Almighty painter

Chapter 1028 Mental Attributes

Yang Dekang remained silent.

Yang Dekang smiled broadly.

Those who have seen through the ways of the world stand outside and look down on everything, like a lobster that has jumped out of its tank, watching from the ocean as everyone in the fish tank brandishes their pincers, snapping and tearing at each other, watching the struggles, the collapses, the complaints, the pontificating and the intrigue.

—I found it really interesting.

“I’m being very serious… The Elena family is undoubtedly the most powerful patron in all of Europe. But Gu Weijing has never been their best option.”

Tang Ning said to himself.

"He will disappoint Miss Elena."

"Hmm," Old Yang uttered a soft, nasal sound.

Go on, I'm listening.

"He lacks what the other person wants."

Tang Ning made his judgment.

"Not necessarily," Yang Dekang gently reminded him. "At least at that art exhibition, their collaboration seemed quite successful. The first painting sold for a million dollars."

“Even Andy Warhol, Hearst at her age, couldn’t do that. Regardless of what others think… well, personally, I think that deep down, she wasn’t too dissatisfied, nor did she have any reason to be.”

"Do not."

Tang Ning thought for a moment, "Gu Weijing is not the kind of person Miss Elena would like... far from it."

"So what kind of painter would she like?"

Yang Dekang pursed his lips, thinking to himself. He didn't know whether Tang Ning was speaking to him, or through him to Old Master Cao, or even through him to Miss Elena.

If so, then even if the other party is Tang Ning.

Yang Dekang also felt that the other party was a little... something.

Why bother?
She's a legendary artist, having received countless honors since childhood. She's won every award Gu Weijing has ever won, and even awards he hasn't. She's sold her goods for prices Gu Weijing has ever achieved, and even prices Gu Weijing has never reached.

In terms of status, you are a senior.

In terms of status, you are the elder.

At the Singapore Biennale, with Yang Dekang's keen intuition, when he saw Cui Xiaoming's work, he immediately sensed something was amiss.

So—Ms. Tang, you've pretty much had enough, haven't you?

They're your juniors and they didn't hold it against you, so we should be a little more considerate in our dealings with them.

Hearing some news, he felt that the old man was biased and felt uncomfortable, so he called in a fit of anger. Yang Dekang could really understand and even empathize with him.

But even at this point, after making all the phone calls, they still didn't forget to secretly make things difficult for Gu Weijing.

This is too much.

The saying goes, "Better to tear down ten temples than to break up one..." Well, maybe the rhetoric isn't quite right, but that's the gist of it.

It's so unseemly.

Even our oily old brother Yang isn't this oily when he does things.

If it were someone else speaking like that, Yang Dekang would have immediately retorted with, "Gu Weijing is unsuitable, but you are? Who are you?"

But this is Downing.

Yang Dekang held back.

After all, he's the slick and charming Brother Yang, a man of many ways who believes in making money through harmony!
If you can lick it, you should.

Unexpectedly, while Yang Dekang held back, Tang Ning actually said what Old Yang had originally wanted to say in a sarcastic way, in an extremely frank and straightforward manner.

"I."

Tang Ning said.

“I am the kind of painter Miss Elena would like. I am more suitable than Gu Weijing.” The woman’s tone showed no embarrassment.

Yang Dekang couldn't help himself and shrugged his shoulders forcefully.

He took a deep breath and thought about his future villa, car, and small yacht.

"If you don't suffer the bitterness of being a simp, you'll suffer the bitterness of life." Yang Dekang muttered to himself before grinning and agreeing, "In terms of worth, Miss Tang is indeed much higher than Gu Weijing..."

"Too tacky."

Tang Ning shook his head, interrupting Yang Dekang.

Old Yang held the phone further away and mouthed the words into the receiver, making a face.

God!

Please, listen to what you're saying.

"Vulgar"? You call me "vulgar"? Just as news broke that Gu Weijing and his agent's collaboration might be ending, you called me, simultaneously badmouthing your junior colleague while eagerly promoting yourself, looking like you couldn't wait to climb the ladder.

And you still complain that I didn't lick it well?

