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.
How does direct carving differ from the nineteenth-century tradition of sculpture?
A. Sculptors are personally involved in the carving of a piece
B. Sculptors find their inspiration in neoclassical sources
C. Sculptors have replaced the mallet and chisel with other tools
D. Sculptors receive more formal training
Đáp án A
Thông tin: Direct carving - in which the sculptors themselves carve stone or wood with mallet and chisel … Neoclassical sculptors seldom held a mallet or chisel in their own hands
Dịch nghĩa: Chạm khắc trực tiếp - trong đó các nhà điêu khắc tự khắc bằng đá hoặc gỗ với vồ và đục … Các nhà điêu khắc tân cổ điển hiếm khi tự cầm một vồ hoặc đục trong tay mình
Như vậy sự khác nhau cơ bản giữa chạm khắc trực tiếp và chạm khắc truyền thống là nhà điêu khắc tự mình làm ra sản phẩm.
Phương án A. Sculptors are personally involved in the carving of a piece = Các nhà điêu khắc tham gia một cách cá nhân vào việc chạm khắc một tác phẩm; là phương án chính xác nhất.
B. Sculptors find their inspiration in neoclassical sources = Các nhà điêu khắc tìm thấy cảm hứng của họ trong các nguồn tân cổ điển.
C. Sculptors have replaced the mallet and chisel with other tools = Các nhà điêu khắc đã thay thế vồ và đục bởi các dụng cụ khác.
D. Sculptors receive more formal training = Các nhà điêu khắc được đào tạo chính quy hơn.