Daniel Brush, an astonishing worker in gold, jewels and steel died on November 2022, aged 75. Students from a jewellery school once came to Brush’s studio, a loft in mid-Manhattan, awed to be meeting a figure who, to them, was a worker of miracles.
For 45 years in that loft, he had pursued his calling. His wife Olivia was the only company. He produced hundreds of objects of all sorts, most of them exquisite and many astonishingly small. Rather than use electricity, he laboured alone in a forest of antique machines and when tools frustrated him he made his own, displaying them in cupboards as art in themselves.
Above all else, he worked in gold. His obsession took fire when at 13 he saw an Etruscan gold bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The ancient technique of applying gold beads as fine as sand-grains to a curved gold surface without solder (焊接), was stunning, but so was the lightness of spirit.
He resolved then that he would make such a bowl, and gold became the study of his life. Simply to watch it melt, turn to red-hot and white-hot, then glow purple, was magical. To hold pure gold grain and let it move slowly through his fingers restored his calm of spirit. His chief motivation, he said, was to understand the material and, through that, himself. He wondered why his heart had beaten so fast in the museum that day. Gold in particular had a message for him. His contact with this glorious metal might focus all his attention and help him to hear it.
He developed delicate craftsmanship, with each object virtually a museum piece. For Daniel Brush, he loved the idea that one might take a piece made by Brush out of a pocket, let its beauty pass from mind to mind, and smile. That too was what its maker was after.
4. What can we learn about Daniel Brush?
A.Students visited him regularly. |
B.He began to live in his loft in 1975. |
C.He tended to use ancient crafts to produce objects. |
D.Most objects he produced were of a surprisingly small size. |
5. What is the main reason for his lifelong study of gold?
A.He wanted to learn more about both gold and himself. |
B.He wondered why his heart had beat fast in the museum. |
C.His calm was restored when gold grain moved through fingers. |
D.Gold had a particular message for him and he was eager to hear it. |
6. Which of the following can best describe Daniel Brush?
A.Stubborn. | B.Wealthy. | C.Dedicated. | D.Lonely. |
7. What does the author try to emphasize in the last paragraph?
A.Brush’s valuable works. | B.The admirers Brush expected. |
C.Brush’s desire for fame. | D.The artistic ideal Brush pursued. |