Lita CabEllut is one of Spain’s most successful artists, but the woman whose paintings now sell for six figure sums spent her early years living on the street. “My childhood was like that of thousands of street kids around the world.” says Lita. She used to wander the streets and slept in the open air. Lita was born in a village inAragon, north-east Spain, in 1961. While she was a baby, Lita was left with her grandmother—but in reality she spent most of her time out on the streets. “I ran after the walkers. They gave me money to buy packs of cigarettes or sandwiches, and I kept the change.” Looking back, she says. “Art, of course, was there because art is always around us.” But she was occupied with survival then. According to the 2014-2015 annual report, now her vivid portraits can sell for 100,000 or more—actors Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, as well as chef, Gordon Ramsay, are each reported to own one, such as The Coco numero 4,Alam and Eddy Wenting and about 200 painting, drawings and more. Among the works and masters on exhibition the visitors will find the best pieces, most importantly Eddy Wenting. So what changed the course of Lita’s life so dramatically? Lita’s grandmother died when she was about 10 years old and she ended up in a Barcelona orphanage（孤儿院）before being adopted by “a beautiful Catalan family” two years later. She won’t reveal much about them, except that they introduced her to art. They took her to Madrid’s Prado museum, and introduce 13-year-old Lita to A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, which was painted between 1820 and 1823.“I recognized Goya’s painting the expressions in the eyes of the people that I crossed in the streets when I was little,” she says. “This painting describes the hope, the terrific moments that the human being can have when you lose your security. For me, when I saw this painting for the first time I felt the complicity（关联）of being a witness.” It made such an impression on her that she tried to copy another Goya, one of his sweeter works describing a country boy with a girl and a dog. The result was not spectacular but her adopted family encouraged little Lita to keep painting—they even paid for private tutors to make up for lost time. And for the first time in her life, she also started going to school. “It’s difficult for me at school as I was so far behind It’s hard to start learning to read and write when you are 13,and then there’s the psychological difficulty of being put into a class where classmates are much younger. I had a lot of private classes to learn everything.” She slowly made progress, started to listen to the “voice of art” and decided to study art at Amsterdam’s Academy. The “three big masters” who influenced her the most were Spain’s painter Goya, the sculptor Donatello, and German composer Bach. After graduating for many years, she stayed in theNetherlandsand managed to establish a studio and now she has one in The Hague, but success didn’t come easily. “I did things like giving someone a painting so they would pay my electricity bill and painting a house to get three months’ credit in a supermarket. When you are in a growth period as an artist you have to defend it amazingly because you need time to become a master. If you exchange that time for money, you don’t get that lime back to develop yourself.” At one point, having established a good relationship with an honorable gallery, she derid­ed to start all over again, and didn’t sell anything for two years. “I had painted a shocking series on child but her colleagues said, ‘No, Lita, you can’t do this. People don’t want this. Paint more angels, those angels that sell so well.’ I said ‘No, and I lost my gallery.” Although Lita has held solo exhibitions in London.Dubaiand Seoul, she is little known in her mother land. Two shows in 2017 are aimed at remedying this: a retrospective（回顾展） at Barcelona, and an exhibition at A Coruna’s art museum where her studio will be recreated. As for her birth mother, Cabellut says she has forgiven her for abandoning her. She recalls once visiting her when the painter was a student but found it impossible to tell her how she felt.【小题】(1) What can we know about Lita’s childhood life?A.She was given birth to in the Netherlands.B.She lived an ordinary life with her mother.C.She was adopted by an orphanage in 1973.D.She lost her grandma at the age of twelve.【小题】(2) According to the passage, we know the painting “ A Pilgrimage to San Isidro’’ ________.A.was exhibited in London museumB.was collected by actor Hugh JackmanC.was a best-known painting of DonatelloD.was one works of Spain’s painter Goya【小题】(3) When Lita said “NO” to the gallery, she really ________.A.would hold solo exhibitions in LondonB.didn’t want to paint against her willC.was eager to come back to hometownD.found another gallery to cooperate with【小题】(4) Which of the following best describe Lita according to the passage?A.Conservative and childish.B.Wealthy and beautiful.C.onsiderate and productiveD.Brilliant and prideful.

