1 . Lying on London’s famous Millennium Bridge, British artist Ben Wilson paints on a piece of dried gum (口香糖). It has been crushed flat into the ground. “The important thing is that there are tire marks on the gum with different patterns,” said the 60-year-old Wilson. “The beauty of them is that they’re of different shapes and sizes…” he continued, describing pieces of gum.
Wilson sees possibility in things most people avoid looking at. The flattened gum offers a chance to turn a piece of waste into something beautiful. The artwork is also a way to surprise walkers and get them to take a closer look at the path they are on.
“By painting a picture which is so small, I can let those who see it discover a hidden world beneath their feet,” Wilson said.
Back in his north London art room, Wilson paints on the surface of a small mosaic tile (瓷砖). It will be part of a collection that he is creating on the walls of London’s underground platforms. “The images are more personal than the chewing gum works,” Wilson says, “and represent a kind of visual diary.”
Wilson was born to artist parents in London. He remembers working with clay from the age of three. He had his first art show when he was around 10 years old. He began making sculptures and large pieces for display in natural settings. Then his interest turned to waste. He has been painting on gum and other pieces of rubbish for 19 years.
The top surface of the dried gum is not subject to local or national laws. As a result, the dried gum surface creates a space, where Wilson says he can paint without damaging public property.
Government officials have removed much of the artist’s public street art. But the hundreds of gum paintings on Millennium Bridge remain for all to see.
1. What is the dried gum like in the eyes of Wilson?| A．Dirty. | B．Strange. | C．Practical. | D．Attractive. |
| A．He creates a hidden world. | B．He keeps a diary with drawings. |
| C．He reminds people to walk carefully. | D．He makes the ugly become beautiful. |
| A．His great language talent. | B．His artistic career. |
| C．His unusual childhood. | D．His parents’ artistic achievements. |
| A．Some of them are protected by law. | B．All of them are not kept well. |
| C．They are valued by officials. | D．They polluted the streets. |
2 . Monet gets his place in the art timeline because of his leading role in the impressionist art movement, and through the lasting appeal of his artistic style. The painting he titled Impression: Sunrise, done early in his career, may not seem one of Monet’s best paintings, but the big deal about it is that it was the painting that gave impressionism its name.
Done with oil paint on canvas, this painting is characterized by thin washes of rather mild colors, on top of which he painted short strokes of pure color. Monet gave depth and perspective to an otherwise flat painting by the use of aerial perspective (空间透视法). Look closely at the three boats, and you can see how these get lighter in the tone, which is the way aerial perspective works. The lighter boats appear to be further away from us than the darkest one.
Monet exhibited the painting in what we now call the First Impressionist Exhibition, in Paris. Monet and a group of about 30 other artists, frustrated by restrictions and politics of the official annual art salon, had decided to hold their own independent exhibition, an unusual thing to do at the time. They called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc., which included artists who are now world famous such as Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cezanne. Monet said he’d called the painting “impression” because “it really couldn’t pass as a view of Le Harve”.
Louis Leroy, an art critic, in his review of the exhibition used the title of Monet’s painting as the headline, calling it the “Exhibition of Impressionists”. Leroy had meant it ironically as the term “impression” was used to describe a rapidly finished painting of an atmospheric effect, and artists rarely, if ever, exhibited pictures so quickly sketched. The label stuck. In his review published on 25 April, 1874, Leroy wrote,“Wallpaper in its embryonic (萌芽期的) state is more finished than that seascape.” Then in a supportive review published a few days later, Jules Castagnary was the first art critic to use the term “Impressionism” in a positive way.
1. What do we know about Monet’s Impression: Sunrise?| A．It was universally acknowledged as Monet’s best painting. |
| B．Leroy was deeply impressed by the painter’s remarkable skill. |
| C．The different tones of the three boats gave depth to the painting. |
| D．It was exhibited in the official annual art salon with 30 other artists. |
| A．The label met strong opposition from other art critics. |
| B．The label was stuck to the surface of Monet’s painting. |
| C．The label was not regarded as a positive image. |
| D．The label stayed and became widely used after that. |
| A．Monet. | B．Leroy. | C．Renoir. | D．Castagnary. |
| A．Impression: Sunrise gave Impressionism its name. |
| B．Critics had a disagreement over Monet’s painting. |
| C．Monet is a leading artist of Impressionism. |
| D．Impressionism is an appealing artistic style. |
3 . Mary Poppins held on to her famous black umbrella while floating overhead and singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The audience watched in amazement, and many sang along! Poppins floated for a bit and eventually landed in the midst of the excited crowd before getting on stage. No, this wasn’t a scene from a Disney movie.
