Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Youna Jung

Translator: Fanny Skriver Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

I'm going to tell you about an affliction I suffer from.

Jeg vil fortælle jer om en lidelse, jeg har.

And I have a funny feeling that quite a few of you

Og jeg har en fornemmelse af, at en del af jer

suffer from it as well.

har den samme lidelse.

When I'm walking around an art gallery,

Når jeg går rundt på et kunstgalleri,

rooms and rooms full of paintings,

lokale efter lokale fyldt med malerier,

after about 15 or 20 minutes,

går det op for mig efter et stykke tid,

I realize I'm not thinking about the paintings.

at jeg slet ikke tænker på malerierne.

I'm not connecting to them.

Jeg er ikke i kontakt med dem.

Instead, I'm thinking about that cup of coffee

I stedet for tænker jeg på den kop kaffe,

I desperately need to wake me up.

som jeg desperat har brug for for at vågne op.

I'm suffering from gallery fatigue.

Jeg lider af galleritræthed.

How many of you out there suffer from --

Hvor mange af jer lider af --

yes. Ha ha, ha ha!

ja. Ha ha, ha ha!

Now, sometimes you might last longer

Nogen gange holder man længere

than 20 minutes, or even shorter,

end tyve minutter, eller kortere tid,

but I think we all suffer from it. And do you have

men jeg tror, at vi alle lider af det. Og har i også den medfølgende skyldfølelse?

the accompanying guilt?

For me, I look at the paintings on the wall

Jeg kigger på billederne på væggen

and I think, somebody has decided to put them there,

og tænker på, at nogen har besluttet at hænge dem der,

thinks they're good enough to be on that wall,

nogen synes de er gode nok til at hænge på den væg,

but I don't always see it.

men jeg kan ikke altid se det.

In fact, most of the time I don't see it.

Faktisk kan jeg for det meste ikke se det.

And I leave feeling actually unhappy.

Og jeg går hjem og føler mig ulykkelig.

I feel guilty and unhappy with myself,

Jeg føler mig skyldig og er utilfreds med mig selv,

rather than thinking there's something wrong with the painting,

og i stedet for at tænke, at der er noget galt med maleriet,

I think there's something wrong with me.

tænker jeg, at der er noget galt med mig.

And that's not a good experience, to leave a gallery like that.

Og det er ikke en særlig god oplevelse at forlade et galleri med.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

The thing is, I think we should give ourselves a break.

Jeg synes, vi skulle give os selv en pause.

If you think about going into a restaurant,

Hvis i tænker på, når man går på restaurant,

when you look at the menu, are you expected to order

og man kigger på menuen, forventes det så, at du bestiller

every single thing on the menu?

al maden på menuen?

No! You select.

Nej! Du vælger.

If you go into a department store to buy a shirt,

Hvis du går ind i et stormagasin for at købe en trøje,

are you going to try on every single shirt

vil du så prøve alle trøjerne på

and want every single shirt?

og have lyst til at købe alle trøjerne?

Of course not, you can be selective. It's expected.

Selvfølgelig ikke, du kan være selektiv. Det er forventeligt.

How come, then, it's not so expected

Hvorfor er det så ikke forventeligt

to be selective when we go to an art gallery?

at være selektiv, når vi går ind på et galleri?

Why are we supposed to have a connection with every single painting?

Hvorfor skal vi have en forbindelse til hvert enkelt maleri?

Well I'm trying to take a different approach.

Jeg prøver at have en anderledes tilgang til det.

And there's two things I do:

Jeg gør to ting:

When I go into a gallery, first of all, I go quite fast,

Når jeg går ind på et galleri, går jeg før det første meget hurtigt igennem,

and I look at everything, and I pinpoint the ones

og jeg kigger på det hele, og jeg udvælger dem,

that make me slow down for some reason or other.

som får mig til at sætte farten ned af en eller anden grund.

I don't even know why they make me slow down, but something

Jeg ved ikke engang, hvorfor de får mig til at sænke farten,

men noget tiltrækker mig som en magnet,

pulls me like a magnet

and then I ignore all the others, and I just go to that painting.

og så ignorerer jeg alle de andre, og jeg går til det maleri.

So it's the first thing I do is, I do my own curation.

