Almighty painter

Chapter 1055 Gu Weijing's Miracle Year (Part 2)

Let us turn our attention to the broader field of art. Paul Cézanne, at fifty, was nearing the end of his life, still living his melancholic life as a banker; Renoir, also fifty, was suffering from arthritis and had gradually abandoned Impressionism, to which he had poured so much effort; Van Gogh didn't even live to fifty. Gauguin only lived to fifty-five.

That year, the founder of the magazine *Painting*, Count Irene, the last Count of the Imperial era, spent his final scholarly years in Cambridge. He had recently resumed correspondence with the last Crown Prince Otto after a ten-year hiatus, expressing his concerns and anxieties about the political situation in Germany. The Count probably never imagined that Mr. Otto, renowned for his longevity, would live for nearly another century, even meeting his great-granddaughter, Anna Irene, who seemed to live in a completely different era.

[Jackson Pollock, not yet twenty, had just arrived in New York and decided to study symbolic art under Thomas Hart Benton. Cao Xuan was still a very young child, and Andy Warhol had just celebrated his third birthday in front of his birthday cake...]

This was Picasso's year.

From the perspective of traditional thinking at the time, a fifty-year-old painter was nearing the end of his career. After all, even Mr. Pablo himself felt it was time to hold a "retrospective exhibition." Thirty years had passed since he won the national gold medal in Spain at the age of seventeen, and he had now reached the pinnacle of his art.

The year Picasso chose to come to Paris, 1900, was the last year of the 19th century. If he had died at that time, he could be considered half a 19th-century person and half a 20th-century person.

He said, "No, sir."

History is interesting in this way.

Paul Cézanne, at the same age, was nearing his death, yet hadn't even had his first solo exhibition. Picasso, at the same age, was already holding a retrospective exhibition in Switzerland, but his life was only halfway over. In the future, he would marry many times, divorce many times, experience many ups and downs, and create many, many more works.

This is not the end of an era, but the beginning of one.

Turner, Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh—the incredibly long nineteenth century in human history has turned its final page.

The old era had ended. Those decadent and extravagant balls, stretching for centuries since the Renaissance and seemingly endless in Balzac's descriptions, had also come to an end. The shattered crystal chandeliers of the former empire were smashed to pieces amidst the roar of Maxim machine guns and the torrential rain and mud of Verdun.

[The European art world will no longer be dominated by the wine glass of the president of the Royal Society of Arts or the flowing skirt of the Marquise de Pompadour. Perhaps for the first time in the entire history of European art, it will no longer be kings or popes. Just like the word abandoned in the family name of Hélène, the rules of the game will no longer be written by 'Te,' 'De,' or 'von' (note). Artists will become the subject of art history, and they will be the masters of this banquet.]

(Note: Due to the pronunciation of feminine and masculine characters, the word "De" is generally translated as "德" in male noble names and as "特" in female names.)
A new page in art history will be written with the name Picasso.

Let us remember the whimsical "light" in Picasso's paintings and dedicate this year in the history of European art to the "Picasso Year."

……

[1994]

This was undoubtedly a phenomenal year for the film industry, with films like *The Shawshank Redemption*, *Forrest Gump*, *Pulp Fiction*, *Chungking Express*, and *Eat Drink Man Woman*... Both the Western film industry, represented by Hollywood, and the Asian film industry, represented by Hong Kong, produced countless outstanding works this year.

【…】

Painting is an art form about light, and so is film.

Let's watch the famous film "Chungking Express," then watch this year's Oscar-winning Best Picture, and sway to that disco tune that revived a washed-up dance king.

It's hard to say.

This year belongs to every actor, director, or cinematographer; this miraculous year belongs to the entire film industry, so let's call it the "Year of Cinema."

……

[Then came 1999.]

Throughout the 1990s, the two most alluring young names in the art market were Damien Hirst, representing the new generation of British artists, and Hunter Bull, representing the new generation of American artists. These two men clashed in many ways, including art and life, yet they also shared certain almost mystical similarities.

