Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.
With Robert Laurent and William Zorach, direct carving enters into the story of modern sculpture in the United States. Direct carving - in which the sculptors themselves carve stone or wood with mallet and chisel - must be recognized as something more than just a technique. Implicit in it is an aesthetic principle as well: that the medium has certain qualities of beauty and expressiveness with which sculptors must bring their own aesthetic sensibilities into harmony. For example, sometimes the shape or veining in a piece of stone or wood suggests, perhaps even dictates, not only the ultimate form, but even the subject matter.
The technique of direct carving was a break with the nineteenth-century tradition in which the making of a clay model was considered the creative act and the work was then turned over to studio assistants to be cast in plaster or bronze or carved in marble.
Neoclassical sculptors seldom held a mallet or chisel in their own hands, readily conceding that the assistants they employed were far better than they were at carving the finished marble. With the turn-of-the-century Crafts movement and the discovery of nontraditional sources of inspiration, such as wooden African figures and masks, there arose a new urge for hands-on, personal execution of art and an interaction with the medium. Even as early as the 1880's and 1890's, nonconformist European artists were attempting direct carving. By the second decade of the twentieth century, Americans — Laurent and Zorach most notably — had adopted it as their primary means of working.
Born in France, Robert Laurent(1890-1970)was a prodigy who received his education in the United States. In 1905 he was sent to Paris as an apprentice to an art dealer, and in the years that followed he witnessed the birth of Cubism, discovered primitive art, and learned the techniques of woodcarving from a frame maker.
Back in New York City by 1910, Laurent began carving pieces such as The Priestess, which reveals his fascination with African, pre-Columbian, and South Pacific art. Taking a walnut plank, the sculptor carved the expressive, stylized design. It is one of the earliest examples of direct carving in American sculpture. The plank's form dictated the rigidly frontal view and the low relief. Even its irregular shape must have appealed to Laurent as a break with a long-standing tradition that required a sculptor to work within a perfect rectangle or square.
The piece titled The Priestess has all of the following characteristics EXCEPT
A. The design is stylized
B. It is made of marble
C. The carving is not deep
D. It depicts the front of a person
Đáp án B
Giải thích: Back in New York City by 1910, Laurent began carving pieces such as The Priestess, which reveals his fascination with African, pre-Columbian, and South Pacific art. Taking a walnut plank, the sculptor carved the expressive, stylized design … The plank's form dictated the rigidly frontal view and the low relief.
Dịch nghĩa: Trở lại thành phố New York năm 1910, Laurent bắt đầu khắc các tác phẩm như The Priestess, trong đó cho thấy niềm đam mê của ông với nghệ thuật của châu Phi, tiền Columbus, và Nam Thái Bình Dương. Lấy một tấm ván óc chó, nhà điêu khắc chạm khắc các biểu cảm, thiết kế cách điệu … Hình thức của tấm ván quyết định góc nhìn phía trước và độ khắc nông.
Như vậy, các phương án A. The design is stylized, C. The carving is not deep, D. It depicts the front of a person đều được nhắc đến là đặc điểm của bức tượng.
Chỉ có phương án B. It is made of marble = Nó được làm bằng đá cẩm thạch là không có thông tin trong bài.