Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

Translator: Thu-Huong Ha Reviewer: Youna Jung

Prevoditelj: Suzana Baric Recezent: Danijela Rako

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

Pričat ću vam o jednoj bolesti od koje patim.

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

I imam čudan predosjećaj da mnogi od vas

suffer from it as well.

također boluju od nje.

When I'm walking around an art gallery,

Kada hodam po umjetničkoj galeriji,

rooms and rooms full of paintings,

mnogobrojnim prostorijama punima slika,

after about 15 or 20 minutes,

nakon nekih 15 ili 20 minuta,

I realize I'm not thinking about the paintings.

primijetim da ne razmišljam o slikama.

I'm not connecting to them.

Ne povezujem se s njima.

Instead, I'm thinking about that cup of coffee

Umjesto toga, razmišljam o šalici kave

I desperately need to wake me up.

koju očajnički trebam da bih se razbudila.

I'm suffering from gallery fatigue.

Patim od zamorenosti galerijom.

How many of you out there suffer from --

Koliko vas pati od -

yes. Ha ha, ha ha!

da. Ha ha, ha ha!

Now, sometimes you might last longer

Nekada ćete izdržati dulje

than 20 minutes, or even shorter,

od 20 minuta, ili čak i kraće,

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

ali misliim da svi bolujemo od toga. A imate li

the accompanying guilt?

i popratnu krivnju?

For me, I look at the paintings on the wall

Gledam slike na zidu

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

i mislim kako je netko odlučio staviti ih ondje,

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

kako misli da su dovoljno dobre da bi bile na tom zidu,

but I don't always see it.

ali ja to ne vidim uvijek.

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

U biti, većinom to ne vidim.

And I leave feeling actually unhappy.

I otiđem zapravo nesretna.

I feel guilty and unhappy with myself,

Osjećam se krivom i nesretnom,

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

i umjesto da mislim da nešto nije u redu sa slikom,

I think there's something wrong with me.

mislim da nešto nije u redu sa mnom.

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

Nije lijepo iskustvo tako otići iz galerije.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

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

Stvar je u tome da mislim kako ne bismo trebali biti toliko samokritični.

If you think about going into a restaurant,

Razmislite o odlasku u restoran.

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

Kada gledate jelovnik, očekuje li se od vas da naručite

every single thing on the menu?

baš svako jelo na njemu?

No! You select.

Ne! Vi birate.

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

Ako odete u trgovački centar kupiti majicu,

are you going to try on every single shirt

hoćete li isprobati svaku majicu

and want every single shirt?

i htjeti svaku majicu?

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

Naravno da ne, možete birati. To se očekuje.

How come, then, it's not so expected

Zašto se onda ne očekuje da

to be selective when we go to an art gallery?

biramo kada idemo u galeriju?

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

Zašto se očekuje od nas da se povežemo s baš svakom slikom?

Well I'm trying to take a different approach.

Ja pokušavam pristupiti na drugi način.

And there's two things I do:

I radim dvije stvari:

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

Kada idem u galeriju, kao prvo, hodam dosta brzo,

and I look at everything, and I pinpoint the ones

gledam sve i usmjerim pažnju na one

that make me slow down for some reason or other.

zbog kojih usporim iz ovog ili onog razloga.

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

Ni ne znam zašto zbog njih usporim, ali nešto

pulls me like a magnet

me privuče poput magneta

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

i tada ignoriram sve druge i samo odem do te slike.

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

Dakle, kao prvo, vlastiti sam kustos.

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

Odaberem sliku. Može to biti samo jedna slika od njih 50.

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

Kao drugo, stojim ispred te slike

and I tell myself a story about it.

i pričam si priču o njoj.

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

Zašto priču? Pa, mislim da smo za to stvoreni,

our DNA tells us to tell stories.

naša DNK nam govori da pričamo priče.

We tell stories all the time about everything,

Stalno pričamo priče o svačemu

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

i mislim da to činimo zato što je svijet pomalo ludo, kaotično mjesto,

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

a ponekad pričama pokušavamo shvatiti svijet,

trying to bring some order to it.

pokušavamo u njega unijeti neki red.