They had limited success until 1995 when Rieu was asked to provide entertainment for a soccer game. He got the entire stadium to sing along to a popular waltz.
Today Rieu is the best-selling classical artist worldwide. He has sold in the ballpark of an astonishing 40 million records. He is the biggest male solo touring artist on the planet. His concerts sell more tickets than Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen!
Many classical concerts are serious events, but Rieu’s are the opposite. He’s been nicknamed “The King of the Waltz” because he loves waltzes.
His shows are attended by people of all ages and always include surprises, like the delightful appearance by Mary Poppins. As Rieu says, “I only play music that touched my heart. And I know when it touches my heart, it will touch your heart.” During his performances, many audience members are visibly moved. They often clap, sing, dance, laugh, weep or hug one another. Rieu promises his audience, “You will have an evening that you will never forget.”And he is true to his word.
| A．Afterward, he sold over 200,000 CDs and his popularity rising. |
| B．Rather, it was part of one of André Rieu’s amazing concerts. |
| C．As a result, Rieu became a house-hold name and won great popularity. |
| D．Yet his shows consist of an extensive variety of musical genres and performances. |
| E．Then, Rieu continued his style until he got his nickname. |
| F．From early on, Rieu knew what he wanted - his own orchestra. |
4 . Norman Rockwell didn’t create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out, not only for his editors at the Saturday Evening Post, but for his real-life models, too. “It was difficult,” he once explained, “but I felt it was the best way to get across my meaning.” And so he would enthusiastically play out his visions and ideas, a one-man show packed with just the right expressions, giving enough details of each character in the scene to inspire his models and more importantly, get his editors to buy his ideas.
Now, more than 30 years after his death, Rockwell is still acknowledged for skillfully documenting the best of 20th century American life with drawings of simple emotions inspired by everyday people. To create his detailed recollections of everyday American life, Rockwell worked much like a film director, not just acting out the scenes in his imagination, but looking for locations, casting everyday people from his town for particular parts.
The recognition he received strongly proves Rockwell’s superior skills as a storyteller and is the subject of another kind of one-man show: the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., titled Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The exhibit, gathered together from the private collections of these two popular film directors, will feature rarely viewed pieces of Rockwell’s artworks.
That concentration of information as well as emotion is something essential in Rockwell’s art. Emotion certainly spoke to Steven Spielberg when he first saw one of his favorite Rockwell paintings, High Dive, the August 16, 1947 Post cover that describes a boy at the top of what must be a towering diving board. He crouches (蹲伏) high above a swimming pool, too afraid to either jump or climb back down. The painting hangs in Spielberg’s office at Amblin Entertainment because it holds a great deal of meaning for the filmmaker.
1. How did Norman Rockwell successfully influence his editors?| A．By performing his ideas. | B．By hiring more models. |
| C．By donating his paintings. | D．By drawing actual events. |
| A．Film directors. | B．Folk storytellers. |
| C．Natural landscapes. | D．Ordinary citizens. |
| A．Develop artistic skills. | B．Learn how to act out. |
| C．Appreciate nature. | D．learn to swim. |
| A．To introduce an exhibit. | B．To recommend a painting. |
| C．To remember an artist. | D．To explain a cultural phenomenon. |
5 . Frederick Phiri, known as the junk-art king of Zambia, set out on a remarkable journey at the age of 22 when he began earning an international reputation for being able to make complex and elegant sculptures from deserted metal found in his community.
Phiri’s path to artistic recognition was filled with challenges. His childhood was marked by the loss of his father and his mother leaving him behind, making him under the care of his grandfather. While his grandfather provided for his basic education, Phiri faced financial struggles when he entered secondary school, forcing him to take on various jobs to fund his studies. Yet, despite these obstacles, his passion for art remained growing, and he dedicated his free time to drawing and crafting in the classroom.
Upon completing his education, Phiri sought to support himself by creating wire animal sculptures (雕塑品), which he sold to tourists. It was during this period that his exceptional talent caught the attention of Karen Beattie, the director of Project Luangwa, a nonprofit organization committed to education and economic development in central Africa.
