Between 1908 and 1924, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies amassed one of the largest collections of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century French paintings in Britain

1908年至1924年间，格温多琳和玛格丽特·戴维斯在英国积累了最庞大的19世纪末至20世纪初法国绘画收藏之一。

Gwendoline (1882-1951) and Margaret (1884-1963) Davies were the granddaughters of David Davies, a Welshman who amassed a fortune in the shipping and mining industries. In 1907, when Gwendoline came into her inheritance (Margaret would follow in 1909), the sisters were said to be the wealthiest unmarried women in Britain. Their religious upbringing in rural Wales gave them a deep sense of social responsibility and they chose to use their inheritance for cultural and philanthropic* purposes.

格温多琳（1882–1951）和玛格丽特（1884–1963）·戴维斯是大卫·戴维斯的孙女，大卫是一位威尔士人，在航运和矿业行业积累了巨额财富。1907年，当格温多琳继承遗产时（玛格丽特于1909年继承），她们被认为是英国最富有的未婚女性。在威尔士乡村接受的宗教教育使她们养成了强烈的社会责任感，因此选择将遗产用于文化与慈善事业。

While there was no real family history of art collecting, the sisters' education was rigorously geared toward such pursuits. Their London school focused on cultural rather than academic study, and they travelled extensively with their governess, Jane Blaker, visiting art galleries and making extensive notes on the collections there.

尽管她们家族并无真正的艺术收藏传统，但姐妹们的教育却严格致力于培养艺术兴趣。她们在伦敦的学校注重文化而非学术学习，并与家庭教师简·布莱克一同广泛旅行，参观艺术画廊，并对馆藏进行详尽记录。

The sisters began to make regular art purchases from 1908, which roughly coincided with the dates of their inheritance. They took advice from various people, including the art dealer Hugh Blaker (the brother of Jane Blaker) and David Croal Thompson, who was also an art dealer. While it was long assumed that these men were largely responsible for the nature of the sisters' collection, it has recently been accepted that Gwendoline and Margaret retained a far more active role in the process.

姐妹们从1908年开始定期购买艺术品，大致与她们继承遗产的日期相吻合。她们向包括艺术经销商休·布莱克（简·布莱克的兄弟）和同样身为艺术经销商的大卫·克罗尔·汤普森在内的多方人士寻求建议。尽管长期以来人们普遍认为这些人物在姐妹收藏的形成过程中起到了主导作用，但最近的研究已确认，格温多琳和玛格丽特在这一过程中扮演了更为积极的角色。

The sisters' journals reveal their preference for Old Master** paintings. Yet they initially made very few attempts to secure any such works. While the sisters were wealthy in relative terms, their income was nothing compared to the fortunes of American art collectors of this period, such as J. Pierpont Morgan. Quite simply, high quality Old Master works were, if not beyond their means, then beyond what they were willing to pay for them. Instead, their early purchases were of the fashionable, safe variety, and included, for example, paintings by the French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.

姐妹们的日记显示，她们更偏爱老画师的作品。然而，她们最初几乎从未尝试去获取这类作品。尽管姐妹们在相对意义上颇为富有，但她们的收入与当时美国艺术收藏家（如J.皮尔庞特·摩根）的财富相比，简直不值一提。简单来说，高品质的老画师作品，即便不是超出他们的经济能力，也远超他们愿意为之支付的价格。因此，她们早期购买的多是时尚且稳妥的作品，例如法国画家让-巴蒂斯特-卡米耶·柯罗的画作。

However, it was only a few years before their collecting took a new direction and they turned to the work of the French Impressionists***. We know that Hugh Blaker, as a champion of contemporary French art had a hand in the decision, and we know also that they would have seen examples on their various trips to Paris. Whatever the precise reason for this change, their first purchases of Impressionist art, made in October 1912, were scenes of Venice by the French artist Claude Monet. Over the next 12 years, the sisters amassed the bulk of their Impressionist collection, including six further works by Monet, two more by Manet, and three by Renoir, including his well-known painting La Parisienne.

然而，仅仅几年后，他们的收藏便转向了新的方向，开始关注法国印象派画家的作品。我们知道，休·布莱克作为当代法国艺术的倡导者之一，参与了这一决定，同时也知道他们在多次前往巴黎的旅行中曾见过相关作品。无论这种转变的具体原因如何，他们于1912年10月首次购入的印象派画作，是法国艺术家克洛德·莫奈创作的威尼斯风景画。在接下来的12年里，姐妹俩陆续收集了大量印象派作品，其中包括莫奈另外六幅、马奈两幅以及雷诺阿三幅作品，其中就包括他著名的《巴黎女人》。

The First World War (1914-1918) played a part in the development of the sisters' collection. Their initial response to the war effort was to finance the safe passage of artists from occupied Belgium to Wales, as a humanitarian act, but also with the hope of establishing a vibrant artists' community in the area. Later in the conflict, both sisters decided to volunteer at a canteen for troops at Troyes, in northern France; Gwendoline in 1916, followed by Margaret in 1917.

