For a younger generation of Parisian artists,the camera was both a challenge and an inspiration.
对新生代的巴黎画家来说 摄影技术既是挑战 也是灵感源泉
They'd turned their backs on the art establishment and its obsessions with grand historical themes and classical mythology.
他们抛弃了旧有的艺术体制以及对宏伟的历史主题和经典神话的痴迷
What they wanted to paint was everyday modern life,and rather than compete with the camera,
他们想要描绘的是现代社会的日常生活 不是为了与摄影竞争
they set out to explore what the camera couldn't -our human subjective experiences of the world and how they're affected by light, colour and emotion.
而是打算挖掘出相机无法呈现出来的部分 我们人类对这个世界的主观体验 以及它们如何被光影色彩和情感所影响
The work of the artists who became known as the Impressionists is so familiar to us today that we forget its original power to shock.
这些艺术家被称作印象派画家 现在的我们如此熟悉他们的作品 以至于忘记了印象派原本震撼人心的力量
When Renoir painted a popular outdoor dance that attracted crowds every Sunday,
当雷诺阿画下每周日吸引人潮的一场很受欢迎的户外舞蹈盛宴时
he was celebrating modern life and the new leisure time it made possible.
他在歌颂现代生活和这种生活带给我们的新娱乐时光
Compared with traditional Academy paintings,his style would've seemed rough and incomplete.
与传统的学院派画作相比他的风格看起来粗犷且不够完整
But it is this impression of the effects of light that has helped define our image of 19th century Paris.
但正是这种光影效果带来的印象 帮我们塑造出十九世纪的巴黎的图景
Monet is best remembered for his natural landscapes.
莫奈以他的自然景观画而闻名
But he was also fascinated by the modern city.
但他同样对现代城市着迷
He painted Paris's first train station, the Gare Saint-Lazare,filled with clouds of smoke.
他画出了巴黎的第一座火车站冒着滚滚浓烟的圣拉扎尔火车站
Barely visible through the haze,we glimpse the terraces of Haussmann's reinvented Paris.
从层层烟雾中我们能隐约窥见奥斯曼彻底改造过的巴黎联排公寓楼
The art of the Impressionists is today regarded as endlessly and effortlessly optimistic,
印象派艺术现在被认为是洋溢着无穷无尽的乐观主义气息
a portrayal of France in a golden age of success and self-confidence.
是对法国成功而自信的黄金时期的描绘
And it is true that the Impressionists did love to paint the Paris middle-class at play,
印象派画家确实喜欢画 正在娱乐的巴黎中产阶级们
picnicking in the parks and boating on the lakes,but they also sometimes did try to capture that strange sense
他们在公园野餐 泛舟湖上 但画家们有时也尝试捕捉错
of dislocation, of isolation,that was a new and a troubling feature of the modern city.
乱感和孤独感这些奇特的感觉 这是现代城市所具有的令人不安的新特性