Lita CabEllut is one of Spain’s most successful artists, but the woman whose paintings now sell for six figure sums spent her early years living on the street. “My childhood was like that of thousands of street kids around the world.” says Lita. She used to wander the streets and slept in the open air. Lita was born in a village inAragon, north-east Spain, in 1961. While she was a baby, Lita was left with her grandmother—but in reality she spent most of her time out on the streets. “I ran after the walkers. They gave me money to buy packs of cigarettes or sandwiches, and I kept the change.” Looking back, she says. “Art, of course, was there because art is always around us.” But she was occupied with survival then. According to the 2014-2015 annual report, now her vivid portraits can sell for $100,000 or more—actors Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, as well as chef, Gordon Ramsay, are each reported to own one, such as The Coco numero 4,Alam and Eddy Wenting and about 200 painting, drawings and more. Among the works and masters on exhibition the visitors will find the best pieces, most importantly Eddy Wenting. So what changed the course of Lita’s life so dramatically? Lita’s grandmother died when she was about 10 years old and she ended up in a Barcelona orphanage（孤儿院）before being adopted by “a beautiful Catalan family” two years later. She won’t reveal much about them, except that they introduced her to art. They took her to Madrid’s Prado museum, and introduce 13-year-old Lita to A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, which was painted between 1820 and 1823.“I recognized Goya’s painting the expressions in the eyes of the people that I crossed in the streets when I was little,” she says. “This painting describes the hope, the terrific moments that the human being can have when you lose your security. For me, when I saw this painting for the first time I felt the complicity（关联）of being a witness.” It made such an impression on her that she tried to copy another Goya, one of his sweeter works describing a country boy with a girl and a dog. The result was not spectacular but her adopted family encouraged little Lita to keep painting—they even paid for private tutors to make up for lost time. And for the first time in her life, she also started going to school. “It’s difficult for me at school as I was so far behind It’s hard to start learning to read and write when you are 13,and then there’s the psychological difficulty of being put into a class where classmates are much younger. I had a lot of private classes to learn everything.” She slowly made progress, started to listen to the “voice of art” and decided to study art at Amsterdam’s Academy. The “three big masters” who influenced her the most were Spain’s painter Goya, the sculptor Donatello, and German composer Bach. After graduating for many years, she stayed in theNetherlandsand managed to establish a studio and now she has one in The Hague, but success didn’t come easily. “I did things like giving someone a painting so they would pay my electricity bill and painting a house to get three months’ credit in a supermarket. When you are in a growth period as an artist you have to defend it amazingly because you need time to become a master. If you exchange that time for money, you don’t get that lime back to develop yourself.” At one point, having established a good relationship with an honorable gallery, she derid­ed to start all over again, and didn’t sell anything for two years. “I had painted a shocking series on child but her colleagues said, ‘No, Lita, you can’t do this. People don’t want this. Paint more angels, those angels that sell so well.’ I said ‘No, and I lost my gallery.” Although Lita has held solo exhibitions in London.Dubaiand Seoul, she is little known in her mother land. Two shows in 2017 are aimed at remedying this: a retrospective（回顾展） at Barcelona, and an exhibition at A Coruna’s art museum where her studio will be recreated. As for her birth mother, Cabellut says she has forgiven her for abandoning her. She recalls once visiting her when the painter was a student but found it impossible to tell her how she felt.【小题】(1) What can we know about Lita’s childhood life?A.She was given birth to in the Netherlands.B.She lived an ordinary life with her mother.C.She was adopted by an orphanage in 1973.D.She lost her grandma at the age of twelve.【小题】(2) According to the passage, we know the painting “ A Pilgrimage to San Isidro’’ ________.A.was exhibited in London museumB.was collected by actor Hugh JackmanC.was a best-known painting of DonatelloD.was one works of Spain’s painter Goya【小题】(3) When Lita said “NO” to the gallery, she really ________.A.would hold solo exhibitions in LondonB.didn’t want to paint against her willC.was eager to come back to hometownD.found another gallery to cooperate with【小题】(4) Which of the following best describe Lita according to the passage?A.Conservative and childish.B.Wealthy and beautiful.C.onsiderate and productiveD.Brilliant and prideful.