How the Frick Collection 

has been updated for the modern day

HENRY CLAY FRICK made a very 19th-century fortune in steel and coal, but his passion lay in other materials: canvas and oil paint. When he was a young man, a bank official visiting him observed that Frick “may be a little too enthusiastic about pictures”. In 1935, 16 years after Frick died, his mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side opened as a museum to show the collection he spent decades amassing, with masterpieces by Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and others.

亨利·克雷·弗里克(Henry Clay Frick)靠钢铁和煤炭积累了巨大的财富，堪称典型的19世纪商业成功典范，但他的真正兴趣却在其他领域：画布和油画。弗里克年轻时，一位拜访他的银行官员说，弗里克“可能对绘画有点过于热情了”。1935年，弗里克去世16年后，他位于曼哈顿上东区的豪宅改建为物馆，展示他花了几十年时间收集的藏品，包括伦勃朗（Rembrandt）、约翰内斯·维米尔（Johannes Vermeer）等人的杰作。

For the past five years, the Frick Collection has been closed for a renovation costing $330m. Some feared that when the institution reopened it would be unrecognisable. But Annabelle Selldorf, the architect in charge of the renovation, succeeded in her ambition to “fix things in ways that don’t interfere with the things that people love so much”. The new Frick still transports visitors to a bygone New York; it also represents a bygone style of displaying a personal art collection.

过去五年来，弗里克收藏馆因为一项价值3.3亿美元的翻修工程而关闭。一些人担心，这个机构重新开放时，可能会变得面目全非。但负责翻修的建筑师安娜贝尔·塞尔多夫（Annabelle Selldorf）成功地实现了她的雄心壮志，即“以不干扰人们深爱之物的方式修复一切”。重新开放的弗里克仍然能让游客感受到那份怀旧的纽约氛围，同时也保留了过去私人艺术收藏展示的独特风格。

The Frick’s Whartonesque atmosphere used to extend to its toilets, lifts, lighting and ventilation. It had no restaurant and its shop was poky. (These can be cash cows for museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art generated $56.7m, about 15% of its total revenue, from its retail operations in the last fiscal year.) The Frick’s music room was charming but small, offering just 147 seats, with better visuals than acoustics. Such oversights have been resolved.

弗里克收藏馆昔日那种华而不实的氛围曾延伸至其洗手间、电梯、照明和通风系统。这里没有餐厅，商店也很狭窄。（这些通常是博物馆的重要收入来源。大都会艺术博物馆去年通过零售业务赚取了5670万美元，占总收入的15% 左右。）弗里克收藏馆的音乐室魅力十足但规模很小，仅提供147个座位，音效不如视觉效果突出。这些问题现在已经得到了妥善解决。

The house’s second storey, where the Frick family had lived, was off-limits to the public and used for office space. Now offices are on the third storey, and viewers can ascend the Grand Staircase and meander through ten new galleries, some linked by a passage with an extraordinary sky-blue vaulted ceiling painted with birds in flight. A beguiling portrait by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres of a coquettish countess hangs in Frick’s former bedroom; works by François Boucher line the walls of his wife’s private sitting room.

原本不对外开放的二楼曾是弗里克一家人的居所，过去被用作办公区域。现在，办公室被移至三楼，观众可以登上大楼梯，漫步于十个新展厅之中，其中一些展厅由一条拥有非凡的天蓝色穹顶通道相连，穹顶上绘有飞翔的鸟儿。弗里克曾经的卧室里挂着一幅由让-奥古斯特-多米尼克·安格尔（JeanAuguste-Dominique Ingres）所绘的迷人的肖像画，画中的伯爵夫人卖弄风情；而他妻子的私人客厅的墙壁上则挂满了弗朗索瓦·布歇（François Boucher）的作品。

Opening these rooms and installing a few new galleries on the ground floor has yielded 30% more gallery space with just a 10% increase in total square metres. It also means that the Frick no longer has to take down works from its permanent collection to make room for special exhibitions.

通过开放这些原本不对外的房间，并在一楼增设几个新展厅，弗里克收藏馆的总面积仅增加了10%，而展览空间提升了30%。同时，这也意味着弗里克收藏馆无需再从永久藏品中撤下作品来为特别展览腾出空间。

Though visitors will doubtless swarm the Frick when it reopens on April 17th, those collectors alive today who are pondering how to show off their work are unlikely to take it as a model, for two main reasons. First, when Frick died, America had fewer and smaller museums. Now people who want to display their personal collection after they die (and also hope to offset their heirs’ inheritance taxes) can leave it to one of many established museums, where it is likely to get lots of foot traffic.

