Portrait of Victor Chocquet《维克多·肖凯肖像》

爱艺

A kind of fame belongs to this otherwise obscure customs office clerk： he was friend and sitter to some of the greatest artists of his time. Passionately devoted to progressive art， Victor Chocquet had seen Renoirs work at the historic Impressionist sale at the Hotel Drouot in 1875. He immediately wrote， begging him to do a portrait with one of Delacroixs pictures in the background. “I want the two of you together， you and Eugene Delacroix.” Subsequently Renoir painted Victor Chocquet twice. That the painter was touched by the mans eagerness， sensitivity and gentleness is obvious in this affectionate portrait， painted at a time when Renoir was sorely in need of a patron， and beset by financial problems.

A fine， high-keyed tonality and a lightness of brushing mark Renoirs authentic manner of this period， differing from the tighter rendering of his society portrait commissions. In this relaxed portrait， there is a wonderful combination of sympathetic understanding of the sitters personality and a graceful skill that harmonizes perfectly with it.

Cezanne painted Chocquet， too; in his version one is struck immediately by Cezannes rugged modeling， his preoccupation with structure， the bones beneath the flesh. Renoir， captivated by his sitters personality， reveals how much more important to him was the projection of the spirit of the man （in the last analysis， when portraitists are at their best， they are painting themselves as well as their sitters）.

One sees here， in the casual， almost untidy painting of the hair and shirt， still more of that interest in the informal that produced Renoirs most intimate portraits. In the delicate， free painting of the fingers， whose outlines are inexact， there is much of the instinctive and tentative; Renoirs true interest was in things as experienced and felt.

Out of meager financial resources， Chocquet bought canvases from Renoir， Cezanne， and the other Impressionists before their work was widely appreciated. He strenuously fought for the recognition of the young painters， and managed to build a magnificent collection of their works. The collection was dispersed after his death.                      ■

这位原本默默无闻的海关职员如今也有了些名气：他那个时代最伟大的一些画家与他成了朋友，他还是他们多幅作品的模特。1875年，巴黎德鲁奥拍卖行举办了颇具历史意义的印象派作品拍卖会，热衷于前卫艺术的维克多·肖凯在那里看到了雷诺阿的作品。他立刻写信请求雷诺阿画一幅肖像，并希望背景放上一张德拉克罗瓦的画。他表示：“我希望把您和欧仁·德拉克罗瓦放在一起。”后来，雷诺阿为维克多·肖凯画过两次肖像。从这幅饱含感情的肖像畫中可以明显看出，肖凯的热情、敏感和温柔打动了雷诺阿。创作此画时，雷诺阿正逢经济困窘，急需有人资助。

此画色调细腻明亮、笔触轻盈放松，充分体现了雷诺阿这一时期绘画的真实风格，不同于他接受商业委托创作肖像画时那种较受束缚的呈现。这幅肖像赏心悦目，是协调一致的情感与技巧的美妙融合——用优雅画技完美体现了画家与模特的惺惺相惜。

塞尚也为肖凯画过肖像。看到塞尚的版本，人们会立即被他粗犷的人物造型、对构图的专注及对人物的骨感呈现所震撼。雷诺阿则是受到肖凯个性的吸引，他的版本所揭示的是，对他来说，反映人物的精神面貌更加重要（说到底，创作状态最佳时的肖像画家画的不仅仅是模特，还是在画他们自己）。

这幅画中，对人物头发和衬衫的描绘随意且近乎凌乱，仍然体现出雷诺阿对非正式创作的兴趣，正是这种兴趣让他创作出最感性的肖像画。对人物手指的描绘柔和而写意，轮廓并不分明，很大程度上体现的是直觉和设想。雷诺阿真正感兴趣的是他对事物的体验和感受。

肖凯本人财力微薄，但他还是购买了雷诺阿、塞尚和其他印象派画家的多幅作品，当时他们的画作尚未被社会广泛接纳。他为这些年轻画家得到认可而尽心尽力，并大量收藏了他们的作品。这些藏品在他去世后四下分散。                  □