(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Gwen Outen. And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, Georgia O'Keeffe.
America has produced many great painters in the past one hundred years. Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the most popular and easily recognized artists. People do not mistake her work for anyone else's. People can immediately identify her paintings of huge, colorful flowers or bones in dream-like deserts.
Georgia O'Keeffe said she did not know how she got the idea to be an artist. But, she said, the idea came early. She remembered announcing when she was twelve years old that she planned to be an artist.
Georgia was born in eighteen eighty-seven, the second of seven children. Her parents were successful farmers in the middle western state of Wisconsin.
Georgia's mother also had cultural interests. She made sure that Georgia and her sisters studied art, in addition to their usual school subjects. By the time Georgia was sixteen, the O'Keeffe family had moved to Williamsburg, Virginia.
After Georgia finished school, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Georgia was especially pleased with the help she got from her teacher, John Vanderpoel. She later wrote that John Vanderpoel was one of the few real teachers she knew.
In nineteen-oh-seven, O'Keeffe began a year at the Art Students League in New York City. The famous painter William Merritt Chase was one of her teachers. Chase had a great influence on O'Keeffe's early artistic development. She described him as fresh, full of energy and fierce. She seemed to understand and agree with his style of painting.
Then, in nineteen-oh-eight, Georgia O'Keeffe left the world of fine art. She moved back to Chicago and worked in the advertising business. She drew pictures of products to be sold. Her parents had been struggling financially for some time in Virginia. Later, her mother became sick with tuberculosis. Some art historians suspect these were the main reasons Georgia O'Keeffe spent four years in business instead of continuing her studies.
In nineteen twelve, O'Keeffe returned to art school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Artist and teacher Arthur Wesley Dow taught that art should fill space in a beautiful way. This theory influenced and changed her work.
O'Keefe also learned about the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. He wanted artists to represent the inner spirit in outer things. O'Keeffe considered Kandinsky's writings a treasure. She read them throughout her life.
In nineteen fifteen, Georgia O'Keeffe decided that much of what she had been taught in art school was of little value. She decided to hang recent work she had done on the wall of her home. She examined it and did not find herself in the art. She wrote that she had been taught to work like others. She decided then that she would not spend her life doing what had already been done.
Georgia O'Keeffe began to search for her own style. She used only charcoal, the black material made from burned wood. In her book about her life, she wrote that she decided to limit herself to charcoal until she found she really needed color to do what she needed to do. She wrote that six months later she found she needed the color blue. She used it for a watercolor painting she called "Blue Lines."
Georgia O'Keeffe had met the famous art critic and photographer Alfred Stieglitz at his New York City gallery in nineteen-oh-eight. Their friendship grew as they wrote letters to each other. In nineteen fifteen, O'Keeffe told a friend that she wanted her art to please Alfred Stieglitz more than anyone else.
That friend showed O'Keeffe's charcoal drawings to Stieglitz.? Stieglitz liked her drawings enough to show them in his art gallery, called Two Ninety One.
Alfred Stieglitz was a major force behind shows of Georgia O'Keeffe's work for the next twenty-five years. Her first individual show at his gallery was well received. She sold her first piece at that show in nineteen seventeen.
Stieglitz became O'Keeffe's strongest supporter. Seven years later he became her husband. He was twenty-four years older than his new wife.
The relationship between O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz was not an easy one. O'Keeffe once said that to her "he was much more wonderful in his work than as a human being." But, she also said she loved him for what seemed "clear and bright and wonderful." The two remained married until his death in nineteen forty-six.
Georgia O'Keeffe also had a long love relationship with the southwestern part of the United States. The desert environment was the subject of many of her paintings. O'Keeffe had moved to the state of Texas when she was twenty-five. She accepted a two-year position as supervisor of art in the public schools of Amarillo, Texas.
Later, she taught in a small town. She wrote about long walks on narrow paths in a canyon near that town. The dangerous climbs in and out of the canyon were like nothing she had known before. She wrote that many paintings came from experiences like that.
In one such painting, the canyon is shown as a huge deep hole of many colors -- reds, oranges and yellows. It looks as if it is on fire.? The canyon fills most of the picture. A small area of blue sky in the distance lends additional depth to the picture.
In nineteen thirty, Georgia O'Keeffe began spending most of her summers in the state of New Mexico. She called it "the faraway." She painted big pictures of desert flowers and the high rocky hills. She also began to paint pictures of the bones she found during walks near her summer home. Most of her paintings share the qualities of largeness of subject and richness of color.
The artist discussed those two qualities in her book, called "Georgia O'Keefe." She wrote that color is more exact in meaning than words. Later, she wrote that she found she could say things with color and shape that she could not express in words.
She also spoke of a special need to paint her subjects larger than they are in life. She seemed to want to force people to see more deeply into objects such as flowers. She tried to show the different shapes and colors within a single flower. The artist said she would make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what she saw in flowers.
O'Keeffe was angered by some criticism of her work over the years. She rejected critics' claims that there was deep sexual meaning in her paintings of flowers. She said that people linked their own experience of a flower to her paintings. She suggested that critics wrote about her flower paintings as if they knew what she was seeing and thinking. But, she said, they did not know.