You think I'm vulgar?
Which of us is more vulgar?
"What do you say?" Yang Dekang really couldn't bring himself to lick it.

“Money has never been a problem,” Tang Ning said. “The Elena family is not short of money, and Miss Elena has never cared about it. Whether it’s one million, two million, or three million, she doesn’t care.”

"So—" Old Yang asked rhetorically.

“Gu Weijing’s problem is that he’s not strong enough,” Tang Ning said.

"His paintings..." Old Yang thought for a moment, "Do you still think that Gu Weijing is not a good painter?"

"No, I'm not specifically referring to his painting skills. Problems in painting are easy to correct, but personality problems are very difficult to change. He's not strong enough."

Tang Ning said.

"He's not assertive enough, he's not tough enough, he's not..."

"powerful."

the woman said.

"He lacked competitiveness, and even more so, he lacked the kind of self-importance, the idea that the whole world should love him, that the whole world must love him, and that it is their honor to be loved."

"Miss Elena has the audacity to say that if I want to be the best in the world, the whole world will have to make way for me. She's incredibly strong. Gu Weijing doesn't have that. Their personalities are completely different."

“And I have it.”

Tang Ning said.

It's really hard to say whether someone with an extremely firm inner conviction and a strong sense of self, or someone with a delicate and sensitive heart, as calm and melancholic as an ice crystal, is closer to the image of a "great artist."

but.

If we're talking about who's more likely to achieve brilliant success, it's probably the former.

“Gu Weijing is an interesting painter…” Tang Ning hesitated for a moment, “I want to retract some of my previous comments about him, but someone like him… may have some chance to become Van Gogh, but it would be difficult for him to become Picasso. Miss Anna needs a successful Picasso more than a dead Van Gogh.”

Picasso and a small group of artists were working on Cubism. They would party, dance, chase girls, and drink and laugh in bars at their villas outside Paris. Half a century later...

So many people changed careers, quit, were knocked down by emotional problems, shot themselves in the head, their brains splattered all over the walls. Pablo Picasso, like a restless bull, made it to the end, living to see his works displayed in the Louvre and earning a whopping 2 million francs.

That was 200 million francs in the mid-20th century. Converted, it was no less than, and perhaps even more than, the total assets of the Elena family. In today's terms, it would be worth tens of billions of dollars.

There must be a reason why Picasso, and not someone else, accomplished this.

Miss Irina Shayk didn't need Van Gogh, she needed Picasso. She didn't need a story with an artistic, melancholic air, one that made people think deeply. What she wanted was to win, to keep winning, to trample all her "enemies" underfoot, to win all the awards, until she stood at the very end of the world.

Tang Ning is such a person; she is strong, tough, and assertive.

She will not admit defeat, much less give up.

Upon hearing this news, Tang Ning made a phone call, saying that Gu Weijing was not the right painter for Miss Elena; Tang Ning was the right one.

People with weak psychological resilience might feel that doing this is hurtful and immoral.

She knew Miss Elena wouldn't.

Such a powerful person can appreciate the courage contained within this place.

Gu Weijing may never tell Anna, "Oh, you know what? I'm the one you've been looking for. I'm the one you're supposed to be looking for!"

This is where Tang Ning is better than Gu Weijing.

Compared to Picasso, what she did was nothing.

Picasso was the kind of person who could sleep with his best friend's wife and then tell others that it was for his friend's good.

"Gu Weijing is not worthy of the Elena family's ambitions."

"He's not competitive enough—"

Tang Ning ventured to Europe alone, climbing those peaks step by step. After conquering one mountain, he would gaze at the next, even higher one, forever yearning and never satisfied.

When she signed the contract with CDX, she personally went to the owner of CDX and told him that she wanted to hold an art exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As long as CDX gives her the best resources, the best team, and the best stage.

She is the best painter in CDX's history.

When her first contract expired, she was no longer a so-called "young painter," but rather CDX's most important brand and a collector's darling.

Downing's collaboration with CDX had been going smoothly until one day, she suddenly grew tired of being the gallery's "most important asset." Downing's separation from CDX was not necessarily due to money.

Downing is not short of money, and CDX's revenue share is quite generous.

Just stay here.