尽管弗里克收藏馆于4月17日重新开放时，参观者无疑会蜂拥而至，但如今那些仍在世、正在思索如何展示自己藏品的收藏家们，却不太可能将其视为效仿的典范，这主要出于两大原因。首先，在弗里克去世时，美国的博物馆数量较少且规模较小。而今，那些希望在死后展示个人藏品（同时也希望为继承人减轻遗产税负担）的人，可以选择将藏品捐赠给众多已颇具规模的博物馆之一，因为这些博物馆往往能吸引大量参观者，确保藏品获得高曝光度。

Second, the model of collecting and displaying art has changed. Many capitalists-turned-collectors, especially those fond of contemporary art, prefer sharing their works with the public while they are alive. “Now people are interested in what people think,” Benjamin Godsill, an art adviser, says. “With contemporary art, we’re writing art history in the moment, and the public’s reaction is part of it.”

其次，艺术收藏与展示的方式也早已不同往昔。许多由企业家转型而来的收藏家，尤其是那些热衷于当代艺术的人，更倾向于在有生之年便与公众分享他们的藏品。艺术顾问本杰明·戈德希（Benjamin Godsill）表示：“ 如今，人们关注他人对自己藏品的看法。在当代艺术中，我们几乎是在当下同步书写艺术史，而公众的反应也成了其中的一部分。”

With the notable exception of Steve Schwarzman, a private-equity titan who is turning a mansion in Newport into a museum, those who would consider establishing their own museum are unlikely to do so in the home where they once lived. That is because contemporary art is bigger than most domestic spaces: multimedia works require vaster galleries than Frick’s small, intricate paintings do. The Frick appears destined to remain a jewel-box reminder of a past era, in more ways than one.

私募股权巨头史蒂夫·施瓦茨曼（Steve Schwarzman）正将位于纽波特的一座豪宅改建为博物馆。除他之外，那些有意创立个人博物馆的人，已不太可能在自己曾居住过的宅邸中实现这一构想。这主要是因为当代艺术的体量往往远超普通住宅空间：多媒体作品所需的展厅规模，远非弗里克收藏馆中那些小巧精致的画作所能比拟。弗里克收藏馆似乎注定会成为一座承载往昔记忆的“珠宝匣”，在多个层面上提醒着人们那个时代的独特魅力。

01短语：

1.原文：But Annabelle Selldorf, the architect in charge of the renovation, succeeded in her ambition to “fix things in ways that don’t interfere with the things that people love so much”.

词典： in charge of  负责， 掌管

例句：He was the officer in charge of operations.

他是负责指挥作战行动的军官。

2.原文：Opening these rooms and installing a few new galleries on the ground floor has yielded 30% more gallery space with just a 10% increase in total square metres.

词典：in total 总共，共计

例句：He struggled with the river for 66 days and swam 3,274 milesin total.

他在河里奋力前进了66天，共游了3274英里。

3.原文：It also means that the Frick no longer has to take down works from its permanent collection to make room for special exhibitions.

词典：take down 拆除，拆卸

例句：Could you pleasetake down the picture on the wall and make it clean?

你能把墙上的画取下来清洗一下吗？

4.原文：It also means that the Frick no longer has to take down works from its permanent collection to make room for special exhibitions.

词典：make room  腾出地方

例句：Tomake room for cities, a lot of forests and grassland were destroyed.

为了留出空间建设城市，许多的森林和草原遭到了破坏。

5.原文：Though visitors will doubtless swarm the Frick when it reopens on April 17th, those collectors alive today who are pondering how to show off their work are unlikely to take it as a model, for two main reasons.

词典：show off 炫耀

例句：They have a tendency toshow off, to dramatize almost every situation.

他们有一种炫耀的倾向,几乎任何情况都要大肆渲染一番。

6.原文：Many capitalists-turned-collectors, especially those fond of contemporary art, prefer sharing their works with the public while they are alive.

词典：fond of 喜欢

例句：I've always beenfond of poetry and one piece has always stuck in my mind.

我一直喜欢诗歌，有一首诗一直被我铭记于心。

7.原文：“Now people are interested in what people think,” Benjamin Godsill, an art adviser, says.

词典：are interested in 对…感兴趣

例句：You have drive and energy for those things youare interested in.