Why not apply that to our looking at paintings?

Zašto to ne bismo primijenili na naše gledanje slika?

So I now have this sort of restaurant menu

Tako da sada posjetu galeriji pristupam kao

visiting of art galleries.

naručivanju iz jelovnika u restoranu.

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

Sada ću vam pokazati tri slike

that are paintings that made me stop in my tracks

koje su me toliko iznenadile da sam stala

and want to tell stories about them.

i htjela ispričati priče o njima.

The first one needs little introduction --

Prvu ne trebam posebno predstavljati -

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer,

"Djevojka s bisernom naušnicom" Johannesa Vermeera,

17th-century Dutch painter.

nizozemskog slikara iz 17. stoljeća.

This is the most glorious painting.

To je jedna sjajna slika.

I first saw it when I was 19,

Prvi put sam je vidjela s 19 godina

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

i odmah kupila njezin poster

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

i još uvijek imam taj poster. I 30 godina kasnije on visi u mojoj kući.

It's accompanied me everywhere I've gone,

Pratio me svugdje kamo sam išla.

I never tire of looking at her.

Nikada mi ne dosadi gledati je.

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

Ono što me kao prvo iznenadilo kod nje

was just the gorgeous colors he uses

jednostavno su bile prekrasne boje koje koristi

and the light falling on her face.

i svjetlost koje pada na njeno lice.

But I think what's kept me still coming back

Ali mislim da je ono zbog čega sam se vraćala

year after year is another thing, and that is

godinu za godinom nešto drugo, a to je

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

izraz njenog lica, izraz emocionalnog konflikta na njenom licu.

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

Ne znam je li sretna ili tužna,

and I change my mind all the time.

stalno se predomišljam.

So that keeps me coming back.

Zbog toga se vraćam.

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

Jednog dana, kada sam već 16 godina imala taj poster na svom zidu,

I lay in bed and looked at her,

ležala sam u krevetu i pogledala je

and I suddenly thought, I wonder what

i najednom pomislila: Pitam se što

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

joj je slikar učinio da izgleda tako?

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

I to je bio prvi put da sam razmišljala o tome

the expression on her face is actually reflecting

kako izraz njenog lica zapravo odražava

how she feels about him.

njezine osjećaje prema njemu.

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

Prije sam o toj slici razmišljala kao o portretu djevojke.

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

Sada sam je počela vidjeti kao portret odnosa.

And I thought, well, what is that relationship?

I pomislila sam: Kakav je to odnos?

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

Pa sam išla otkriti. Malo sam istraživala i otkrila

we have no idea who she is.

da nemamo pojma tko je ona.

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

U biti, ne znamo identitet niti jednog modela

in any of Vermeer's paintings are,

s Vermeerovih slika,

and we know very little about Vermeer himself.

a malo znamo i o Vermeeru samom.

Which made me go, "Yippee!"

Zbog čega sam uzviknula: "Jupi!".

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

Mogu raditi što god želim, mogu izmisliti kakvu god priču želim.

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

Evo kako sam smislila priču.

First of all, I thought,

Pomislila sam

I've got to get her into the house.

da je najprije moram dovesti u kuću.

How does Vermeer know her?

Kako je Vermeer poznaje?

Well, there've been suggestions that

Pa, bilo je nagađanja da

she is his 12-year-old daughter.

je to njegova 12-ogodišnja kći.

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

Kći je imala 12 godina kad je naslikao tu sliku.

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

Ali ja sam mislila da nije, to je bio intiman pogled,

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

ali ne onakav kakav bi kći uputila svom ocu.

For one thing, in Dutch painting of the time,

Kao prvo, u nizozemskom slikarstvu tog doba,

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

otvorena usta kod žene su označavala seksualnu dostupnost.

It would have been inappropriate for Vermeer

Bilo bi neprimjereno da Vermeer

to paint his daughter like that.

naslika svoju kćer na taj način.

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

Dakle, to nije njegova kći, ali jest netko

close to him, physically close to him.

blizak njemu, fizički blizak.

