, taste the kiss, smell the perfume and cologne, hear the bustling streets, and feel victory.?

7 V-J Day, 1945, Times Square struck a powerful chord in 1945 and continued to play well with future onlookers years and even decades later. The photo takes hold of the viewer's attention and, like the pictured sailors, never seems to let go. All the photo's features compete for the eye's focus. The sailor's huge right hand cups the woman's waist and holds on tightly. She sways her left hip out lazily. His left arm supports her upper torso, which might otherwise collapse forward, supported by a downward, pointed high-heeled white shoe. While their lips pressed tightly together and his nose pressing against her left cheek, she closed her eyes, apparently content to remain unaware of her pursuer's identity. Their uniforms' colors, dark navy blue and bleached white, offer the only contrast between their two joined bodies. Those gathered around the victory celebrants focus attention on the captured moment. Grins and smiles indicate they approve. At last the conquering hero and his obliging maiden are together, safe and sound.?

8 Over the ensuing years millions stared at or studied the anonymous sailor and nurse. Each viewing ignited their imagination. They devised story lines to complement what they saw, but they never knew the truth. Instead, like a1940s movie, surmised plots glossed over the war's miseries and romanticized life in general. Predictably, the stories reached their peak either with the couple parting and never speaking to each another again, but wondering what ever happened to each other, or the photo's principals married, and hung Eisenstaedt's famous photograph in the living room of the Cape home they bought after the war. And, of course, they spawned a boatload of children. While sentimental and unoriginal, such scenarios sit well with a sentimental public.?

9 Often people's fictional plots surrendered to fantasy. And who can blame them? The photograph brims with perceived uncontrolled passion and sexual tension. V-J Day, 1945, Times Square invites viewers to participate in the frolic. Many cannot resist the temptation.

10 Even without such encouragement, other less readily observable

considerations give people cause to stare at the photo longer. One might argue that Times Square's suspended instance marks the high point of America's narrative. America defeated its demons, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese military. A victor nation celebrates in a carefree way. Wealth, security, and confidence await the couple. There will be marriages and a baby boom, creating a common experience that continues to characterize America's preferred vision of itself. V-J Day, 1945, Times Square marks the starting line of a sprint toward a more prosperous standard of living and an inventive ideal family life. One can assume the sailor and nurse will go on to purchase a split-level home, live in the suburbs, drive big cars, watch television shows, and produce children — lots of children. Life will be good. No one foresees the Korean or Vietnam conflicts, the civil rights struggles, Watergate, terrorist attacks, or today’ s concerns of "America's decline".Nothing distracts us from the bliss. In fact, in that moment, everybody longs to be an American. And on this glorious day, at that precious moment, regardless of their birth nation, everyone waves the Red, White, and Blue.

11 Though most photographs fade with the passing years, the

black-and-white photo of a sailor and nurse kissing on V-J Day sharpens and raises its voice. Taken in the planet's most popular meeting place and printed in the magazine known around the world for its captivating photographs, the

image reminds us of a time when we felt better as a nation and as individuals than we ever had before and we ever have since. Like a fond memory, no one wants to turn away. And for more than 65 years, almost no one did

照片

1 1945年8月14日（周二）下午，美國人終于可以實實在在地品嘗打敗日本帝國的勝利滋味了，但這還不夠，他們不僅想親眼目睹勝利，還要永遠銘記這個時刻。 他們需要一張照片——一張激動人心的照片，能讓戰(zhàn)后出生的人體會到當時人們興高采烈的心情，并永遠記住二戰(zhàn)結束時人們的感受。

2 雖然很多報紙和雜志都在尋找這樣的圖像，但人們對其中一份出版物寄予的希望要大大超過其他出版物，這家頂級攝影期刊的訂閱者，尤其是在二戰(zhàn)期間，本就期待能看到吸引眼球的圖片。 現(xiàn)在，勝利已經在握，期刊的訂閱者期待有一張百萬里挑一的精彩圖片，來慶祝這一時刻。

3 為尋求這樣一張照片，這家攝影期刊最杰出的攝影師在時代廣場的街道上搜索著。 他知道自己所肩負的責任。 那家雇用他的雜志因總能提供最精彩的圖片而享有盛譽，他本人也因同樣的理由享有很高的聲譽——而今天他的聲譽將再次受到考驗。 他此行的目的在于尋找一張能象征美國勝利的攝影圖片。