Det er den første ting, jeg gør.

I choose a painting. It might just be one painting in 50.

Jeg udvælger et maleri.

Det kan være et ud af halvtreds.

And then the second thing I do is I stand in front of that painting,

Den anden ting jeg gør er, at jeg står foran det maleri

and I tell myself a story about it.

og fortæller mig selv en historie om det.

Why a story? Well, I think that we are wired,

Hvorfor en historie? Jeg tror, at vi er indstillet til,

our DNA tells us to tell stories.

gennem vores DNA, at fortælle historier.

We tell stories all the time about everything,

Vi fortæller hele tiden historier

and I think we do it because the world is kind of a crazy, chaotic place,

og jeg tror, vi gør det, fordi verden er et skørt og kaotisk sted,

and sometimes stories, we're trying to make sense of the world a little bit,

og med historier prøver vi at få verden til at give mening,

trying to bring some order to it.

at bringe noget orden ind i den.

Why not apply that to our looking at paintings?

Hvorfor ikke implementere det i den måde vi kigger på malerier på?

So I now have this sort of restaurant menu

Nu har jeg denne form for restaurant menu,

visiting of art galleries.

når jeg besøger kunstgallerier.

There are three paintings I'm going to show you now

Jeg vil vise jer tre malerier,

that are paintings that made me stop in my tracks

som fik mig til at stoppe op,

and want to tell stories about them.

og jeg vil fortælle jer historier om dem.

The first one needs little introduction --

Det første behøves meget lidt introduktion --

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer,

"Pige med perleørering" af Johannes Vermeer,

17th-century Dutch painter.

en 1700-tals hollandsk maler.

This is the most glorious painting.

Dette er det mest glorværdige billede.

I first saw it when I was 19,

Jeg så det første gang, da jeg var nitten,

and I immediately went out and got a poster of it,

og jeg gik med det samme ud og købte en plakat med det,

and in fact I still have that poster. 30 years later it's hanging in my house.

og jeg har stadig den plakat. Tredive år senere hænger den i mit hus.

It's accompanied me everywhere I've gone,

Den har ledsaget mig overalt,

I never tire of looking at her.

jeg bliver aldrig træt af at kigge på hende.

What made me stop in my tracks about her to begin with

Det der først og fremmest fik mig til at stoppe op ved dette billede

was just the gorgeous colors he uses

var de smukke farver, som han bruger,

and the light falling on her face.

og lyset, der falder på hendes ansigt.

But I think what's kept me still coming back

Men det, der har fået mig til at komme tilbage

year after year is another thing, and that is

år efter år er en helt anden ting,

og det er udtrykket i hendes ansigt, det modstridende udtryk i hendes ansigt.

the look on her face, the conflicted look on her face.

I can't tell if she's happy or sad,

Jeg kan ikke se, om hun er glad eller trist,

and I change my mind all the time.

og jeg ændrer hele tiden mening.

So that keeps me coming back.

Det får mig til at komme tilbage til det.

One day, 16 years after I had this poster on my wall,

En dag seksten år efter jeg købte denne plakat,

I lay in bed and looked at her,

lå jeg i sengen og kiggede på hende,

and I suddenly thought, I wonder what

og pludselig tænkte jeg på, hvad maleren gjorde ved hende

the painter did to her to make her look like that.

for at få hende til at se sådan ud.

And it was the first time I'd ever thought that

Det var første gang, jeg havde tænkt på,

the expression on her face is actually reflecting

at udtrykket på hendes ansigt faktisk reflekterer

how she feels about him.

hvad hun føler for ham.

Always before I'd thought of it as a portrait of a girl.

Jeg havde altid tænkt på det som et portræt af en pige.

Now I began to think of it as a portrait of a relationship.

Nu begyndte jeg at tænke på det som et portræt af et forhold.

And I thought, well, what is that relationship?

Og jeg tænkte på, hvad det var for et forhold?

So I went to find out. I did some research and discovered,

Så jeg begyndte at undersøge det. Jeg researchede det og opdagede,

we have no idea who she is.

at man ikke aner, hvem hun er.

In fact, we don't know who any of the models

Faktisk ved vi ikke, hvem nogen af modellerne er i Vermeers malerier,

in any of Vermeer's paintings are,

and we know very little about Vermeer himself.

og vi ved meget lidt om Vermeer selv.