Well, who else would be in the house?

Tko bi još bio u kući?

A servant, a lovely servant.

Služavka, dražesna služavka.

So, she's in the house.

Dakle, ona je u kući.

How do we get her into the studio?

Kako da je dovedemo u atelje?

We don't know very much about Vermeer,

Ne znamo mnogo o Vermeeru,

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

ali ono malo što znamo, jedna stvar koju znamo

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

jest da se vjenčao katolkinjom, da su živjeli s njenom majkom

in a house where he had his own room

u kući u kojoj je imao vlastitu sobu,

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

svoj atelje. Također, imao je 11-ero djece.

It would have been a chaotic, noisy household.

Bilo bi to kaotično, bučno domaćinstvo.

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

A ako ste prije vidjeli Vermeerove slike,

you know that they're incredibly calm and quiet.

znate da su nevjerojatno mirne i tihe.

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

Kako slikar može naslikati tako mirne, tihe slike uz 11-ero djece?

Well, he compartmentalizes his life.

Pa, podijelio je svoj život.

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

Uđe u svoj atelje i kaže: "Nitko ne smije ulaziti ovdje.

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

Niti žena, niti djeca. U redu, služavka može ući i čistiti."

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

Ona je u ateljeu. Doveo ju je u atelje, zajedno su.

And he decides to paint her.

Odluči je naslikati.

He has her wear very plain clothes.

Obuče je u običnu odjeću.

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

Sve žene ili većina žena na Vermeerovim drugim slikama

wore velvet, silk, fur, very sumptuous materials.

nosila je baršun, svilu, krzno, vrlo skupocjene materijale.

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

Ovo je vrlo obično; jedino što nije obično

is her pearl earring.

jest njezina biserna naušnica.

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

Ali, ako je služavka, nikako si nije mogla priuštiti

a pair of pearl earrings.

par bisernih naušnica.

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

Dakle, to nisu njezine biserne naušnice. Čije su?

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

Postoji Catharinin popis, ženin popis odjeće.

Amongst them a yellow coat with white fur,

Među njoj žuti kaput s bijelim krznom,

a yellow and black bodice,

žuto-crni steznik,

and you see these clothes on lots of other paintings,

a možete vidjeti tu odjeću na mnogim drugim slikama,

different women in the paintings, Vermeer's paintings.

na drugim ženama na Vermeerovim slikama.

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

Očito da je njena odjeća posuđena mnogim drugim ženama.

It's not such a leap of faith to take

Nije teško povjerovati

that that pearl earring actually belongs to his wife.

da ta biserna naušnica zapravo pripada njegovoj ženi.

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

Tako imamo sve dijelove za našu priču.

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

Mnogo vremena je provela s njim u ateljeu.

These paintings took a long time to make.

Dugo je trebalo da se naprave te slike.

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

Svo to vrijeme bili bi sami.

She's wearing his wife's pearl earring.

Nosi bisernu naušnicu njegove žene.

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

Prekrasna je. Očito je da ga voli. U emocionalnom je konfliktu.

And does the wife know? Maybe not.

A zna li žena? Možda ne zna.

And if she doesn't, well --

A ako ne zna, pa -

that's the story.

to je priča.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The next painting I'm going to talk about

Sljedeća slika o kojoj ću govoriti

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

zove se "Kula od karata" koju je naslikao Chardin.

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

On je francuski slikar iz 18. stoljeća najpoznatiji po svojim slikama mrtve prirode,

but he did occasionally paint people.

ali povremeno je slikao ljude.

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

U biti, naslikao je četiri verzije ove slike,

different boys building houses of cards, all concentrated.

različite dječake kako grade kule od karata, svi koncentrirani.

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

Ova verzija mi se najviše sviđa, zato što su neki dječaci

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

stariji, neki mlađi, a za mene je ovaj

like Goldilocks's porridge, is just right.

baš kako treba, poput Zlatokosine ječmene kaše.

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

Nije više ni dijete, ali još nije ni muškarac.

