1. Practice reading the following words and word combinations. Find Russian equivalents
in the foreground на переднем плане
in the background на заднем плане
outstanding выдающийся
brilliant блестящий
prominent painter выдающийся художник
portraitist портретист
landscape пейзаж
seascape марина
domestic scenery домашний пейзаж
water-colour акварель
illustrator иллюстратор
win fame завоевать славу
exhibit paintings выставлять картины.
2. Translate into English
1 “Передвижники” - группа талантливых русских художников XIX века, которые создали много шедевров.
“Itinerant” - a group of talented Russian artists of the XIX century, who created many masterpieces.
2 В Эрмитаже есть небольшая, но изысканная коллекция английского искусства.
The Hermitage has a small but exquisite collection of English art.
3 Левитан, знаменитый русский художник, считается мастером русского пейзажа.
Levitan, a famous Russian artist, is considered a master of the Russian landscape.
3. Answer the questions
1 Do you enjoy painting? Yes, I do. I enjoy painting.
2 What genres of painting do you prefer? I prefer genre paintings.
3 Who is your favourite artist? Mention some of his pictures. My favourite artist is Marc Chagall (Bella with white collar, Homage to Apollinaire, The fiddler).
4. Read the text. Translate. Answer the questions
Our great countryman: Mark Shagal
Moisey (Mark) Shagal was bom into a family of a poor merchant in Vitebsk in 1887. At the age of 20 he entered the art school of Ieguda Pen. It was there where Shagal gained experience and worked out his unique manner of painting. And besides the promising young artist inherited some features of Pen’s manner of painting. Shagal’s main theme was: poor people and their mode of life. It should be mentioned that Pen’s art school was the best at that time and young artists had been dreaming to study there.
After finishing art school Mark Shagal and his friend Victor Mekler went to study to Petersburg. Shagal studied at the school headed by N. Rerikh. He was one of the best students.
In 1909 he met Bella (Berta) Rosenfeld, a daughter of a rich jeweller from Vitebsk, and fell in love with her. His love inspired him to create splendid pictures and it started to bring fame to him. He worked much at that time and was noticed by Maxim Vinaver, who granted Shagal the scholarship of 125 francs a month to continue his studies abroad. Mark went to Paris. A. Akhmatova wrote, “He took his magic Vitebsk to Paris”.
Наш великий земляк: Марк Шагал
Моисей (Марк) Шагал родился в семье бедного купца в Витебске в 1887 году. В возрасте 20 лет он поступил в художественную школу Иегуда Пена. Именно там Шагал приобрел опыт и выработал свою уникальную манеру живописи. И, кроме того, многообещающий молодой художник унаследовал некоторые черты живописной манеры Пена. Основная тема Шагала была: бедные люди и их образ жизни. Следует отметить, что художественная школа Пена была лучшей в то время, и молодые художники мечтали там учиться.
После окончания художественной школы Марк Шагал и его друг Виктор Меклер отправились учиться в Петербург. Шагал учился в школе, которую возглавлял Н. Рерих. Он был одним из лучших учеников.
В 1909 году он познакомился с Беллой (Бертой) Розенфельд, дочерью богатого ювелира из Витебска, и влюбился в нее. Его любовь вдохновила его на создание великолепных картин, и это начало приносить ему славу. В то время он много работал и был замечен Максимом Винавером, который предоставил Шагалу стипендию в 125 франков в месяц для продолжения обучения за границей. Марк уехал в Париж. А. Ахматова писала: «Он привез свой волшебный Витебск в Париж».
5. Read and translate the words before the text. Fill in the blanks with the proper words. You must use each word only once
admitted / aim / arranged / celebrity / criterion / extended / founded / holdings / illustrates / including / personalities / public / superb / used / well
Признанный / цель / организованный / знаменитость / критерий / расширенный / основанный / владения / иллюстрирует / в том числе / персоналии / общественный / превосходный / использованный / хорошо
The National Portrait Gallery, in London, is the national collection of portraits of British men and women, including drawings, miniatures, busts, and photographs as well as oil paintings. The gallery was founded in 1856 and opened to the public in 1859 with a collection of 57 portraits. Its aim is to record and collect historical pictures and also to illustrate the holdings of great men and women.
6. Read the conversation and answer the questions
A. Oh, look, what a wonderful landscape!
B. No wonder it attracted your attention. It’s Shishkin’s “Pine-trees in the Sunlight”. It is a real masterpiece.
A. Oh, Shishkin! I know about him. He was an outstanding Russian painter of the 19 century, wasn’t he?
B. Yes, and he was a brilliant painter of landscape.
A. I have read about him and seen reproductions of some of his paintings, but it is the first time I see an original.
B. Shishkin was fond of Russian nature. He loved the tranquility of Russian woods and the vast expanses of Russian fields.
7. Find in the text (ex. 6) appropriate English phrases for the following:
1 Картина выглядит очень реалистично. The picture looks very realistic.
2 Не удивительно, что она привлекла твое внимание. No wonder it attracted your attention.
3 Шишкин знаменит простотой и ясностью своего художественного языка. Shishkin is famous for the simplicity and clarity of his artistic language.
4 Во все времена художники часто обращались к природе за вдохновением. At all times artists often turned to nature for inspiration.
8. Act out the following situation:
You are going to visit an art exhibition. Invite your friend to go with you.
- Hello, Marc. How are you?
- Hi, Fred. I’m fine, thanks. How are you?
- I’m fine too, thanks. What are you doing this Friday?
9. Write about your visit to an art gallery. Describe the picture which impressed you greatly.
My visit to an art gallery
Last Sunday, and exhibition of paintings by eminent painters was held in our town. I, along with my friend, went to see it. All the walls of the Hall were covered with the paintings. There was iron railing in front of the walls on every side. The spectators could see the paintings from a distance of ten feet. Some of the paintings exhibited were realistic while others were impressionistic. It was difficult to understand the abstract paintings. But the guides helped the spectators in understanding those paintings. In one huge painting, there was the face of a woman surrounded by hawks. It symbolized the cruelty of the society towards the weaker sex. The painting of a row of camels in desert was very beautiful.
