1 . Many visual artists have a signature style, as unique and identifiable as a fingerprint. For Amoako Boafo, who often paints with his fingers, this seems doubly true. His distinctive paint strokes (笔画) combine the complex skin tones of his chosen subjects, many of whom are, like himself, Africans with global life experiences.
Boafo, whose first solo museum exhibition runs at the Seattle Art Museum, was born and raised in Accra, Ghana, and moved to Vienna, Austria, in 2014, where he ran into difficulties, with gallerists unwilling to show his works due to his focus on Black figures. He continued making an effort to create self-portraits (自画像) and people he knew or admired-African people and Black people who have African ancestry, painting a community of sorts during a time of hardship. He also developed his standout approach to figurative painting, which combines areas of bright and noticeable color with his soft and deep fingerpainting.
He began posting his art online and caught the attention of artists like Kehinde Wiley, the celebrated American artist. The word started to spread.
Boafo is now a global art star, with numerous shows at galleries and art fairs, working with fashion house Dior, and several paintings selling for over a million dollars. In 2021, with three of his paintings being launched into space by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ Kent-based spaceflight company, you might even say Boafo has rocketed to success.
And yet a recent phone conversation with the artist from his studio in Accra, which is once again his home base, revealed a well-mannered person who appreciated his success while pointing out all of the luck and preparation that led to it. Seeing so many of his paintings -created from 2016 to 2022-gathered together in an exhibition has helped him remember that “I did not ‘just happen. ‘I did not expect this success but I was hopeful and ready for it.”
1. What makes Boafo’s paintings different from other artists’ works?| A．His finger strokes. | B．His home country. ss-ess |
| C．His life experiences. | D．His traditional style. |
| A．By turning to celebrated artists for help. | B．By developing a unique painting style. |
| C．By running his art exhibition at home. | D．By working with local art galleries. |
| A．To indicate the price of space travel. | B．To show the value of Boafo’s works. |
| C．To introduce an international brand. | D．To tell us the advances in technology. |
| A．He is talkative. | B．He is patient. | C．He is determined. | D．He is humorous. |
2 . Chopin, one of the most influential and popular pianists in the field of music, was born in Poland. He lived in a happy family. His father was a French teacher at the Warsaw Lyceum which Chopin later attended. His mother liked singing Polish folk songs very much. When Chopin was still a baby, his mother often sang songs to make him sleep. The charm of music was firmly rooted in the young Chopin’s heart and accompanied him until the end of his life.
His early training started at home, including getting piano lessons from his mother. When he was 4, his parents bought a piano at home. His mother often played the piano with him. Chopin had an unspeakable feeling for the piano. He often climbed onto the chair and beat the keys with his tender hands. “This is our son playing the piano. And it is a Polish folk song!” Chopin’s mother was surprised, and his father was very proud.
By the age of seven, Chopin had created original works, which showed his prodigious musical ability. Then his parents sent him to learn piano from Wojciech Zywny. When Chopin was sixteen, he attended the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, directed by composer Josephy Elsner. Like other young musicians during the Classical and Romantic Periods, Chopin was sent to Vienna, the center of music for that day. While he was in Vienna, Poland and Russia faced off in the beginnings of war. He returned to Warsaw to get his things for a more permanent move.
The war in Poland inspired Chopin to write many sad works expressing his grief for his motherland. Among these was the famous “Revolutionary Etude”. As the war continued in Warsaw and then reached Paris, Chopin retired to Scotland with friends. Although he was far beyond the reach of the revolution, he fell into deep depression. Besides, his health was in bad condition. Finally, he died at the age of 39, and was buried in Paris.
1. Who was Chopin’s first music teacher?| A．Wojciech Zywny. | B．His mother. | C．Josephy Elsner. | D．His father. |
| A．Chopin’s parents paid much attention to his education. |
| B．Chopin was forced to practice the piano by his mother. |
| C．His mother was his French teacher. |
| D．He lacked love in his childhood. |
| A．Because his health was poor. | B．Because he had special ability in music. |
| C．Because he loved his homeland, Poland so much. | D．He was inspired by his friends. |
| A．After first being sent to Vienna, Chopin never returned to Poland. |
| B．The center of music was in Paris for that day. |
| C．Chopin left Poland because he hated it. |
| D．He died early because of his poor health and his deep feeling of depression. |
3 . Painting Master Class examines 100 of the most fascinating paintings by the world’s greatest artists, exploring the way they were made, and how and what we can learn from them with detailed analyses. Below are the four masterpieces students prefer.
The Empire of Light is a series of paintings by Belgian artist René Magritte. Between 1953 and 1954, he painted the same scene 27 times. It shows a beautiful house lit by lights from inside, surrounded by the darkness of night. What is strange is that above the house and the tree, we see a daytime sky full of brightness and soft white clouds.
Racing Horse is a painting by Xu Beihong. In 1941 he painted a racing horse running at a high speed like a missile across the sky. The horse in the masterpiece is painted with a typical Western perspective but very traditional Chinese ink brushwork. Xu cleverly drew in black ink to show the moving hair on the horse’s mane and tail.