He's absolutely balanced between innocence and experience,

U potpunoj je ravnoteži između nevinosti i iskustva

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

i to me iznenadilo i zaustavilo pred ovom slikom.

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

Pogledala sam njegovo lice. To je pomalo kao Vermeerova slika.

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

Svjetlost dolazi s lijeva, njegovo lice je okupano

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

u toj sjajnoj svjetlosti. Točno je u središtu slike,

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

i pogledate je, a dok sam stajala ondje i gledala je

I was standing there going,

shvatila sam da sam mislila:

"Look at me. Please look at me."

"Pogledaj me. Molim te, pogledaj me."

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

Ali nije me pogledao. Još uvijek je gledao u svoje karte,

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

i to je jedan od zavodljivih elemenata ove slike -

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

tako je usredotočen na to što radi da nas ne gleda.

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

A to je, za mene, znak remek-djela,

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

znak slike kada nedostaje razlučivosti.

He's never going to look at me.

Nikada me neće pogledati.

So I was thinking of a story where,

Razmišljala sam o priči u kojoj,

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

ako sam ja u ovom položaju, tko bi ga ondje mogao gledati?

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

Ne slikar, o slikaru ne želim razmišljati.

I'm thinking of an older version of himself.

Mislim na stariju verziju njega samog.

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

On je muškarac, sluga, stariji sluga koji gleda tog mlađeg slugu,

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

govoreći: "Pogledaj me. Želim te upozoriti

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

na ono što ćeš upravo proživjeti. Molim te, pogledaj me."

And he never does.

Ali on to nikada ne učini.

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

A taj nedostatak razlučivosti, nedostatak razlučivosti u "Djevojci s bisernom naušnicom" -

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

ne znamo je li sretna ili tužna.

I've written an entire novel about her,

Napisala sam cijeli roman o njoj,

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

a još ne znam je li sretna ili tužna.

Again and again, back to the painting,

Opet i iznova, vraćam se na sliku,

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

tražim odgovor, tražim priču koja bi popunila prazninu.

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

I možemo smisliti priču i ona nas trenutno zadovolji,

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

ali ne zbilja, i vraćamo se opet i iznova.

The last painting I'm going to talk about

Posljednja slika o kojoj ću govoriti

is called "Anonymous" by anonymous. (Laughter)

zove se "Anonimni" od anonimnog. (Smijeh)

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

To je tudorski portret koji je kupila National Portrait Gallery.

They thought it was a man named Sir Thomas Overbury,

Mislili su da je to muškarac koji se zove Sir Thomas Overbury,

and then they discovered that it wasn't him,

a onda su otkrili da to nije on

and they have no idea who it is.

i nemaju pojma tko jest.

Now, in the National Portrait Gallery,

U National Portrait Gallery,

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

ako ne znate biografiju slike

it's kind of useless to you.

nekako vam je beskorisna.

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

Ne mogu je objesiti na zid jer ne znaju tko je on.

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

Tako, nažalost, ovaj sirotan provodi većinu svog vremena u skladištu,

along with quite a number of other orphans,

zajedno s popriličnim brojem drugih sirotana,

some of them some beautiful paintings.

a neke od njih su prelijepe slike.

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

Ova slika me iznenadila i zaustavila iz tri razloga.

One is the disconnection between his mouth

Prvi je nepovezanost između njegovih usta

that's smiling and his eyes that are wistful.

koja se smiješe i njegovih očiju koje su sjetne.

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

Nije sretan, a zašto nije sretan?

The second thing that really attracted me

Drugo što me zbilja privuklo

were his bright red cheeks.

bili su njegovi rumeni obrazi.

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

Rumeni se. Rumeni se zato što rade njegov portret!

This must be a guy who blushes all the time.

To mora da je tip koji se stalno rumeni.

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

O čemu razmišlja da se rumeni?

The third thing that made me stop in my tracks

Treća stvar koja me zaustavila

is his absolutely gorgeous doublet.

jest njegov predivan doublet.

Silk, gray, those beautiful buttons.

Svila, siva boja, ti prekrasni gumbi.