Which made me go, "Yippee!"

Hvilket fik mig til at sige: "Jubii!"

I can do whatever I want, I can come up with whatever story I want to.

Jeg kan skrive lige præcis den historie, jeg har lyst til.

So here's how I came up with the story.

Sådan kom jeg på denne historie.

First of all, I thought,

I've got to get her into the house.

For det første,

måtte jeg få hende ind i det hus.

How does Vermeer know her?

Hvordan kender Vermeer hende?

Well, there've been suggestions that

Det har været foreslået,

she is his 12-year-old daughter.

at hun kunne være hans tolvårige datter.

The daughter at the time was 12 when he painted the painting.

Datteren var på det tidspunkt tolv år gammel, da han malede det.

And I thought, no, it's a very intimate look,

Jeg tænkte, nej, det er et meget intimt blik,

but it's not a look a daughter gives her father.

men det er ikke et blik, en datter giver sin far.

For one thing, in Dutch painting of the time,

For det første, i hollandske malerier på den tid,

if a woman's mouth was open, it was indicating sexual availability.

betød en kvindes åbne mund, at hun var seksuelt til rådighed.

It would have been inappropriate for Vermeer

Det ville have været upassende for Vermeer

to paint his daughter like that.

at male sin datter sådan.

So it's not his daughter, but it's somebody

Så det er ikke hans datter, men det er en,

close to him, physically close to him.

der er tæt på ham, fysisk tæt på ham.

Well, who else would be in the house?

Hvem ville ellers være i huset?

A servant, a lovely servant.

En tjenestepige, en dejlig tjenestepige.

So, she's in the house.

Så, hun er i huset.

How do we get her into the studio?

Hvordan får vi hende ind i atelieret?

We don't know very much about Vermeer,

Vi ved ikke særlig meget om Vermeer,

but the little bits that we do know, one thing we know

men af de få ting vi ved,

ved vi at han giftede sig med en katolsk kvinde,

is that he married a Catholic woman, they lived with her mother

de boede med hendes mor i et hus, hvor han havde sig eget værelse,

in a house where he had his own room

where he -- his studio. He also had 11 children.

hans atelier.

Han havde også elleve børn.

It would have been a chaotic, noisy household.

Det ville have været en kaotisk og larmende husholdning.

And if you've seen Vermeer's paintings before,

Og hvis i har set Vermeers malerier før,

you know that they're incredibly calm and quiet.

ved i, at de er utrolig rolige og stille.

How does a painter paint such calm, quiet paintings with 11 kids around?

Hvordan maler en maler så rolige og stille malerier med elleve børn i huset?

Well, he compartmentalizes his life.

Han deler sit liv op i sektioner.

He gets to his studio, and he says, "Nobody comes in here.

Han har sit atelier, og siger, "Ingen må komme herind.

Not the wife, not the kids. Okay, the maid can come in and clean."

Ikke konen, ikke børnene. Okay, tjenestepigen kan komme og gøre rent."

She's in the studio. He's got her in the studio, they're together.

Hun er i atelieret. Han har hende i atelieret, de er sammen.

And he decides to paint her.

Og han beslutter sig for at male hende.

He has her wear very plain clothes.

Han får hende til at bære meget enkelt tøj.

Now, all of the women, or most of the women in Vermeer's other paintings

Alle kvinder, eller de fleste kvinder i Vermeers andre malerier

wore velvet, silk, fur, very sumptuous materials.

bar fløjl, silke, pelse

meget overdådige materialer.

This is very plain; the only thing that isn't plain

Dette er meget enkelt; det eneste, der ikke er enkelt,

is her pearl earring.

er perleøreringen.

Now, if she's a servant, there is no way she could afford

Hvis hun er en tjenestepige, ville hun aldrig nogensinde

a pair of pearl earrings.

få råd til et sæt perleøreringe.

So those are not her pearl earrings. Whose are they?

Så dette er ikke hendes perleøreringe. Hvis er de?

We happen to know, there's a list of Catharina, the wife's clothes.

Vi ved tilfældigvis, at der er en liste over konen Catharinas tøj.

