| 摘要: | 剛從美國康乃爾大學建築系畢業的司戴德 (1880-1918)於1902年1月8日抵達南京後，他未來10年半的生活即與中國政經的發展密不可分。他當過中國海關稅務司赫德爵士(Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs)的助理、路透社駐首爾的記者、美國駐朝鮮副領事兼祕書、美國駐瀋陽總領事、美國銀行團在中國的代表。回到紐約後，他與其妻出資協助發行《新共和》，後又買下《亞洲》雜誌。他被後世認為是美國在遠東利益的捍衛者之一，有時被批評為帝國主義機會者。其實他在8歲時被母親帶到日本生活兩年，也在那邊接受了繪畫教育，養成他終身以素描作為觀察和思考的手段，在他過世前，他開始刊印極小部分的創作出售或是作為贈禮。他留下的數百張素描、水彩等項目的創作現在庋藏於康乃爾大學。濮蘭德(J. O. P. Bland, 1863–1945) 曾請司戴德為其出版的兩本書作插畫，他說到如果司戴德願意專心當一個畫家，他會是一個非常有成就的畫家。替司戴德作傳的Herbert Croly (1869-1930) 也說道由於司戴德留下詳盡的日記書信和大量素描，他只是作編纂的工作，這本傳記猶如是由司戴德擔任主角身兼攝影師拍成的電影一般。司戴德在日記中寫道，透過速寫可以看到一個藝術家的構思過程，比完成品更值得學生學習，而他本身也一直力行不斷地透過速寫呈現他的想法。憑藉著流利的中文，司戴德可以與中國各階層閒聊交友，讓他們願意由他作畫，或是直接在街頭捕景。筆者認為他的日記和素描是至今透過圖文記錄1902到1912年間，中國北方風情和藝術最詳盡的第一手洋人資料。很明顯地，司戴德在遠東外交和商業的成功完全掩蓋了他的藝術家身分。本計畫希望爬梳他的日記書信和藝術創作再現他的藝術成就和他筆下的中國生活，甚至希望能夠發現他在中國時是否與其他洋人藝術家或是中國藝術圈有互動，因此這項計畫將加強我們今日對清末民初整個西畫畫壇和中西藝術交流的了解。 ;Willard D. Straight (1880-1918), who had just graduated from Cornell University, reached Nanjing on January 8, 1902. During the next ten and a half years, he was inextricably linked with China’s political and economic development, first as the personal assistant to Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs, then as a Seoul-based reporter for Reuters, US Vice-Consul and Secretary in Korea, US Consul-General at Mukden, and as the Chinese representative of the American Groups led by J. P. Morgan and Company. After returning to New York, he and his wife established the New Republic magazine and purchased Asia: Journal of the American Asiatic Association. Later generations have considered him to be one of the defenders of American interests in the Far East, and he is sometimes criticized as an imperial opportunist.In fact, starting when he was eight years old, he had lived in Japan for two years, during which time he received painting lessons and developed his lifelong interest in drawing as a means of observation and thinking. Before he died, he had started to print, sell, or give as gifts a small number of his artworks. The hundreds of sketches, watercolors, and other works that he left behind are now hidden in the archives of Cornell University. J. O. P. Bland (1863-1945) asked Straight to illustrate two of his books, and he once said that if Straight had focused on becoming a painter, he would have been a very successful one. Herbert Croly (1869-1930), in his biography of Straight, wrote that because Straight had left such a detailed diary and so many drawings, his own work as biographer was only a matter of compilation, and that the biography was like a movie in which Straight was both the main actor and photographer. Straight wrote in his diary that an artist’s thought processes can be seen better through preliminary drawings and sketches than through the finished work, and he himself always strove to present his ideas through drawing. With his fluent Chinese, Straight could chat with Chinese from all walks of life, so that they were willing to let him do their portraits; he also depicted many street scenes.I believe that his diary, letters, and drawings together present the most detailed first-hand information by a foreigner on northern Chinese customs and art from 1902 to 1912. It is obvious that Straight’s success in foreign affairs and business in the Far East has completely obscured his identity as an artist. In this project, I hope to comb through his diary, letters, and artworks in order to present once more his artistic achievements and his observations of Chinese life. I also hope to discover whether he interacted with other Chinese and foreign artists during his time in China. This project will therefore enhance our understanding of Western painting circles and Chinese-Western artistic exchange during China’s late Qing and early Republic eras. |
