TF阅读真题第880篇Dutch Art and the Middle Class-托您的福

Dutch Art and the Middle Class

Throughout history,the wealthy have been the most avid art collectors. Indeed, the money necessary to commission leading artists to create major artworks can be considerable.During the seventeenth century in the Dutch Republic, however,the prosperity that a large proportion of the population enjoyed significantly expanded the group of art patrons, people whose wealth allowed them to support artists by purchasing art. As a result, one distinguishing feature of Dutch art production during this period was how it catered to the tastes of a middle-class audience,broadly defined. An aristocracy and an upper class of ship owners,rich businesspeople, high-ranking officers, and directors of large companies still existed, and these groups continued to be major patrons of the arts. But as the Dutch economy expanded, new patrons-traders, craftspeople,bureaucrats, and soldiers-also commissioned and collected art.

Although the financial success that the middle class increasingly enjoyed resulted in sharply higher investment in home furnishings and art,religious beliefs that disdained ostentation led these new Dutch collectors to favor small, low-key works-portraits of ordinary men and women, still lifes and scenes of everyday life,and landscapes. This focus contrasted with the seventeenth-century Italian Baroque fondness for gigantic ceiling frescoes and oil paintings with religious subjects. Stylistically, the art of northern Europe of this period, although also called “Baroque” by art historians,differs markedly from Italian Baroque art.

It is risky to generalize about the spending and collecting habits of the Dutch middle class, but some interesting facts are revealed by records of wills and estates, contracts, and archived inventories. These records suggest that an individual earning between 1,500 and 3.000 guilders a year could live quite comfortably.A house could be purchased for 1,000 guilders.Another 1.000 guilders could buy all the necessary furnishings for a middle-class home,including a significant amount of art. particularly paintings.Although there was, of course, considerable variation in prices, many artworks were very affordable. Prints, for example, were extremely cheap because of the high number of copies artists produced of each picture.Paintings of interior and everyday scenes were relatively inexpensive in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic, perhaps costing one or two guilders each. Small landscapes could be purchased for between three and four guilders. Commissioned portraits were the most costly. The size of the work and quality of the frame,as well as the reputation of the artist, were other factors in determining the price of a painting,regardless of the subject.

With the exception of portraits. Dutch artists produced most of their paintings for an anonymous market, hoping to appeal to a wide audience.To ensure success, artists in the Dutch Republic adapted to the changed conditions of art production and sales. They marketed their paintings in many ways, selling their works directly to buyers who visited their studios. They also sold their works through art dealers, exhibitions,fairs,auctions,and even lotteries.Because of the uncertainty of these sales mechanisms (as opposed to the certainty of a binding contract for a commission from a church, king. or duke). artists became more responsive to market demands. Specialization became common among Dutch artists. For example, painters might limit their practice to portraits, still lifes, or landscapes-the most popular genres (types of art) among middle- class patrons.

Artists did not always sell their paintings. Frequently, they used their work to pay off loans or debts. Debts incurred in taverns （places where alcoholic drinks and food were served and rooms were rented to travelers), in particular, could be settled with paintings, which may explain why many art dealers, including Jan Vermeer (who himself became an acclaimed painter) and his father before him, were also innkeepers. This connection between art dealing and other businesses eventually solidified, and innkeepers, for example,often would have art exhibitions in their taverns hoping to make a sale. The institutions of today’s open art market-dealers, galleries, auctions, and estate sales-owe their establishment to the emergence in the seventeenth century of a prosperous middle class in the Dutch Republic.

The word “avid”in the passage is closest in meaning to

Vocabulary Questions词汇题

Aenthusiastic

Binfluential

Csuccessful

Dtypical

It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that increased middle-class prosperity in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic resulted in

Inference Questions推理题

Athe aristocracy and upper class losing interest in supporting artists

Bmiddle-class people becoming art patrons

Ca larger proportion of the population having time to produce art

Dthe cost and quality of artwork increasing with increased demand

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

Sentence Simplification Questions句子简化题

AThe financial success of the middle class increasingly allowed the Dutch to enjoy their investments in home furnishings and art.