Georgia O'Keeffe always argued that what others think of the artist's work is not important. She once wrote to a friend, "... I'll do as I please."
Georgia O'Keeffe bought her first house in New Mexico in nineteen forty. After Alfred Stieglitz died, she moved to "the faraway'" permanently. She lived in New Mexico for the rest of her life.
In the early nineteen seventies, O'Keeffe began losing her sight because of an eye disease. She stopped working with oil paints, but continued to produce watercolor paintings.
Around the same time, she met a young artist who would become very important to her. Juan Hamilton made pottery -- objects of clay. He became O'Keeffe's assistant and friend. They also traveled together. But in the early nineteen eighties Georgia's O'Keeffe's health failed severely. She died in nineteen eighty-six. She was ninety-eight.
Georgia O'Keefe received many honors during her long life. President Gerald Ford presented her with the Medal of Freedom in nineteen seventy-seven. Eight years later, President Ronald Reagan awarded her the National Medal of Arts. Students and experts continue to study and write about her work.
Her paintings are shown around the world. And, more than one million people have visited the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in New Mexico since it opened in nineteen ninety-seven.
重点解析
1.mistake for把…错认为
Fish and seabirds mistake plastic for food and choke to death.
鱼类和海鸟错把塑料当作食物而呛死。
2.in addition to除…之外
So what should we do to promote peace, in addition to the proposals mentioned above?
那么，除了上述提到的方案外，我们应该采取什么行动来促进和平呢？
3.agree with同意
If all Americans agree with you, then who don't we agree [with]?
如果所有的美国人都能够同意你的想法，那我们还有什么分歧呢？
4.look as if看起来
But it looks as if you are turning Bahrain into another Syria or Iran.
但是这似乎是您正在将巴林转型成为另一个叙利亚或伊朗。
5.speak of谈到
Though he spoke of the past, I suspected his mind was on the future, my future, and the long shadow this night would cast over it.
虽然他的语气是过去式，我怀疑他当时想到的是将来，我的将来。 在那个晚上，长长的阴影凝固在我整个人生里。
6.take time花时间
So I think I should take time everyday to think about and ponder about blessing in my life.
所以我每天应该花费点时间好好思考一下我的人生受到多少庇佑。
参考译文
我是格温·奥坦恩，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述20世纪最伟大的画家之一乔治亚·欧姬芙的故事。
在过去的100年里，美国诞生了很多伟大的画家。乔治亚·欧姬芙是最受欢迎和最普遍接受的艺术家之一。人们不会把她的作品误认为别人的作品。人们一眼就能认出她画中的梦一般沙漠里的巨大的色彩斑斓的花朵或骨头。
乔治亚·欧姬芙说她不知道自己是如何产生成为艺术家的想法的。但是，她说，这个想法很早就产生了。她记得在12岁的时候，自己宣布计划要成为一名艺术家。
乔治亚出生于1887年，是七个孩子中的老二。她的父母是威斯康星州中西部成功的农民。
乔治亚的母亲也有文化方面的爱好。乔治亚的母亲确保乔治亚和她的姐妹们除了通常的学校课程外，还要学习艺术。在乔治亚州16岁的时候，奥基夫一家搬到了弗吉尼亚州的威廉斯堡。