With favorable winds blowing, who says that in the art market, the appeal of the name "Tang Ning" is no less than that of Yayoi Kusama? Gu Weijing was more successful than Hearst and Warhol at the same age, and Tang Ning was more successful than Yayoi Kusama at the same age.

She stayed at the gallery, and to say the least, the gallery treated her like royalty.

Although the gallery in London's West End now bears the name "Tang Ning & CDX," it merely shares some marketing channels with CDX Gallery; Tang Ning has essentially chosen to leave and establish his own independent gallery.

Without looking back, she jumped off one mountain peak and began climbing another snow-capped mountain.

During her most difficult time.

When the master's teacher didn't think highly of her, and Liu, the son of a billionaire, didn't lend a helping hand.

Three years later.

Despite her struggles, Tang Ning managed to keep the gallery open. Only Tang Ning herself, who appeared to be living a glamorous life, knew the hardships and cold shoulders she endured during that time.

Tang Ning didn't care.

It's ok.

She is a person with a strong inner strength.

Regardless of what others think, whether you approve or disapprove, what she wants is hers, and whatever she wants to do, she will do her best.

When the rumor circulated that Miss Elena would pin pins to Deckard Anron's face while preparing for her art exhibition, many people might have gossiped about it with a strange and subtle mindset. Some felt Anna's style was too domineering, while others thought so too.

Downing, however, knew that he and Anna Elena were a perfect match.

People who don't have this mindset.

How can one reach the top?
Miss Elena left as the art director of "Painting" magazine, and Downing left as the most important painter at CDX Gallery. They were the same kind of people at heart.

Tang Ning didn't play games; she genuinely felt that her suggestion was for Gu Weijing's good.

"Petty."

she says.

"This is my comment on Gu Weijing's works. 'The heart's painting and the heart's voice are always distorted, and how can writing truly reveal a person's character?' My teacher said that I used to disagree with this view and told me to take a good look at Gu Weijing's paintings. So I will take a good look at Gu Weijing's paintings."

"Night Rhapsody, this painting is not worth a million pounds."

"My opinion of Pan Yue's 'Idle Living Ode' is that it's petty. Is that ode well-written? Undoubtedly so. The writing is elegant and ornate, but at its core, it's all about 'Ah, ah, I can't be an official anymore, ah, ah, I can't be an official anymore.'"

"I'll pass on this evaluation to Gu Weijing verbatim. Is this painting good?"

"It depends on how you put it."

Tang Ning said.

"Technically speaking, it's undeniably good. I hardly ever paint in oils, but I still think it's undeniably good." The woman sneered. "But just like him, he's petty. I admit, some of my previous assessments were inappropriate. Gu Weijing is a talented person."

"He used his talent on very boring things."

"Ah, ah, should I become a painter? Ah, ah, I'm so confused. Ah, ah, I'm so depressed. Ah, ah, I paint so well, but I feel sad."

Tang Ning pressed the tip of her tongue against her lower jaw, as if evaluating a bunch of tangled, withered vines.

"so boring."

"This is really boring. No one who is Cao Xuan's last disciple is like this. No one who can have the heiress of the Elena family as their agent is like this either. Klimt, Dürer, Menzel... even Bach and Beethoven, none of them had this blessing."

"Gu Weijing is such a boring person."

“I’m not saying that the emotions he’s trying to convey in his paintings are fake or empty. No, I believe they are real, heartfelt emotions. But it’s still boring.”

"No matter how well he paints, countless painters throughout history have already painted it all. He's just following in other people's footsteps, taking the cable car up the mountain, taking a picture, and checking in."

"Is that so?"

Old Yang hadn't thought of this angle, and he nodded slightly.

"That's true. Gu Weijing seems to always like to paint some old-fashioned Impressionist works, which seem a bit boring nowadays, from that Singapore painting 'Human Noise' to the current 'Night Scene'..."

"Do not."

Tang Ning interrupted Yang Dekang's speech in a cold voice.

"The Noise of Humanity"

“You’re wrong, that painting isn’t boring at all. That’s why I’ve always said you’re a vulgar person,” the woman said dismissively.

(End of this chapter)