BExcessive ostentation led to higher investments in home furnishings and art in the form of portraits,still life and scenes of everyday life,and landscapes.

CReligious beliefs led Dutch collectors to favor small,low-key works f art, despite greater middle class wealth and higher investments in home furnishings.

DAlthough the middle class was financially successful,home furnishings and art required sharply higher investments, making it difficult for Dutch collectors to buy the art they favored.

In paragraph 3, why does the author provide the information that house furnishings and art for a middle-class home could be purchased for 1,000 guilders?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

ATo argue that furnishing a house was quite expensive relative to buying a house in the seventeenth century

BTo emphasize the extent to which the seventeenth-century Dutch middle class valued having works of art in their homes

CTo indicate how much information was available about the middle class from the records of the seventeenth century

DTo support the point that artwork in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic was affordable for the middle class

According to paragraph 3, in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic all of the following paintings would have been expensive EXCEPT

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

Aa detailed painting of the interior of a home

Ba portrait commissioned by the buyer

Ca painting by an artist considered to be very good

Da large,well-framed landscape painting

According to paragraph 4. Dutch artists sold their works in all of the following ways EXCEPT

Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题

Adirectly from their studios

Bby visiting the homes of buyers

Cat public events such as exhibitions and fairs

Dthrough lotteries

According to paragraph 4, why did Dutch artists begin to specialize in certain types of paintings?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

AThe art dealers who sold their work would promote only certain styles of art.

BThey believed that some types of paintings had more artistic value than others.

CThey could decrease the size of their studios and thus save money.

DThey wanted to concentrate on the types of paintings that were most likely to sell.

According to paragraph 5, why were many art dealers also innkeepers?

Factual Information Questions事实信息题

AInn keeping was a highly profitable business that could supplement an art dealer’s small income.

BWorking as innkeepers gave art dealers the opportunity to pay off debts they had incurred when investing in works of art.

CArtists were more likely to sell their art to innkeepers who were well-liked members of the community than to art dealers who were often strangers.

DDrinks and food were sometimes paid for with paintings that could then be displayed and sold in inns.

It is risky to generalize about the spending and collecting habits of the Dutch middle class, but some interesting facts are revealed by records of wills and estates, contracts, and archived inventories. [■]These records suggest that an individual earning between 1,500 and 3.000 guilders a year could live quite comfortably. [■]A house could be purchased for 1,000 guilders. [■]Another 1.000 guilders could buy all the necessary furnishings for a middle-class home,including a significant amount of art. particularly paintings. [■]Although there was, of course, considerable variation in prices, many artworks were very affordable. Prints, for example, were extremely cheap because of the high number of copies artists produced of each picture.Paintings of interior and everyday scenes were relatively inexpensive in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic, perhaps costing one or two guilders each. Small landscapes could be purchased for between three and four guilders. Commissioned portraits were the most costly. The size of the work and quality of the frame,as well as the reputation of the artist, were other factors in determining the price of a painting,regardless of the subject.

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

The examination of such documents offers insights into the costs and lifestyles of the timeInsert Text Questions句子插入题

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

Changes in Dutch society in the seventeenth century led to major changes in the Dutch art world.

Prose Summary Questions概要小结题

Select 3 answers

ATraditional art patrons in the Dutch Republic-aristocrats,wealthy businesspeople, and military leaders-played only a minor role in the arts as their attention shifted to the growing economy.

BThe affordability of Dutch art increased, and collectors focused on images of the everyday life of ordinary people rather than on religious scenes or grander works of art.

CAlthough records and documents from the Dutch Republic have long been the subject of research, art historians now question the accuracy of conclusions based on these sources.

DProsperity among the Dutch middle class promoted an interest in and support of art that led to a change in the kinds of works artists produced to satisfy buyers’ tastes

EThe marketing of Dutch works of art changed,becoming more dependent on sales to a broader public than aristocrats,and this has had a lasting influence on the marketing of art

FIn the Dutch Republic,artists with commissions from a church,king. or duke were financially far more successful than artists who sold their works on the open market.

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