乔治亚大学毕业后，她进入伊利诺伊州的芝加哥艺术学院学习。乔治娅对她的老师约翰·范德波尔的帮助感到特别高兴。她后来写道，约翰·范德波尔是她认识的为数不多的真正的老师之一。
在1907年，奥基夫在纽约市的艺术学生联盟开始了一年的学习。著名画家威廉·梅里特·蔡斯是她的老师之一。蔡斯对欧姬芙的早期艺术发展有很大的影响。欧姬芙觉得蔡斯是新颖、精力充沛、凶狠的男人。她似乎理解并同意蔡斯的绘画风格。
然后，在1908年，乔治亚·欧姬芙离开了艺术的世界。她回到了芝加哥，投身于广告事业。她为要出售的产品画图片。她的父母在维吉尼亚的经济困难已经有一段时间了。后来，她的母亲得了肺结核。一些艺术史学家怀疑，这是乔治亚·欧姬芙没有继续学业，而是在商界待了四年的主要原因。
1912年，欧姬芙回到位于夏洛茨维尔的弗吉尼亚大学艺术学院学习。艺术家兼教师亚瑟·卫斯理·道教导学生，艺术应该以一种美丽的方式填充空间。这个理论影响并改变了她的作品。
奥基夫还了解了俄罗斯画家瓦西里·康定斯基。他想让艺术家在外在事物中表现内在的精神。欧姬芙认为康定斯基的作品是珍宝。她一辈子都在阅读他的作品。
在1915年，乔治亚·欧姬芙认为她在艺术学校所学的大部分东西都没有什么价值。她决定把最近完成的工作挂在自己家里的墙上。她仔细研究了一番，她没有在艺术中发现自己。她写道，人们教导她要像其他人一样工作。她当时决定，在自己的生活中，她不会花时间做那些别人已经做过的事。
乔治亚·欧姬芙开始寻找自己的风格。她只用了炭笔作画，一种由燃烧的木头制成的黑色材料。欧姬芙她关于自己生活的书中，她写道，她决定把自己的创作限制在炭笔上，直到她发现自己真的需要颜色来做自己需要做的事情。欧姬芙写道，六个月后，她发现自己需要蓝色。她用它画了一幅水彩画，她称之为“蓝线”。
乔治亚·欧姬芙于1908年在阿尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨的纽约画廊遇见了这位著名的艺术评论家和摄影师。当他们互相写信时，彼此之间的友谊加深了。在1915年，欧姬芙告诉一个朋友，她希望自己的艺术比任何人都更能取悦艾尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨。
那位朋友把欧姬芙的炭笔画拿给斯蒂格利茨看。施蒂格利茨非常喜欢她的画，并把它们陈列在他的名为“291”的画廊里。
阿尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨是乔治亚·欧姬芙在接下来的25年里作品展览的主要推动者。欧姬芙在他的画廊举办的首场个人画展受到好评。她在1917年的那次展览上卖掉了她的第一件作品。
斯蒂格利茨成了欧姬芙最坚定的支持者。七年以后，斯蒂格利茨成了她的丈夫。他比他的新婚妻子大24岁。
欧姬芙和阿尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨之间的关系并不容易。欧姬芙曾经对她说：“工作中的他比作为一个人更美妙。”但是，欧姬芙也说她爱他，因为他看起来“清澈、明亮、美妙”。直到斯蒂格利茨在1946年去世，两人一直保持着婚姻关系。
乔治亚·欧姬芙也与美国西南部有着长期的恋爱关系。沙漠环境是她许多画作的主题。欧姬芙25岁时搬到了德克萨斯州。她接受了德克萨斯州阿马里洛公立学校提供的为期两年的艺术督导工作。
后来，她去了一个小镇教书。她写了在那个小镇附近的峡谷里，在狭窄的小路上长途散步的故事。在峡谷里危险的爬进爬出跟她以前知道的东西全然不同。她写道，许多画作都是来自这样的体验。
在一幅画作中，她画的峡谷为一个红色、橙色、黄色等多种颜色的深坑。在画中，看起来峡谷像是着火了，峡谷占据了这幅画的大部分空间，在远处的一小片的蓝天为这幅画增添了额外的深度。
1930年，乔治亚·欧姬芙开始在新墨西哥州度过她大部分的夏天。她称之为“远方”。她画了沙漠花朵和高高的岩石山丘的巨幅画。她也开始画关于骨头的画，这些骨头是她在自己夏天的家园附近散步时发现的。她的大部分作品都具有题材宏大和颜色丰富的特性。
艺术家欧姬芙在她的书《乔治亚·欧姬芙》中讨论了这两种特性。她写道，颜色的含义比文字更准确。后来，她写道，她发现自己可以用颜色和形状说出自己无法用语言表达的东西。
欧姬芙还说有一种特殊的需要，那就是画出的东西要比其在生活中的更大。她似乎想要促使人们更深入地观察像花这样的东西。她试图展示一朵花的不同形状和颜色。这位艺术家说，她会让即使是忙碌的纽约人也花时间去看她在花中看到的东西。
欧姬芙被多年来对她作品的一些批评所激怒。她驳斥了评论家们关于她的花卉画中含有深刻的性意味的观点。她说人们会把自己对花的体验和她的画联系起来。欧姬芙认为评论家们评论她的花卉画时，就好像他们知道她看到了什么、想到了什么一样。但是，欧姬芙说，他们不知道。
乔治亚·欧姬芙总是认为别人对艺术家作品的看法并不重要。她曾经给一个朋友写信说:“……我按我喜欢的方式创作。”
乔治亚·欧姬芙在1940年在新墨西哥州买了她的第一套房子。丈夫阿尔弗雷德·斯蒂格利茨去世后，她永久地搬到了“遥远的”地方。欧姬芙在新墨西哥州度过了余生。在20世纪70年代早期，欧姬芙开始因为一种眼疾而失明。她不再画油画，但还在继续创作水彩画。
大约在同一时间，她遇到了一位对她来说非常重要的年轻艺术家。胡安·汉密尔顿用粘土制作陶器。他成了欧姬芙的助手和朋友。他们还一起旅行。但是在20世纪80年代早期，乔治亚州的欧姬芙健康状况严重恶化。欧姬芙于1986年去世。享年九十八岁。
乔治亚·欧姬芙在她漫长的一生中获得了许多荣誉。1977年，杰拉尔德·福特总统授予她自由勋章。八年后，罗纳德·里根总统授予她国家艺术奖章。学生和专家们继续研究和撰写她的作品。
她的画在世界各地展出。自从1997年乔治亚·欧姬芙博物馆在新墨西哥州开放以来，已经有一百多万人参观了它。
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