Presidential Paintings A Tour of the White House Art Collection
深入白宫艺术典藏之旅
ZANE VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR:Well, few people ever get to experience the White House the way President Clinton and his family did. They lived in a virtual history museum for eight years, but each president puts his own touch on the White House. Susan Malveaux toured its art collection.
CNN主播 佳恩·维尔吉:很少有人能像克林顿总统一家人那样在白宫里居住过。他们在一栋堪称是历史博物馆的建筑物里住了8年,但每个总统都会在白宫留下一些影响。苏珊·马尔饼,带大家看看白宫的艺术收藏。
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:This is the Red Room; it's the sort of mirror image of the Green Room-the two rectangular parlors that flank that oval-shaped Blue Room in between.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:这是红厅,和绿厅相互对应--两个长方形的接待室,中间夹着椭圆形的蓝厅。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:And what kind of art in general is here at the White House?
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:白宫里面大致上都收藏什么样的艺术品?
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:Well, we have...I mean, principally our collection is portraits of presidents and first ladies.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:我们有……我是说,我们的收藏主要是总统与第一夫人的画像。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:We'll get to that with White House curator Bill Allman in a minute. First, some surprises.
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:我们等一会儿就会随着白宫馆长比尔·艾尔曼一起去看那些画像。现在先来看一些您意想不到的东西。
The most famous portrait inside the White House is this portrait of George Washington. And as famous as it is, it actually has a mistake. Here it says, "The Constitution and Laws of the United Sates." It's missing a "t." The painting is the only piece of art saved from the original White House that burned down. Officially there are more than 500 works of art here, but nearly everything is considered part of the collection, from the cloth walls, carpets, furniture and odd objects.
白宫里最著名的画像是这幅乔治·华盛顿的画像。但这幅画像虽然如此著名,实际上却有个错误。这里写着美国宪法与法律却在拼写时少了个 " t "。这幅画是以前的白宫烧毁时唯一救出来的艺术品。根据官方记录,这里的艺术品超过500件,但其实几乎所有的物品都被算成了收藏品,包括布墙、地毯、家 具及奇特物品。
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:One of the most interesting pieces is this silver-plated hot water urn. Above the spigot it is engraved with the initials J.A.A. for John and Abigail Adams.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:其中最有趣的一件艺品是这个镀银的热水壶。壶口上方刻着 "J.A.A ."的缩写字母,代表约翰与阿比盖尔·亚当斯。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:And this unique13 chair, can I sit in this chair?
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:还有这张独特的椅子。我可以坐吗?
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:Sure.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:当然可以。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:Tell me who has sat in this chair before.
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:告诉我,这张椅子有谁坐过?
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:Most often it's the first lady. I think, you know, Mrs. Bush, Mrs. Clinton both particularly liked that chair and the guests got to sit in this chair.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:通常是第一夫人。我认为布什夫人与克林顿夫人部特别喜欢这张椅子,来宾也能够坐在这张椅子上。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:And this is considered part of the artwork, this is considered a part of the historical collection?
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:这也算是艺术品和历史收藏的一部分吗?
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:Right. Now unlike most museums where everything is under glass and behind ropes, you know, here the nature of the White House collection is for people to come in and actually be able to enjoy it in the sense of sitting on the chair, walking on the carpet, eating off the china.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:没错。一般博物馆里的收藏品都放在玻璃柜里或在绳子后方,白宫馆藏的精神却是要让人能够实际享受到坐在椅子里、走在地毯上、用资器餐具用餐的感觉。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:Bill, I have to say, I am enjoying this chair. It's very comfortable. You let me know when I can eat off the china, OK?
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:比尔,我得说我确实很享受这张椅子。这张椅子很舒服。待会儿可以用瓷器吃饭的时候,你再告诉我,好吗?
Most of the pieces on the first floor are from the 19th century, traditional portraits and landscapes with a few recent modern editions like this abstract by African-American artist Jacob Lawrence. Thereare fresh flowers everywhere.
一楼大多数的藏品都是19世纪的物品,包括传统的肖像与风封画,还有少数几幅现代的作品,例如这幅由非裔美同阿家雅各布·劳伦斯所画的抽象画。白宫到处都有鲜花。
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:Fresh flowers were not in the White House until the 1850s. It was considered unhealthy. They had glass or cloth flowers, and they ask all the time. They're always asking me, you know, what are the species? Those are roses. That's roses. I got roses down. Beyond that...
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:白宫里直到19世纪50年代才开始摆放鲜花。以前认为室内摆放鲜花有害健康,所以放的都是玻璃或布质的假花。大家总是不断问我,这是什么花?这是玫瑰,那也是玫瑰,这里整个都是玫瑰,直到那边……
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:But very beautiful. Part of the art as well.
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:可是很美,也是整体美感的一部分。
350,000 visitors traipse through each year.
每年都有35万名游客走过这里。
And like I promised, all the past presidents and first ladies are here.
接下来,就像我承诺的,所有过去的总统和第一夫人都在这里。
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:President Monroe was painted by Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph. This one is based on the idea that Lincoln is sitting in this chair listening to his generals and his admiral advise him on how to bring the civil war to a conclusion. President Kennedy was done by Aaron Shikler. It's a very, sort of, contemplative...looking down, you know, with the weight of the world on your shoulders kind of painting.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:门罗总统的画像是由山缪·摩斯画的,也就是发明电报的那一位。这幅画的构思是林肯坐在这张椅子上,听陆军和海军将领针对如何终结南北战争提出意见。肯尼迪总统是由艾隆·席克勒画的。画里的他看起来深陷于沉思里……目光朝下,肩负重任的模样。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: And that's what Mrs. Kennedy wanted. So, let's go take a look at the first ladies.
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:这就是肯尼迪夫人想要的效果。所以,我们就来看看第一夫人们吧。
WILLLAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR:OK. So, this is the ground floor corridor.
白宫馆长 威廉·艾尔曼:好,这里是一楼走廊。
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT:Here Hillary Clinton, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Eleanor Roosevelt.
CNN 主播兼特派员 苏珊·马尔佛:这里是希拉里·克林顿、杰奎琳·肯尼迪、伯德·约翰逊与埃莉诺·罗斯福。
The art collection of the first family, their private collection is in the residence in the East and West Wings. That's where you see their personality and their tastes reflected in their artwork.
第一家庭的艺术收藏,他们的私人收藏都放在东厢与西厢的居所里。在那里你可以看得到他们的性格与品味反映在艺术品当中。