托福阅读历年真题精选25

In eighteenth-century colonial America, flowers and fruit were typically the

province of the botanical artist interested in scientific illustration rather than being

the subjects of fine art. Early in the nineteenth century, however, the Peale family of

Philadelphia established the still life, a picture consisting mainly of inanimate

(5)  objects, as a valuable part of the artist's repertoire. The fruit paintings by James and

Sarah Miriam Peale are simple arrangements of a few objects, handsomely colored,

small in size, and representing little more than what they are. In contrast were the

highly symbolic, complex compositions by Charles Bird King, with their biting

satire and critical social commentary. Each of these strains comminuted into   and

(10) well past mid-century.

John F. Francis (1808-86) was a part of the Pennsylvania still-life tradition that

arose, at least in part, from the work of the Peales. Most of his still lifes date from

around 1850 to 1875. Luncheon Still Life looks like one of the Peales' pieces on a

larger scale, kits greater complexity resulting from the number of objects. It is also

(15) indebted to the luncheon type of still life found in seventeenth-century Dutch

painting. The opened bottles of wine and the glasses of wine partially consumed

suggest a number of unseen guests. The appeal of the fruit and nuts to our sense of

taste is heightened by the juicy orange, which has already been sliced.  The

arrangement is additive, that is, made up of many different parts, not always

(20) compositionally integrated, with all objects of essentially equal importance.

About 1848, Severin Roesen came to the United States from Germany and 

settled in New York City, where he began to paint large, lush still lifes of flowers, 

fruit, or both, often measuring over four feet across. Still Life with Fruit and

Champagne is typical in its brilliance of color, meticulous rendering of detail, 

(25) compact composition, and unabashed abundance. Rich in symbolic overtones, the 

beautifully painted objects carry additional meanings------butterflies or fallen buds 

suggest the impermanence of life, a bird's nest with eggs means fertility, and so on. 

Above all, Roesen's art expresses the abundance that America symbolized to many of its citizens.