Teaming up with local welder (焊接工) Moses Mbewe in 2017, Phiri contributed to the creation of a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa during the rainy season. Impressed by his work, Beattie presented Phiri with a challenge: to create art from abandoned waste metal. Undiscouraged, Phiri embraced the opportunity, transforming forgotten keys, broken bike chains, and old metal bottles into attracting abstract animal sculptures, including elephants, cranes, giraffes, and monkeys.
Today, Phiri’s artistic pursuits continue to flourish as he transforms deserted junk into striking sculptures showcased at the Project Luangwa headquarters. His talent has earned recognition and admiration from the community, fueling his dreams of pursuing formal art education at the Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka and creating even more magnificent sculptures in the future. Through creativity and determination, Phiri has turned adversity (逆境) into artistic success, leaving a lasting impact on Zambia’s art scene.
1. What is Phiri distinguished for?| A．Serving his community. | B．Collecting works of art. |
| C．Being the king of Zambia. | D．Turning trash into treasure. |
| A．His struggle to pay for primary schooling by himself. |
| B．The loss of his father and abandonment by his mother. |
| C．His dedication to part-time jobs while attending school. |
| D．His responsibility to support his grandfather financially. |
| A．To create sculptures from wire. |
| B．To sell his sculptures internationally. |
| C．To create art from deserted waste metal. |
| D．To design a complex set of doors for Project Luangwa. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Confident. | C．Depressed. | D．Confused. |
6 . That day when Ludwig van Beethoven died was one of the saddest of my life. I had stayed with him for more than twenty years and lived through many of his happiest moments and his triumphs as well as his most unhappy times.
He wasn’t, however, the easiest of men to work for. His moods were changeable so that he could be reasonable at one moment but most impatient and intolerant at the next. All these problems began in 1802 when he discovered his loss of hearing was not temporary.
The loss of hearing brought him to a crossroads in his life. It was then that he realized that his future lay in composing music. Luckily, although his deafness brought him fear and anxiety, he was able to use these emotions to inspire his work.
Dealing with his inner problems and worries, his music was obviously subjective, which was not the most popular type of its time. But people recognized his greatness. They did so even when they knew he could not acknowledge it. When he was conducting his ninth and last symphony on its first performance he was totally deaf. So he just didn’t realize that the music had finished and continued to conduct the orchestra. One of the singers had to turn him round so he could receive the cheers of the audience. From one angle it was a sad moment but from another it was an even greater triumph. That a man with such a condition could have written such dynamic music was overwhelming! It brought tears to my eyes to think that I had contributed in some small way by looking after him.
He dressed rather like a wild man himself. His hair was always untidy, his skin marked with spots and his mouth set in a downward curve. He took no care of his appearance and walked around our city with his clothes carelessly arranged. This was because he was concentrating on his next composition.
Helping him move house many times, preparing his meals and looking after his everyday comforts were my reward for a life living so close to such a musical genius. I consider myself a lucky man!
1. The author was most likely to be Beethoven’s _______.| A．student | B．doctor | C．servant | D．relative |
| A．Beethoven’s music was underestimated at that time. |
| B．Beethoven’s work was inspired by his fear and anger. |
| C．Beethoven’s music stayed in step with the mainstream music of the time. |
| D．Beethoven lost his ability to hear when first conducting his ninth symphony. |
| A．Because the performance was a complete success. |
| B．Because he played a part in Beethoven’s success. |
| C．Because Beethoven was completely deaf then. |
| D．Because the audience cheered for Beethoven. |
| A．intolerant but cheerful |
| B．stubborn but reasonable |
| C．changeable but dedicated |
| D．unsociable but easy-going |
7 . Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is perhaps the most famous musician and composer you’ve never heard of.
Bologne was born in 1745 on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, son of an enslaved (使成为奴隶) Senegalese woman and a white plantation owner. Bologne’s father was eager for him to acquire a good education and he was sent to France to be schooled in literature and fencing. As well as showing great skill in sport, Bologne was intelligent and appealing.
As if being handsome, clever and a champion athlete wasn’t enough, Bologne was also a seriously skilled musician and composer. His main instrument was the violin, and in 1761, he was made a member of the Royal Guards as a soldier and musician. It is around this time that he became known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges in recognition of his skill as a fencer and horseman. He was then invited to join the incredibly distinguished Concert des Amateurs as the first violinist and became its leader in 1773.