4 找到這樣一個圖像變得越來越具挑戰(zhàn)性了。 中午剛過，美國最著名的時代廣場便擠滿了前來慶祝的人。 攝影師縮小了自己的視覺范圍。 追蹤人群的移動幾乎不可能，對任何個人進行聚焦更是徒勞。 咔嗒咔嗒的腳步聲、歡笑聲以及不斷升級的喧鬧給攝影增添了多重干擾。 盡管身邊人潮涌動，攝影師的眼睛仍在堅持不懈地搜索著那精彩的鏡頭。

5 突然，他眼角的余光注意到一個高大的水手正迅速撲向一個個子比他矮一些的穿白衣服的女子，他下意識地做出了迅速反應。 他轉過身來，舉起徠卡相機，拍下了一張貌似水手和護士親吻的照片。 在他頗負盛名的職業(yè)生涯中，他拍攝了成千上萬張的照片，其中有不少吸引了全世界的關注。 但這一張卻與眾不同。 最終，是這張照片在二戰(zhàn)結束時象征了勝利。

?

6 將來還會有很多人贊嘆水手和護士被捕捉的瞬間的姿勢，但真實的情況是，這次攝影并沒有要求擺姿勢，也不要求小題大做。 事實上，攝影師并沒有刻意安排這一瞬間，但他的貢獻卻很大：他不假思索，果斷行動，準確瞄準，拍下了最感人的瞬間。 他抓拍的畫面讓人欣賞到那興高采烈的場面，體會那個吻，聞到香水和古龍香水的芳香，聽到大街上熙熙攘攘的喧鬧聲，感受勝利的喜悅。

7 這張題為《勝利日之吻》的照片在1945年引起了人們強烈的共鳴，并在往后幾年，甚至幾十年都繼續(xù)在觀看者心中產生強烈的共鳴。 照片抓住了觀眾的注意力，就像圖中的那位水手那樣，似乎永遠都不會放手。照片所有的細節(jié)都在爭奪觀眾的眼球： 水手那只寬大的右手托住女子的細腰，緊緊地摟著。 她的左側臀部慵懶地向外擺，腳上穿著一雙腳跟尖尖的白色高跟鞋。 他的左胳膊支撐著她的上身，不然的話，她的身子可能會向前撲倒在地。兩雙嘴唇緊緊貼在一起，他的鼻子貼著她的左臉頰，她閉著雙眼，顯然甘愿不知道眼前這位追求者的身份；他們兩個人的身體已經融為一體，唯有兩套制服的顏色——深海軍藍和漂白色——構成了鮮明的反差。 那些聚集在勝利慶祝者周圍的人把注意力集中在被抓拍的瞬間，咧嘴笑和微笑表明他們贊同這個舉動。 終于，凱旋的英雄和他樂于助人的姑娘安然無恙地團聚了。

8 在隨后的那些年里，有幾百萬人注視過，或者研究過那對匿名的水手和護士。 每次看那張照片都會激發(fā)他們的想象力，他們編造故事情節(jié)，補充照片上的情景，但他們永遠都不會知道事情的真相。 相反，他們臆想出來的故事情節(jié)就像20世紀40年代的電影那樣，通常掩蓋戰(zhàn)爭的苦難，把人生浪漫化。 可以預測，故事的高潮或者是這對戀人分手了，彼此再沒說過一句話，但想知道對方過得怎樣；或者是照片里的主人公終成眷屬，他們戰(zhàn)后在五月角買了房子，客廳里掛著艾森斯塔特的這幅畫，當然了，他們生了許多孩子。 這類場景比較煽情，缺乏新意，但卻正好迎合了感性的大眾的趣味。

9 人們在虛構情節(jié)時常常愛幻想，可誰又能責怪他們呢？ 這張照片充滿了感觀的、無法控制的激情與性張力。 《勝利日之吻》這張照片邀請觀眾來加入到這場狂歡中，許多人無法抵擋這個誘惑。

10 即使沒有這樣的鼓勵，其他一些不太容易被人察覺的原因也會讓人有理由對這張照片多看幾眼。 人們可以爭辯說，時代廣場那個被定格的瞬間標志著美國敘事手法的高潮：美國打敗了惡魔阿道夫?希特勒、貝尼托?墨索里尼、日本天皇裕仁以及日本軍隊。 戰(zhàn)勝國無拘無束地盡情歡慶，等待著這對情侶的是財富、安全和自信。 很多人將結婚，美國將經歷戰(zhàn)后生育高峰，并創(chuàng)造出一種繼續(xù)描繪美國愿景的共同經歷。 《勝利日之吻》這張照片標志著從這一天開始國家向著更富裕的生活水準和創(chuàng)新的理想家庭生活全速邁進。 人們可以假定水手和護士接著將購買一個錯層式房屋，住在郊區(qū)，開著寬敞的轎車，看著電視節(jié)目，生孩子——一大堆孩子。 生活將是美好的，沒有人預見朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭、越南戰(zhàn)爭、民權運動、水門事件、恐怖襲擊或現(xiàn)在對“美國衰落”的擔憂。 沒有什么事能讓我們分心，我們盡享極樂，實際上在那個時刻每個人都渴望成為美國人。 在這光榮的日子里，在那彌足珍貴的一刻，無論你出生在哪個國家，每個人的手上都揮舞著紅白藍三色的美國國旗。

