Glimpses 驚豔

Eifflel Tower 巴黎鐵塔

Professor Hui Cheuk Kuen, Desmond (許焯權教授)

There are many spots in Paris to admire the Eiffel Tower, but none could compare with the view from across the River Seine. It was my last day of stay in the city after a week’s activities of conference and a short trip to the chateaux de la Loire. I had seen quite a lot on this trip, including a long overdue visit to Chartres despite many years of lecture on the subject of Gothic architecture and art. But before my return to the pandemic struck Hong Kong, I wanted to capture this famous landmark that had inspired the many versions of sketching by Delaunay, Seurat and others, and I was amazed to discover that by the window of the gallery that hangs one of the original Delaunay’s Eiffel at the Museum of Modern Art, I could see the real thing with the painting side by side!

巴黎有許多景點可以觀賞埃菲爾鐵塔，但沒有一處比得上從塞納河隔岸觀賞來得有情調。我到巴黎參加學術會議，之後又到了盧瓦爾河谷走了一趟，除了看到許多文藝復興的城堡外，這差不多一週的旅程收穫豐富，包括終於去了沙特爾，親眼見到多年在課堂上教授的哥德式教堂和藝術。但我在巴黎最後一天，快要回到受疫情纏繞的香港，特別想畫一幅鐵塔的風景，也許是因為很多有名的畫家也畫過同様題材的作品，包括德勞內和蘇拉特等，但最令我感到興奮的是，當我在巴黎現代藝術館內看到德勞內其中一幅的巴黎鐵塔油畫時，它就掛在可以遠眺塞納河的窗戶邊，與真實的鐵塔遙相呼應！

February 12, 2020

Champ de Mars, Paris, France

Multicolored

Watercolors