And you know what it makes me think of,

I znate na što me podsjeća,

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

nekako je udoban i napuhnut, poput popluna prostrtog po krevetu.

I kept thinking of beds and red cheeks,

Nastavila sam razmišljati o krevetima i obrazima,

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

i naravno o seksu kada sam ga gledala,

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

i pomislila je li to ono o čemu on razmišlja?

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

I pomislila sam, ako ću smisliti priču,

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

koja je zadnja stvar koju bih ondje stavila?

Well, what would a Tudor gentleman be preoccupied with?

Pa, čime bi tudorski džentlmen bio zaokupljen?

And I thought, well, Henry VIII, okay.

Pomislila sam, Henrik VIII, u redu.

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

Bio bi zaokupljen svojim nasljedstvom, svojim nasljednikom.

Who is going to inherit his name and his fortune?

Tko će naslijediti njegovo ime i njegovo bogatstvo?

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

Stavite sve to skupa i imate priču

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

koja će popuniti tu prazninu zbog koje se vraćate.

Now, here's the story.

Evo priče.

It's short.

Kratka je.

"Rosy"

"Rumenko"

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

Još nosim bijeli brokatni doublet koji mi je Caroline dala.

It has a plain high collar, detachable sleeves

Ima obični visoki ovratnik, rukave koji se skidaju

and intricate buttons of twisted silk thread,

i gumbe od zamršene svilene niti,

set close together so that the fit is snug.

postavljene skupa tako da bude uzak.

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

Doublet me podsjeća na pokrivač na velikom krevetu.

Perhaps that was the intention.

Možda je to i bila namjera.

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

Prvi put sam ga nosio na svečanoj večeri koju su njezini roditelji održali u našu čast.

I knew even before I stood up to speak

I prije no što sam ustao kako bih govorio

that my cheeks were inflamed.

znao sam da su mi obrazi upaljeni.

I have always flushed easily, from physical exertion,

Uvijek sam se lako zarumenio, od fizičkog napora,

from wine, from high emotion.

od vina, od jakih emocija.

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

Kao dječaka, moja sestra i dječaci iz škole su me zadirkivali,

but not by George.

ali ne i George.

Only George could call me Rosy.

Samo me George smio zvati Rumenko.

I would not allow anyone else.

Nikom drugom to nisam dopuštao.

He managed to make the word tender.

Uspijevao je svijet učiniti ljepšim.

When I made the announcement, George did not

Kada sam objavio, George se nije

turn rosy, but went pale as my doublet.

zarumenio, već je problijedio poput mog doubleta.

He should not have been surprised.

Nije se trebao iznenaditi.

It has been a common assumption

Dalo se pretpostaviti

that I would one day marry his cousin.

da ću se jednog dana oženiti njegovom rođakinjom.

But it is difficult to hear the words aloud.

Ali teško je čuti te riječi naglas.

I know, I could barely utter them.

Znam, jedva sam ih izgovorio.

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

Kasnije sam pronašao Georgea na terasi koja je gledala na povrtnjak.

Despite drinking steadily all afternoon, he was still pale.

Iako je cijelo popodne pio, još uvijek je bio blijed.

We stood together and watched the maids cut lettuces.

Zajedno smo stajali i gledali služavke kako režu zelenu salatu.

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

"Kako ti se čini moj doublet?", pitao sam ga.

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

Letimično me pogledao. "Taj ovratnik izgleda kao da te davi."

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

"Još uvijek ćemo se viđati", inzistirao sam.

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

"Još uvijek možemo ići u lov i kartati se i ići na dvor.

Nothing need change."

Ništa se ne mora promijeniti."

George did not speak.

George nije progovarao.

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

"Imam 23 godine. Vrijeme je da se oženim

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

i dobijem nasljednika. To se očekuje od mene."

George drained another glass of claret and turned to me.

George je iscijedio još jednu čašu vina i okrenuo se prema meni.

"Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials, James.

"Čestitke na skorom vjenčanju, James.

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

Siguran sam da ćete biti sretni zajedno."

He never used my nickname again.

Više nikad me nije nazvao nadimkom.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)