Although things were going very well for Bologne, he still experienced apparent racism. Some of the opera s leading women campaigned against having what they called “a mixed-race person” in charge of the opera. Despite this attempt to undermine his career, he fell into favour with the influential playwright Madame de Montesson, who put him in charge of her private theatre and introduced him to her husband, the Duke of Orleans. When the French Revolution (革命) broke out in 1789, Bologne sided with the revolutionaries. However, he was later imprisoned for 18 months and ultimately died in 1799 due to a severe leg injury.
Shortly after Bolognes death, Napoleon reinstated slavery in the French colonies and also banned Bologne’s music in an attempt to erase him from French history. However, Afro-Caribbean communities in France, and on Guadeloupe and Martinique have been working tirelessly to keep his legacy alive and Joseph Bologne is now enjoying a long overdue and richly deserved revival.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2 about Bologne?| A．He was a man of determination. |
| B．He was passionate about literature. |
| C．He received great support from his father. |
| D．He had a difficult and troubled childhood. |
| A．His military service. |
| B．His exceptional athletic abilities. |
| C．His noble birth. |
| D．His musical achievements. |
| A．Bologne faced significant discrimination. |
| B．Bologne’s talents were a threat to the opera. |
| C．Bologne shouldn’t have joined the private theatre. |
| D．Bologne’s leadership suffered from a lack of foresight. |
| A．It’s being recognized and celebrated. |
| B．It’s receiving conflicting opinions. |
| C．It’s leading to a revolution in music. |
| D．It’s still being overlooked in France. |
8 .
“By removing needless details in pursuit of perfection, Van Den followed in the footsteps of many great artists, writers, composers, and painters.”
Juhani Murros made an unexpected discovery during his visits to art galleries when he worked for an organization in Ho Chi Minh City in 1990. A small still life in an unnoticeable gallery commanded the Finnish physician’s attention. “It was not an eye-catching oil painting, yet its dark, mysterious colors and the emotional tension of its disciplined composition set it apart.” Thus began a long journey of discovering the art and life of Van Den, a Buddhist of mixed Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry who studied in Paris for less than two years during the first French Indochina War.
Murros’ biography is, by necessity, brief because there is limited knowledge of the artist, mostly in oral way by family and friends. Many of his paintings did not survive the damp Southeast Asian climate nor the political chaos of his lifetime. However, the author’s research appears to be extensive, as much a years-long spiritual examination of Van Den as a historical one. The artist’s love for country life is apparent in his work, and it is said by those who knew him that he preferred to paint countryside scenes close to his heart and worked as an outsider. He is uninterested in the more elegant work of academically recognized painters. Despite these limitations, Van Den won Vietnam’s most honorable art award in 1960.
Murros gives an in-depth look into the life of this little-known unsung master. The book introduces the readers to Van Den’s art with photographs of his paintings, accompanied by short stories behind them. The book is as quiet as the artist’s work, but it is a satisfying read. Each stroke of words in the book connects to the readers; the narrative awakens the artistic spirit in each one of us, encouraging us to follow our heart.
1. What of Van Den first impressed Juhani Murros?| A．His life story. | B．His painting style. |
| C．His birth place. | D．His emotional stale. |
| A．His works are rarely available today. | B．He showed great love for his country. |
| C．He works were of mysterious themes. | D．He ever travelled in China and Vietnam. |
| A．Van Den’s art wasn’t well accepted. | B．Murros had limited knowledge of art. |
| C．Murros had gained little primary data. | D．Van Den’s family kept everything back. |
| A．Amusing. | B．Detailed. | C．Objective. | D．Inspirational. |
9 . One of the most productive architects of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright had no shortage of ideas. Throughout his life, he designed 1,171 architectural works. Many of them, like the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater, were eventually built. But over half — 660 to be exact — never moved beyond paper. Now, thanks to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, we are finally getting a look at what his unbuilt architecture would have looked like. Working with digital artist David Romero, the organization has been building an impressive library of works that show Wright’s creative genius.
The reasons that these pieces of incredible architecture were never built vary. Wright’s homage to his adopted home state of Arizona was rejected for several reasons. While Wright considered his avant-garde (前卫的) design for the Arizona State Capitol Building to be a gift to the city, officials felt otherwise. With a price of $5 million, too costly, he was passed over for the project.
