艺术评论家雷格尔每隔一天就要到艺术史博物馆，坐在丁托列托的画作《白胡子男人》前，三十多年来从不间断，直到某一天他妻子离世。时隔半年之后，他又一次出现在那幅画像前，并邀请老朋友阿茨巴赫尔第二天去博物馆与他会面。通过阿茨巴赫尔的眼睛，我们得以了解雷格尔：他妻子的死，他关于自杀的想法，他对大师们的评论，以及最后，此次会面的目的。

　　既充满悲观又兴高采烈，既憎恶有加又十分滑稽，《历代大师》是一部有关文化、天才、国家、阶层、艺术价值和人类自命不凡的讽刺性喜剧。

　　那些整天把艺术史挂在嘴上的人天天到这里来，用他们那些关于艺术史的胡说八道充塞参观者的耳朵。研究艺术史的人实际上是消灭艺术的人。艺术史家鼓唇弄舌谈论艺术，直至把艺术谈论得寿终正寝。艺术活生生地被艺术史家谈论致死。

　　【作者】

　　托马斯·伯恩哈德（Thomas Bernhard，1931—1989）

　　奥地利著名小说家、剧作家，被公认为20世纪最伟大的德语作家之一，也是“二战”之后德语文坛风格最独特、影响力最大的作家之一，对他有很多称谓：“阿尔卑斯山的贝克特”“敌视人类的作家”“以批判奥地利为职业的作家”“灾难与死亡作家”“夸张艺术家”“故事破坏者”等。

　　特立独行的伯恩哈德以批判的方式关注人生（生存和生存危机）和社会现实（人道与社会变革）。文字极富音乐性，以犀利的夸张、重复和幽默，将人类境遇中种种愚钝与疾病，痛苦与冷漠，习惯与禁忌推向极端，向纷乱昏暗的世界投掷出一支支光与热的火炬。

　　【译者】

　　马文韬

　　北京大学德语语言文学系教授，曾任《世界文学》杂志顾问，中国外文局翻译专业资格考评中心专家，德国格里美豪森学会理事，2007年起担任奥地利托马斯·伯恩哈德基金会顾问委员会委员。主要论著有《瑞士德语文学史》等。主要译著有小说《黑白天使》《历代大师》，戏剧《纵火犯》《骂观众》《英雄广场》，诗歌《傅立特诗选》《萨拉·基尔施诗选》，以及文学论著《歌德与席勒》等。

Every other day, the art critic Regel would sit in front of Tintoretto's "The Man with the White Beard" at the Museum of Art History for more than 30 years without a stop, until one day his wife died. Six months later, he reappeared in front of the portrait and invited his old friend Atzbacher to meet him at the museum the next day. Through Atzbacher's eyes, we get to know Regehr: his wife's death, his thoughts about suicide, his comments about the masters, and finally, the purpose of the meeting.

At once pessimistic and euphoric, hateful and hilarious, The Masters is a satirical comedy about culture, genius, nation, class, artistic values and human pretensions.

The same people who talk about art history come here every day and fill visitors' ears with their nonsense about art history. Those who study art history are actually those who destroy art. Art historians talk about art until they talk about art until they die. Art is talked to death alive by art historians.

【 Author 】

Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989)

A famous Austrian novelist and playwright, he is recognized as one of the greatest German writers of the 20th century, and one of the most unique and influential writers in German literature after World War II. "Beckett of the Alps," "writer hostile to humanity," "writer who made a career of criticizing Austria," "writer of disaster and death," "artist of exaggeration," "story breaker," etc.

The maverick Bernhard focuses critically on life (survival and existential crisis) and social reality (humanity and social change). The text is highly musical, and with sharp exaggeration, repetition and humor, it takes all kinds of stupidity and disease, pain and indifference, habits and taboos in the human condition to the extreme, throwing a torch of light and heat to the chaotic and dim world.

【 Translator 】

Ma Wentao

Professor of the Department of German Language and Literature of Peking University, he has served as consultant of World Literature magazine, expert of Translation Qualification Evaluation Center of China Foreign Languages Administration, member of the board of the Grimehausen Institute of Germany, and member of the Advisory Board of the Thomas Bernhard Foundation of Austria since 2007. His main works are the History of German Literature in Switzerland. His main translations include novels such as "Black and White Angel" and "Masters of the Ages", plays such as "Arsonist", "Scolding the Audience" and "Heroes' Square", poems such as "Follett's Selected Poems" and "Sarah Kirsch's Selected Poems", and literary treatises such as "Goethe and Schiller".