11 雖然大多數(shù)相片會隨著歲月的流逝而變得晦暗，但這張抗日戰(zhàn)爭勝利日水手和護士接吻的黑白照片卻愈加清晰，并更加有影響力。 這張照片攝于地球上最熱鬧的聚會場所，發(fā)表在一本以刊載精彩迷人的圖片而飲譽世界的雜志上，它使我們想起那段不論作為國家還是個人都感覺良好的空前絕后的輝煌時代。 就像一個美好的回憶一樣，沒有人會拒絕它，65年多以來，幾乎沒有人拒絕過它。

The top five paintings in Western art

Which are the greatest paintings of all time? Everybody has their favourites, and choosing a short list from the huge array of masterpieces in Western art is likely to be a frustrating – and ultimately not very useful – task. But here are five paintings which would be high up on anybody’s list.

Perhaps the most famous, and instantly recognizable, of all is Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, now in the Louvre in Paris. The longer you look at this painting, the more the mystery grows. Who is this person, whose eyes follow us wherever we are? As a famous critic once said, she seems older than the rocks among which she sits.

Las Meninas was painted in 1656 by Diego Velázquez. It hangs in the Prado Museum in Madrid, and is one of the most analyzed works in Western painting. Like a snapshot, it shows a large room in the palace of King Philip IV of Spain, and presents a number of people from the court: the King’s daughter Margarita, surrounded by her maids, a bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. In the background is Velázquez himself, working on another painting and looking out towards the viewer. The picture seems to be telling us that art and life are an illusion.

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The Starry Night is without question one of Vincent van Gogh’s best-known paintings. It shows the view at night from the room in the mental hospital in Saint Rémy de Provence, in the south of France, where he was staying after a severe breakdown. It also reflects something of the mental turmoil from which he was suffering at the time. It can be viewed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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Another well-known modern masterpiece is The Scream by the Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch. It shows a figure in apparent agony in front of a blood-red sky. It’s thought that he is not screaming himself, but protecting himself from a scream, struggling to keep out the distressing noise of nature. Some of this painting’s notoriety is due to the number of times it has been stolen from its home in the Oslo National Gallery.

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Last but not least, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was completed in 1907, and shows five prostitutes in a brothel. Within the history of modern art, it’s held to be one of the most influential works, and a precursor of the Cubist style, which featured geometric shapes and a plural viewpoint of features on different planes and which would otherwise be invisible. It can now be seen in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

西方藝術史上最好的五幅畫作

史上最偉大的畫作有哪些？每個人都有自己最喜愛的作品，但要從數(shù)不勝數(shù)的西方藝術精品中選出幾幅最好的，可能是一件費力不討好的事情。不過，下面這五幅畫可能在任何人的選單上都會高居榜首。

其中最有名的、一眼就能認出來的可能會是列奧納多的《蒙娜?麗莎》，現(xiàn)藏于巴黎的盧浮宮。你看著這幅畫越久，它就變得越神秘。這位目光始終追隨著我們的畫中人到底是誰？正如一位著名評論家所說的，她看上去比她坐著的石頭還要古老。

《宮女》是迪戈?委拉茲開斯1656年繪制的作品，它懸掛在馬德里普拉多美術館中。它是西方繪畫史上被分析得最多的畫作之一。這幅畫像一張快照，展示了西班牙腓力四世皇宮里的一間大屋子，還有屋里的許多宮廷人物： 有國王的女兒瑪格麗塔，被她的一群宮女、一名護衛(wèi)、兩個侏儒和一條狗簇擁著。后面是委拉茲開斯本人，他正在畫另一個作品，他把目光投向了觀眾。這幅畫好像在告訴我們，藝術和生活不過是一種幻覺。

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《星夜》無疑是文森特?凡?高最著名的畫作之一。它展現(xiàn)了從法國南部圣雷米普羅旺斯的一家精神病院的房間里看到的夜空景象，凡?高在一次嚴重的精神崩潰后住在了那里。這幅畫也反映了他當時所經歷的精神混亂。目前在紐約的大都會藝術博物館里可以看到這幅畫。