In the case of the cliffside (悬崖边) Morris House, it’s not completely clear why the family did not go with Wright’s design. But, in examining his ideas for the home, it’s clear that Wright successfully combines the architecture and nature. The design uses rounded forms that fit into the cliffs and merge the home and the natural surroundings.
In 1947, he was asked to rebuild Roy Wetmore’s service station. What Wright provided was a futuristic design that included a ramp (斜坡) allowing a car to be displayed on the roof. Unfortunately, Wetmore wished to simply remodel the existing structure rather than demolish it and start over, so the project was never done. Later, Wetmore did incorporate the car ramp on the roof.
Romero has been able to bring these ideas to life and give a new generation of architecture lovers a reminder of why Wright had such a long, influential career.
1. Why was the design for Arizona State Capitol Building refused?| A．The government wanted a perfect design. |
| B．It was originally designed for other states. |
| C．It needed much more money than expected. |
| D．The design didn’t go with the surroundings. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Redesign. | B．Pull down. | C．Improve. | D．Put up. |
| A．Wright’s productive architecture wasn’t recognized. |
| B．Many good productive architects didn’t come to light. |
| C．Wright’s excellent designs for some famous buildings. |
| D．Modern technology makes a genius’ designs come true. |
10 . Contemporary artist Nick Smith creates pixelated (像素化的) works with hand colour-chips, synonymous with colour swatches (色块), cleverly combining text and image to create interesting and fascinating collaged (拼贴的) works.
With a previous career in Interior Design spanning 11 years, Nick references his concept design background throughout his work, reworking the design aesthetic using unique colours watches in hand-made collages, placing his work firmly in the fine art category. From his first collage experiment back in 2011 of Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’, when he assembled a tessellation (镶嵌技术) of swatches as a challenge, this eventually inspired his career as an artist and determined his unique style he is now known for.
The multi-layered element of his work, which marries image and word, allows Nick to explore complex art-historical concepts. The text employed is often narrative, which can be read in sequence adding another element of intrigue and interest to the work. This additional element of text, placed under the empty space of each swatch, creates either complimentary or subversive meanings. Nick deliberately leaves these word/image constructions open to viewer interpretation, sparking new debates and meanings.
Each P-series, such as Psycolourgy 2015, Purgatory 2019, explores complicatedly researched concepts, which are always the crucial starting point for each new series of work.Producing large-scale works to micro-chip collages, and multiple sell out print editions, Nick continues to develop his popular and recognisable art.
PSYCOLOURGY—January 2015 Lawrence Alkin Gallery,London
Smith’s debut solo exhibition with Lawrence Alkin Gallery in Soho, London , launched his unique visual reworking of classic paintings from the 20th Century canon. Universally known works, including David Hockney’s’ The Bigger Splash’, Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans’ and Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ were all recast, creating original collages that enquire ideas of depiction, digitalisation and recognition. A sell out show, with numerous successful subsequent print releases, Psycolourgy forged Smith’s path to a place among Britain’s notable contemporary artists.
PURGATORY-December 2019 Context，Art Miami
Purgatory is a shiny , sticky, glossy exploration of our societies attitude and approach to our excess,addictions and desires.
Excerpts from Dante’s Purgatory are woven through colourful works depicting popular covetable consumables, creating symbolic representations of the seven sins. Dante explores possible penance (悔) for our earthly suffering leading to spiritual growth. The results of these pairings offer a humorous, nostalgic and subversive opportunity to question our choices.our history and our future.
1. What made Nick launch his art career?| A．His deep love of fascinating collaged works. |
| B．His first collage work Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’ |
| C．The challenge of piecing a tessellation of swatches. |
| D．The collage experiment dating back to 2012. |
| A．His text contains concepts of art. |
| B．His text is usually illustrative. |
| C．His text can be read sequentially. |
| D．His text elements are very simple |
| A．It opened Smith’s unique visual reinvention of classic 21th-century paintings. |
| B．David Hockney’s’Mona Lisa’ has been recreated by Lawrence Alkin Gallery. |
| C．The original collages affirm the ideas of depiction , digitisation and recognition. |
| D．It opened Smith’s path to becoming one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists. |
| A．Some useful ways to create collaged works. |
| B．The life of contemporary artist Nick Smith. |
| C．Information about Psycolourgy and Purgatory. |
| D．The introduction to Nick Smith’s works. |