第一次世界大战（1914–1918年）对姐妹们收藏的发展起到了一定作用。她们最初对战争的回应是资助艺术家从被占领的比利时安全抵达威尔士，这是一项人道主义行动，同时也希望能在此地建立一个活跃的艺术家社群。战争后期，两姐妹决定在法国北部特鲁瓦为士兵提供志愿服务的食堂工作：格温多琳于1916年加入，玛格丽特则于1917年接续参与。

It was tedious and distressing work, which would have a permanent effect on Gwendoline's health. Yet on one of numerous trips to nearby Paris, she visited the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery. Here she acquired two works by Cézanne - Provençal Landscape and The François Zola Dam. The paintings were shipped directly to Bath, England, where they became the first works by Cézanne to go on display in a public gallery in Britain.

这是一项枯燥而令人痛苦的工作，将对格温多琳的健康造成永久性影响。然而，在一次又一次前往附近巴黎的旅途中，她参观了贝尔恩海姆-让画廊。在那里，她购得塞尚的两幅作品——《普罗旺斯风景》和《弗朗索瓦·左拉大坝》。这两幅画被直接运往英国巴斯，成为塞尚在英国公共画廊展出的第一批作品。

Commentators have often described the sisters as unlikely pioneer collectors. Much is made of their isolation in rural Wales and the fact that they didn't make friends with artists or gallery owners. Yet they didn't feel obliged to follow fashionable tastes and were free to pursue their own preferences. Although they relied on a trusted circle of advisers, they made frequent trips to London and Paris, and also regularly had paintings sent to their home for consideration.

评论家们常常将姐妹俩描述为不太可能的先锋收藏者。人们常强调她们在威尔士乡村的孤立处境，以及她们与艺术家或画廊主人之间缺乏交集。然而，她们并不觉得有必要追随时尚潮流，而是可以自由地追求自己的喜好。尽管她们依赖一个值得信赖的顾问圈子，但她们仍频繁前往伦敦和巴黎，并定期收到画作寄回家中供其审阅。

By the early 1920s, Gwendoline felt increasingly uncomfortable buying art works when faced with the poverty and social upheaval created by the First World War. Her philanthropic pursuits then became focused almost exclusively on social causes and the development of the sisters' home at Gregynog Hall into a conference center and venue for the Gregynog Festival of Music and Poetry. Gwendoline made her final art purchase in March 1926. Margaret also stopped collecting around this time, but started again in the 1930s acquiring, on a relatively small scale, work by contemporary British artists.

到20世纪20年代初，格温多琳在第一次世界大战带来的贫困和社会动荡中购买艺术品时，感到越来越不适应。此后，她的慈善事业几乎完全转向社会公益，并致力于将格雷金诺格庄园的姐妹之家发展成一个会议中心和格雷金诺格音乐诗歌节的举办地。格温多琳于1926年3月完成了她最后一件艺术品的购买。玛格丽特也大约在此时停止了收藏，但自1930年代起重新开始，以相对较小的规模收集当代英国艺术家的作品。

The sisters collected French Impressionist paintings at a time when such art was routinely ignored by individuals and institutions alike. The Gwendoline and Margaret Davies collection, donated in 1951 and 1963 respectively to the National Museum Wales, contains major examples of work by leading French Impressionists. In collecting paintings that they loved, the sisters created a lasting and meaningful cultural legacy for the people of Wales and beyond.

姐妹们在当时法国印象派艺术常常被个人和机构忽视的背景下，收集了大量此类画作。格温多琳与玛格丽特·戴维斯于1951年和1963年分别向威尔士国家博物馆捐赠的收藏，包含了众多著名法国印象派画家的重要作品。通过收藏他们所钟爱的画作，姐妹们为威尔士人民乃至更广泛地区留下了持久而有意义的文化遗产。

* philanthropic: seeking to promote the welfare of others, often by charitable funding

* 慈善的：致力于促进他人的福祉，通常通过慈善资助来实现

** Old Master: a highly respected artist of great skill who worked in Europe before about 1800

** 老大师：一位技艺精湛、备受尊敬的艺术家，活跃于1800年以前的欧洲。

*** Impressionist: an artist with a style of painting that developed in France in the late 1800s by Renoir, including his well-known painting La Parisienne

*** 印象派：一种起源于19世纪末法国、由雷诺阿发展起来的绘画风格，其代表作包括他著名的《巴黎女人》。