Amongst them a yellow coat with white fur,

Blandt dem er der en gul frakke med hvid pels,

a yellow and black bodice,

en gul og sort kjole,

and you see these clothes on lots of other paintings,

og man kan se disse på mange andre malerier,

different women in the paintings, Vermeer's paintings.

forskellige kvinder på malerierne, Vermeers malerier.

So clearly, her clothes were lent to various different women.

Det er tydeligt, at hendes tøj blev udlånt til flere forskellige kvinder.

It's not such a leap of faith to take

Det er ikke så skørt at tro,

that that pearl earring actually belongs to his wife.

at den perleørering rent faktisk tilhører hans kone.

So we've got all the elements for our story.

Vi har alle elementerne i vores historie.

She's in the studio with him for a long time.

Hun er i atelieret sammen med ham i meget lang tid.

These paintings took a long time to make.

Disse malerier tog lang tid at male.

They would have spent the time alone, all that time.

De ville have tilbragt al den tid alene.

She's wearing his wife's pearl earring.

Hun bærer hans kones perleørering.

She's gorgeous. She obviously loves him. She's conflicted.

Hun er smuk. Hun elsker ham tydeligvis. Hun er i konflikt med sig selv.

And does the wife know? Maybe not.

Og ved konen noget? Måske ikke.

And if she doesn't, well --

Og hvis hun ikke gør, --

that's the story.

det er historien.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

The next painting I'm going to talk about

Det næste maleri, jeg vil tale om

is called "Boy Building a House of Cards" by Chardin.

hedder "Dreng bygger et korthus" af Chardin.

He's an 18th-century French painter best known for his still lifes,

Han er en af 1800-tallets franske malere, der er mest kendt for hans stilleben,

but he did occasionally paint people.

men han malede ind imellem mennesker.

And in fact, he painted four versions of this painting,

Faktisk malede han fire versioner af dette maleri,

different boys building houses of cards, all concentrated.

forskellige drenge, der byggede korthuse, helt koncentreret.

I like this version the best, because some of the boys

Jeg kan bedst lide denne version, for nogen af drengene

are older and some are younger, and to me, this one,

er ældre, nogen er yngre, og for mig var denne -

like Goldilocks's porridge, is just right.

ligesom Guldloks grød -- helt rigtig.

He's not quite a child, and he's not quite a man.

Han er ikke helt barn, og han er ikke helt voksen.

He's absolutely balanced between innocence and experience,

Han er fuldstændig i balance mellem uskyld og erfaring,

and that made me stop in my tracks in front of this painting.

og det fik mig til at stoppe op foran dette maleri.

And I looked at his face. It's like a Vermeer painting a bit.

Og jeg kiggede på hans ansigt. Det er ligesom et Vermeer maleri.

The light comes in from the left, his face is bathed

Lyset kommer ind fra venstre, hans ansigt er badet

in this glowing light. It's right in the center of the painting,

i dette glødende lys. Det er i midten af maleriet,

and you look at it, and I found that when I was looking at it,

og jeg opdagede, da jeg kiggede på det,

I was standing there going,

at jeg stod og tænkte,

"Look at me. Please look at me."

"Se på mig. Se venligst på mig."

And he didn't look at me. He was still looking at his cards,

Men han så mig ikke. Han kiggede stadig på sine kort,

and that's one of the seductive elements of this painting is,

og det er et af de forførende elementer i dette maleri,

he's so focused on what he's doing that he doesn't look at us.

han er så fokuseret på, hvad han laver, at han ikke kigger på os.

And that is, to me, the sign of a masterpiece,

Og det er, for mig, et tegn på et mesterværk

of a painting when there's a lack of resolution.

af et maleri, når der er en mangel på beslutsomhed.

He's never going to look at me.

Han vil aldrig se på mig.

So I was thinking of a story where,

Så jeg tænkte på en historie, hvor jeg overvejede,

if I'm in this position, who could be there looking at him?

hvem der var der og så på ham?

Not the painter, I don't want to think about the painter.

Ikke maleren, jeg vil ikke tænke på maleren.

I'm thinking of an older version of himself.

Jeg tænker på en ældre version af ham selv.