你对那些你感兴趣的事情有动力、有干劲。

8.原文：“With contemporary art, we’re writing art history in the moment, and the public’s reaction is part of it.”

词典：in the moment 在当下

例句：Action is not future or past action but acting in the moment.

行动不是将来或过去的行动，而是当下的行动。

9.原文：With the notable exception of Steve Schwarzman, a private-equity titan who is turning a mansion in Newport into a museum, those who would consider establishing their own museum are unlikely to do so in the home where they once lived.

词典：are unlikely to 不太可能

例句：These policiesare unlikely to prove popular with middle-class voters.

这些政策不大可能博得中产阶级选民的欢心。

10.原文：The Frick appears destined to remain a jewel-box reminder of a past era, in more ways than one.

词典：in more ways than one 在更多方面，不止一种意义

例句：We need to be role modelsin more ways than one.

在很多方面我们必须起到表率作用。

02长难句：

1.原文：The house’s second storey, where the Frick family had lived, was off-limits to the public and used for office space. 

分析：主句的结构为主（The house’s second storey）系（was）表（off-limits），where引导定语从句，结构是主（the Frick family）谓（had lived）。

译文：原本不对外开放的二楼曾是弗里克一家人的居所，过去被用作办公区域。

2.原文：Now people who want to display their personal collection after they die (and also hope to offset their heirs’ inheritance taxes) can leaveit to one of many established museums, where it is likely to get lots of foot traffic.

分析：主句的结构为主（people）谓（can leave）宾（it），who引导定语从句，定语从句的结构是主（people）谓（want to display）宾（their personal collection）。where引导定语从句，结构是主（it）谓（is likely to get）宾（lots of foot traffic）。

译文：而今，那些希望在死后展示个人藏品（同时也希望为继承人减轻遗产税负担）的人，可以选择将藏品捐赠给众多已颇具规模的博物馆之一，因为这些博物馆往往能吸引大量参观者，确保藏品获得高曝光度。

03写作技巧：

1. First, when Frick died, America had fewer and smaller museums. 

译文：首先，在弗里克去世时，美国的博物馆数量较少且规模较小。

技巧：First“首先”，写作时如果要写好几个点，可以用该短语来替Start with或者To start with，Firstly等。

例句：Start with subjects you're familiar with, and then move on to less familiar subjects.

从你熟悉的话题开始，然后向不那么熟悉的话题进发。

To start with, people should know that seeking help is a normal need instead of a sign of weakness. 

首先，人们应该清楚知道寻求帮助是一种正常的需求，而不是软弱的表现。

04背景知识：

1.Frick Collection：弗里克收藏馆。在曼哈顿的第五大道70街，长长的一条街巨大的豪宅属于一个叫弗里克的家族。房子建于1910年，当时的花费为500万（相当于今天的1亿1千万美元）。当年的房主是亨利·克莱·弗里克，他是19世纪末20世纪初美国工业化时代最具影响力的钢铁大王之一。1919年12月弗里克死于匹兹堡，根据遗嘱，他把匹兹堡的150英亩私家土地连同2百万交给匹兹堡市政府建立公园。在纽约弗里克先生有着丰厚的艺术收藏，他的女儿海伦·弗里克继续扩大了收藏，1935年他们在曼哈顿第五大道70街的豪宅弗里克收藏馆对外开放，那里有着弗里克家最值钱的收藏，时间上跨越前文艺复兴到后印象主义几百年。在弗里克垂暮之年，他留下遗嘱，死后要把这座豪宅及其内部陈设的艺术品全部捐出去，设立一个公共美术馆。他于1919年辞世。1935年开始，以他的名字命名的弗里克收藏馆正式向公众开放。

05段落大意：

【1】亨利·克莱·弗里克以钢铁煤炭产业发家致富，却将生命热情倾注于艺术收藏。

【2】新的弗里克收藏馆仍然能让参观者仿佛置身于昔日的纽约。

【3】翻新后的弗里克收藏馆疏忽之处现已得到解决。

【4】翻新后的弗里克收藏馆整体布局。

【5】弗里克收藏馆展厅空间扩大了30%。

【6】弗里克收藏馆却不太可能成为效仿的典范的原因之一。

【7】弗里克收藏馆却不太可能成为效仿的典范的原因之二。

【8】弗里克收藏馆似乎注定会成为一座承载往昔记忆的“珠宝匣”。