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David Sylvester Although celebrated for his art crit

游客2023-12-11  9
问题                         David Sylvester
    Although celebrated for his art criticism and his interviews with Francis Bacon and other artists, the late David Sylvester began his writing career as a cricket correspondent for the Observer. It was, he said, "the most testing literary exercise I have undergone". But it proved invaluable, for the qualities that make a good cricket commentator—a sense of timing and acute observation, a passion for elegant ritual and the psychology mixed with physicality of a sport that is puzzling to outsiders—all contributed to making Sylvester one of the greatest art critics of his time. This collection of his writings and interviews published after his death provides a valuable opportunity to re-examine his talent for observing the long game of art.
    The book displays in full Sylvester’s catholic interests. There is an interview with Diaghilev’s friend, the Russian-born Leonide Massine, and also a conversation with Sir Harrison Birtwistle, a British composer whose son Adam was one of many artists to paint Sylvester’s portrait. It includes Sylvester’s catalogue essay, as well as an interview, for an exhibition he organized of the film designs of his school friend Ken Adam, creator of Dr. Strangelove’s war room and of James Bond sets. There are encounters with visual artists both old (William Coldstream, Henry Moore) and new (Rachel Whiteread, Douglas Gordon).
    The collection is by no means comprehensive—there are none of the famous Bacon interviews here—and would have benefited from more entries, illustrations and a stronger introduction to the man and his work. But it makes up for this with numerous insights into the creative life. In one interview, for example, Howard Hodgkin says, "for an artist time can always be regained, wonders never cease because by any act of imagination, you can always go back."
    Perhaps the most touching interview is his last, a few months before his death. In it, he asks Mike Brearley, a retired cricketer, now a psychoanalyst and art enthusiast, about the similarities between greatness in sport and in art. Mr Brearley replies that both share a sense of the uncompromising, of "not turning one’s face away".
    In a way, this is also an attribute of a great critic. Sylvester was firm in his gaze. The descendant of a teacher of Jewish law, he was unreligious, reserving his awe for art and his intense anger for anyone who violated it. He spoke only when he had something to say and was sacked as a radio critic for what became known as the "Sylvester pause", his long silences during conversations.
    Yet his sleep-inducing voice could lure the most revealing admissions from artist—not about their personal lives, a topic he considered superficial—but about the mystery of how they made their work, of creation itself. He had a Socratic gift for dialogue, drawing out from artists ideas that had never occurred to them before; unlike Socrates, however, he didn’t prove his conversational partner wrong at the end. It is clear from these interviews that both parties made discoveries. So will anyone who reads this intelligent and elegant book. [br] What leads to Sylvester’s success as an art critic includes?
选项 A、his preference for using exact words and elegant style in writing.
B、his habit of having long silences during conversations.
C、his ability to get great artists to talk about their personal lives.
D、his principle of refusing to make concessions.
答案 D
解析 本题考查具体细节。第五段首句承上启下指出，“不妥协的精神”是伟大艺术批评家所具有的一个品质，其中this一词指代上段末句中的a sense of the uncompromising。该段下文详细描述了西尔威斯特的“不妥协精神”——目光坚定，尊重艺术，在无话可说时就保持沉默。因此[D]正确。第一段虽然谈到，促使他成为伟大艺术批评家的一些品质包括敏锐的观察力、对优雅礼仪的酷爱等，但这不同于[A]项“写作中使用精确的词语和优雅的文风”，因此[A]应排除。“在对话中长时间保持沉默”是他的个人风格，但这并不是一个优秀批评家所必须具备的品质，排除[B]。文章末段首句提到，他能引导被采访者说出关于艺术创作的最不为人知的内情，而不是谈论私生活，因此[C]错误。
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