He's a man, a servant, an older servant looking at this younger servant,

Han er en mand, en tjener, en ældre tjener, der kigger på den yngre tjener,

saying, "Look at me. I want to warn you about

og han siger, "Se på mig. Jeg vil advare dig om det,

what you're about to go through. Please look at me."

du skal til at gennemgå. Se venligst på mig."

And he never does.

Men han gør det aldrig.

And that lack of resolution, the lack of resolution in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" --

Og den mangel på beslutsomhed, ligesom i "Pige med perleørering" --

we don't know if she's happy or sad.

vi ved ikke, om hun er glad eller trist.

I've written an entire novel about her,

Jeg har skrevet en hel roman om hende,

and I still don't know if she's happy or sad.

og jeg ved stadig ikke, om hun er glad eller trist.

Again and again, back to the painting,

Igen og igen, tilbage til maleriet,

looking for the answer, looking for the story to fill in that gap.

kigge efter svaret, kigge efter historien, der kan udfylde et hul.

And we may make a story, and it satisfies us momentarily,

Og måske skaber vi en historie, der tilfredsstiller os i øjeblikket,

but not really, and we come back again and again.

men ikke rigtig, og vi kommer tilbage igen og igen.

The last painting I'm going to talk about

Det sidste maleri, jeg vil tale om,

is called "Anonymous" by anonymous. (Laughter)

hedder "Anonym" af Anonym.

(Latter)

This is a Tudor portrait bought by the National Portrait Gallery.

Dette er et Tudor portræt opkøbt af Det Nationale Portræt Galleri.

They thought it was a man named Sir Thomas Overbury,

De troede, det var en mand, der hedder Sir Thomas Overbury,

and then they discovered that it wasn't him,

og så opdagede de, at det ikke var ham,

and they have no idea who it is.

og de har ingen ide om, hvem det er.

Now, in the National Portrait Gallery,

I Det Nationale Portræt Galleri,

if you don't know the biography of the painting,

hvis man ikke kender biografien bag et maleri,

it's kind of useless to you.

er det ret ubrugeligt.

They can't hang it on the wall, because they don't know who he is.

Man kan ikke hænge det på en væg, for man ved ikke, hvem han er.

So unfortunately, this orphan spends most of his time in storage,

Så desværre tilbringer denne forældreløse det meste af sin tid på et lager

along with quite a number of other orphans,

sammen med en del andre forældreløse,

some of them some beautiful paintings.

nogen af dem er virkelig smukke malerier.

This painting made me stop in my tracks for three reasons:

Dette maleri fik mig til at stoppe op af tre grunde:

One is the disconnection between his mouth

En grund er splittelsen mellem hans mund, som smiler

that's smiling and his eyes that are wistful.

og hans øjne, der er vemodige.

He's not happy, and why isn't he happy?

Han er ikke glad, og hvorfor ikke?

The second thing that really attracted me

En anden ting, som tiltrak mig

were his bright red cheeks.

var hans lysende røde kinder.

He is blushing. He's blushing for his portrait being made!

Han rødmer. Han rødmer for sit portræt!

This must be a guy who blushes all the time.

Det her må være en fyr, som rødmer hele tiden.

What is he thinking about that's making him blush?

Hvad tænker han på, som får ham til at rødme?

The third thing that made me stop in my tracks

Den tredje ting, der fik mig til at stoppe op

is his absolutely gorgeous doublet.

er hans fuldstændig fantastiske dublet.

Silk, gray, those beautiful buttons.

Silke, grå, de smukke knapper.

And you know what it makes me think of,

Det får mig til at tænke på, at den er lun og blød;

is it's sort of snug and puffy; it's like a duvet spread over a bed.

det er som en dyne spredt ud over en seng.

I kept thinking of beds and red cheeks,

Jeg blev ved med at tænke på senge og rødmende kinder,

and of course I kept thinking of sex when I looked at him,

og selvfølgelig blev jeg ved med at tænke på sex, når jeg kiggede på ham,

and I thought, is that what he's thinking about?

og jeg overvejede, om det var det, han tænkte på?

And I thought, if I'm going to make a story,

Og jeg tænkte, at hvis jeg skulle skrive en historie,

what's the last thing I'm going to put in there?

hvad er så det sidste, jeg ville skrive om?

Well, what would a Tudor gentleman be preoccupied with?