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另一幅著名的現(xiàn)代杰作是挪威藝術家愛華德?蒙克所畫的《吶喊》。它展示了血紅色的天空下一位痛苦異常的人。有人認為他并不是在吶喊，而是捂著耳朵，保護自己不受到喊聲的傷害，他極力把自然界令人痛苦的聲音擋在耳外。這幅畫名聲遠揚，部分是緣自它從奧斯陸國家藝術館被盜的次數(shù)。

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最后一幅重要畫作是畢加索的《阿維農少女》，該畫完成于1907年，描繪了妓院里的五個妓女。該畫被譽為現(xiàn)代藝術史上最有影響力的作品，也是立體主義畫派的先鋒之作。立體主義畫派的特點是運用許多幾何圖形，在多個平面中呈現(xiàn)人物五官，創(chuàng)造多重視點，展現(xiàn)出在單一平面中無法看見的特征。該畫現(xiàn)藏于紐約現(xiàn)代藝術博物館。

Guernica is a large mural, painted in 1937 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, to protest against the bombing of a small village in northern Spain. Standing at 3.49 metres tall and 7.76 metres wide, the large mural shows the suffering of people and animals amidst buildings wrenched by violence and chaos. Surprisingly, there is no vivid red colour to show flowing blood, for the mural is startlingly grey, black, and white. But there is no avoiding the horror of the images. The figures are not drawn realistically, but are done in a style that is Cubist and abstract, though it is apparent that innocent civilians are being slaughtered. A mother screams with her mouth wide open, her head tipped back in heart-rending anguish, as she holds her dead baby. A soldier lies dead on the ground, clutching his broken sword, and three other people are shown in shock and agony. Animals, including a tortured horse and a crying bird, are also portrayed as innocent victims of a massacre. There is no doubt that the distorted, horrifying images are intended to shock the viewer. This depiction of human grief is a profound statement of the cruelty and senselessness of war.

《格爾尼卡》是西班牙藝術家巴勃羅?畢加索1937年為抗議轟炸西班牙北部一個小村莊而作的一幅巨型壁畫。這幅大型壁畫高3.49米，寬7.76米，展示了暴力和混亂給人和動物帶來的苦難以及對建筑物的破壞。令人吃驚的是，整個壁畫的色調由灰、黑、白組成，沒有用鮮艷的紅色來表現(xiàn)血腥的場面，但恐怖的景象卻歷歷在目。畫面上的人物并非用寫實主義的畫法來表現(xiàn)，而是采用立體派和抽象派的畫法，但無辜平民慘遭屠殺的慘象卻一目了然：一位母親懷抱死嬰，張嘴尖叫，她仰面朝天，傷心欲絕；一位士兵橫尸地上，手里還緊握著一把斷劍；另外三個人也都處于震驚和痛苦之中。畫面中的動物——包括一匹受傷的馬和一只哭泣的鳥——也都被描繪成這次屠殺的無辜受害者。毫無疑問，描繪這些扭曲變形的駭人慘象的目的就是讓觀眾感到震驚。這種對人類悲苦慘狀的描繪是對戰(zhàn)爭的殘酷和荒謬的深刻控訴。

在敦煌莫高窟，最著名的藝術杰作要數(shù)壁畫“飛天”（flying apsaras）。敦煌飛天是印度文化和中國文化共同孕育而成的。在印度，被稱為“飛天”的空中飛行的天神（celestial beings）多出現(xiàn)在佛教石窟壁畫（grotto mural）中，中國道教傳統(tǒng)則把在空中飛行的天神稱為“飛仙”（flying immortals）。魏晉南北朝時，佛教初傳入中國，壁畫中的飛仙開始被稱為“飛天”。后來，隨著佛教在中國的深入發(fā)展，佛教的飛天和道教的飛仙在藝術形象上相互融合。敦煌莫高窟的飛天是中國古代藝術家的杰作，是世界藝術史的奇跡。

In the Mogao caves in Dunhuang, the murals with "flying apsaras" are one of the most well-known artefacts. The flying apsaras in the Dunhuang Grotto Murals are a product of the intermixing of Indian and Chinese culture. In India, flying celestial beings called "flying apsaras" appear mostly in murals in Buddhist caves, while in the Chinese Daoist tradition, flying celestial beings are known as "flying immortals". During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties, when the introduction of Buddhism in China was at an early stage, people began to use the term "flying apsaras" to refer to the flying immortals in the murals. Later, with the development of Buddhism in China, the artistic images of Buddhist flying apsaras and Daoist flying immortals merged with each other. The flying apsaras in the Dunhuang Grotto Murals are a most ingenious creation of ancient Chinese artists, and a marvel in the history of world art.