The Starry Night was painted in June 1889 when Vincent van Gogh was staying at a home for the mental illness. Van Gogh painted what he saw from his window — the night sky with clouds, stars and a moon. Influenced by Impressionism, he also painted the massive circles of white and yellow racing across the sky. Beneath this amazing sky, we see a sleeping village and a dark, lonely tree. His unusual use of colour has led experts to think that Van Gogh’s mental illness may have affected his sense of sight.
The Scream was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893. What makes it striking is that it shows a thin figure with an expression of fear — the figure’s mouth is wide open and letting out a powerful scream. This figure is set on a bridge above a dark, stormy sea, and against an orange-red sky. Many experts say that The Scream is connected to Munch’s mental health problems, which caused him a lot of pain.
1. Which of the following was painted latest?| A．The Scream. | B．The Starry Night. | C．Racing Horse. | D．The Empire of Light. |
| A．Edvard Munch’s. | B．Vincent van Gogh’s. | C．Xu Beihong’s. | D．René Magritte’s. |
| A．An ink painting of stars. | B．A series of paintings about the night sky. |
| C．A painting inspired by Impressionism. | D．A figure painting of Vincent van Gogh. |
4 . Floyd Norman, 81, was just 20 years old in 1956 when Walt Disney Studios employed him. He was the first African-American artist to be employed by the company. “It wasn’t something he set out to do as a goal,” Erik Sharkey said. Sharkey is a codirector of the documentary Floyd Norman: An Animated Life. “It sort of happened by his pursuing(追求) the thing that he loved.”
Norman’s first assignment was on Sleeping Beauty. He drew the characters positions that made them appear to move. A few years later, he helped bring the animated sequences(连续镜头)in Mary Poppins to life.
While at the studio, Norman liked to create gag(诙谐)drawings that he would post around the office. His coworkers, including Walt Disney, appreciated the humor. Disney assigned Norman a job on The Jungle Book. Norman drew the “Trust in Me sequence, in which Kaa, the snake, hypnotizes(迷惑)the boy, Mowgli. It was cool to be in that room with Walt - as long as he didn’t spot you. He might ask you a question,” Norman says in the documentary, “I thought he was always going to ask me: What are you doing here?”
In 1966, Norman left Disney to start Vignette Films with three friends. They made educational movies, including a series devoted to black history. But Norman never stopped drawing. He worked on Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, and Josie and the Pussycats. He also drew a Mickey Mouse comic strip(连环漫画)for Disney. In 1997, he joined Pixar to work on Toy Story 2.
Today, Norman is back at Disney. where he is an inspiration to young artists. But he is not ready to call himself a pioneer. “I never saw myself as anything special,” Norman says. “I was just another artist looking for a job.”
1. How did Norman make history according to Sharkey?| A．By aiming high. |
| B．By following his dreams. |
| C．By setting long-term goals. |
| D．By working for a world-class company. |
| A．Excellent. |
| B．Natural. |
| C．Confusing. |
| D．Mysterious. |
| A．He became a moviemaker. |
| B．He taught young artists to draw. |
| C．He wrote a book about black history. |
| D．He pursued advanced study on drawing. |
| A．Honest and responsible. |
| B．Optimistic and sensitive. |
| C．Determined and talented. |
| D．Considerate and generous. |
5 . Throughout history, there have been sculptors who are prized for their willingness to push boundaries. Without their contributions, it would be difficult to imagine visual art as we now know it. Here are some of the pioneers.
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598~1680)
As a master of materials, Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini is known for his astonishing ability to create movement and bring forth emotion with his work. In his masterpiece, Pluto and Perse, the rough and cold stone has been turned into flesh that looks so real and soft that you just want to reach out and touch it.
Alberto Giacometti (1901~1966)
Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti is perhaps most recognized for his slim and small sculptures, like Seated Man, with each piece measuring no more than 2.75 inches in height. Many scholars have suggested that his slim figures relate to a lack of meaning in 20th-century life.
Henry Moore (1898 ~ 1986)
Known for his abstract public sculpture, British artist Henry More's works most often focus on the theme of mother and child, who usually sit or lie in a relaxed way, with their bodies leaning backwards Moore's figures are often composed of multiple pieces, yet his clean lines allow viewers to effectively see the figures within the abstract form. Such features are very obvious in his master piece Mother and Child.
Louise Bourgeois (1911 ~ 2010)
Most well-known for her public art, French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois rose to international lame in 1982 after the Museum of Modern Art held her first exhibit. By this time, she was already in her 70s. Drawing from her own life experience, her sculptures often explore themes of family and death. In her representative work, Maman, Bourgeois has used a spider to stand for her mother, who died when she was a child, to show her strength and protection over her family.
1. When did Alberto Giacometti pass away?| A．In 1689. | B．In 1966. | C．In 1986. | D．In 2010. |
| A．Maman. | B．Mother and Child. | C．Seated Man. | D．Pluto and Persephone. |
| A．They became famous in their 70s. | B．They are known for their public sculptures. |
| C．They are from the same country. | D．They explored the themes of family and death. |