Hvad ville en Tudor herre være optaget af?

And I thought, well, Henry VIII, okay.

Og jeg tænkte, Henry d. 8., okay.

He'd be preoccupied with his inheritance, with his heir.

Han ville være optaget af sin arv og sin arving.

Who is going to inherit his name and his fortune?

Hvem skal arve hans navn og formue?

You put all those together, and you've got your story

Når man sætter alt det sammen, har man sin historie

to fill in that gap that makes you keep coming back.

til at udfylde det hul, som får en til at komme tilbage.

Now, here's the story.

Her er historien.

It's short.

Den er kort.

"Rosy"

"Rosa"

I am still wearing the white brocade doublet Caroline gave me.

Jeg bærer stadig den hvide, brokerede dublet, som Caroline gav mig.

It has a plain high collar, detachable sleeves

Den har en almindelig høj krave, aftagelige ærmer,

and intricate buttons of twisted silk thread,

og indviklede knapper af snoede silketråde,

set close together so that the fit is snug.

der er sat tæt sammen, så den sidder tæt.

The doublet makes me think of a coverlet on the vast bed.

Dubletten får mig til at tænke på en dyne på den enorme seng.

Perhaps that was the intention.

Måske var det meningen.

I first wore it at an elaborate dinner her parents held in our honor.

Jeg bar den først til en udsøgt middag, som hendes forældre holdt til vores ære.

I knew even before I stood up to speak

Jeg vidste, før jeg rejste mig for at tale,

that my cheeks were inflamed.

at mine kinder var ildrøde.

I have always flushed easily, from physical exertion,

Jeg har altid rødmet meget let, fra fysisk anstrengelse,

from wine, from high emotion.

fra vin, fra stærke følelser.

As a boy, I was teased by my sisters and by schoolboys,

Som dreng blev jeg drillet af mine søstre og af skoledrenge,

but not by George.

men ikke af George.

Only George could call me Rosy.

Kun George kunne kalde mig Rosa.

I would not allow anyone else.

Jeg ville ikke tillade, at andre gjorde.

He managed to make the word tender.

Han fik ordet til at lyde ømt.

When I made the announcement, George did not

Da jeg gav beskeden, blev George ikke rød,

turn rosy, but went pale as my doublet.

men blev bleg som min dublet.

He should not have been surprised.

Han skulle ikke være blevet overrasket.

It has been a common assumption

Det har været en gængs antagelse,

that I would one day marry his cousin.

at jeg en dag skulle giftes med hans kusine.

But it is difficult to hear the words aloud.

Men det er svært at høre ordene blive sagt højt.

I know, I could barely utter them.

Jeg ved det, jeg kunne knap nok sige dem.

Afterwards, I found George on the terrace overlooking the kitchen garden.

Efterfølgende fandt jeg George på terrassen, mens han kiggede ud over køkkenhaven.

Despite drinking steadily all afternoon, he was still pale.

På trods af at han havde drukket hele eftermiddagen, var han stadig bleg.

We stood together and watched the maids cut lettuces.

Vi stod sammen og så på at tjenestepigerne skar salat.

"What do you think of my doublet?" I asked.

"Hvad synes du om min dublet?", spurgte jeg.

He glanced at me. "That collar looks to be strangling you."

Han kastede et blik på mig. "Det ser ud som om, kraven er ved at kvæle dig."

"We will still see each other," I insisted.

"Vi vil stadig se hinanden," insisterede jeg.

"We can still hunt and play cards and attend court.

"Vi kan stadig jage og spille kort og overvære domstolen.

Nothing need change."

Intet behøves at ændre sig."

George did not speak.

George sagde intet.

"I am 23 years old. It is time for me to marry

"Jeg er treogtyve år gammel. Det er på tide, at jeg gifter mig

and produce an heir. It is expected of me."

og fremstiller en arving. Det er forventet af mig."

George drained another glass of claret and turned to me.

George tømte endnu et glas rødvin og vendte sig om mod mig.

"Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, James.

"Tillykke med dit forestående bryllup, James.

I'm sure you'll be content together."

Jeg er sikker på, at i bliver tilfredse sammen."

He never used my nickname again.

Han brugte aldrig mit kaldenavn igen.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Tak.

Thank you.

(Applause)