For example, Hunter Bull famously predicted, in his later years, that this boy would one day be as well-known as singer Presley, and was thus called "Elvis" Bull. Just a year earlier, in 1998, Damian Heston actually debuted with a band and went on to make music, even incredibly reaching number two on the UK Billboard Hot 100.

The British have traditionally been very proud of their musicians.

This region has given birth to countless great rock musicians and renowned bands: Queen, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones… They have always been deeply dissatisfied with the notion that "You know, Elvis Presley was the first global rock superstar." The disdainful look the British give when they crane their necks to look across the North Atlantic is roughly the same look the French, who possess half of European art history, give when they crane their necks to look at the British across the English Channel shamelessly proclaiming, "You know, William Turner is the greatest watercolorist in history."

[He was so angry he was about to spill the tea.]

The Moon even published a special issue featuring a front-page photo of Hearst and Bull with the headline in bold, "Fake Elvis Meets Real Elvis," as a form of mockery.

What goes around comes around.

Perhaps he had devoted too much energy to his music career, or perhaps he had developed a cat-like sense of smell for music, because when invited by the British government to represent the country at the 1998 Venice Biennale, Hearst chose to decline.

His reasoning was—"Oh, I don't know, but it just doesn't feel right."

There's a reason he felt something was wrong.

In 1992, Hirst confidently entered the Biennale, and although his exhibited work won him the Turner Prize, the highest honor in the British art world, the following year, he unfortunately went home empty-handed at the Venice Biennale.

Guess who the winner was that year?

Hunter Bull. That year, Hunter Bull became the second youngest winner of the Venice Golden Lion in history.

[And in 1998, when Hearst refused to represent Britain at the exhibition, guess who the biggest winner of the art fair was?]

【Yes. 】

It's still Hunter Bull.

Hunter Bull was highly favored and welcomed by the Venice Biennale organizing committee; in that same year, he received the first-ever Venice Biennale Lifetime Achievement Award.

The New York Times even gave its British cousins ​​a very British, sarcastic retort, publishing the same two photos on its front page, along with two additional sets of photos. One was a Billboard chart, and the other was an old photo from 1960, the year Elvis Presley's theme song from his movie "Blue Hawaii" topped the US album charts for 20 consecutive weeks.

The front-page headline of The New York Times was—

"Now, who is the real imposter?"

1998 was a year of close competition between the two players, but the champion of 1999 was undoubtedly Hunter Bull.

Like Picasso in 1932, Hunter Bull had already achieved great success in 1999. In 1999, Mr. Bull created countless works of art with astronomical prices; 1999 was a pivotal year in Hunter Bull's life.

Picasso was going through a divorce in 1932.

Hunter Bull is preparing for his wedding in 1999.

But unlike Picasso... in 1999, Hunter Bourges did something unprecedented, or rather... unprecedented performance art.

He disappeared.

In the second year after achieving almost every possible honor, Hunter Bull, incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, vanished as if he had evaporated into thin air.

In the ten days leading up to the news of Hunter Bull's disappearance, everyone thought it was some kind of marketing ploy and a tacit admission.

Two weeks have passed.

A month has passed.

Five months, ten months, one year, two years, five years...

The world finally understands that this was no joke. For art researchers, Hunter Bull's disappearance is comparable to the John Lennon shooting, ranking among the most unimaginable black swan events in the 20th-century art world.

For conspiracy theorists, the disappearance of Hunter Bull after writing a short message in lipstick on the window of a Ferrari convertible near his California mansion is, if not as significant as JFK's shooting in his convertible in Texas, at least comparable to the mysterious plane crash involving JFK's son, John F. Kennedy.

In the two decades that followed, at least five books were published about this event, two films were made, and even the film of the same name, *The Lonely Painter*, directed by the renowned Martin Spencer, won the gold medal in the main competition at the Venice Biennale.

This once again proves Hunt Bull's favoritism at the Venice Biennale.

Therefore, people say—

Hunter Bull didn't just win two Golden Lion awards in his lifetime; he won three.

[One is from an art exhibition, one from a lifetime achievement award, and another from a film festival. This is probably an achievement that can never be replicated in art history.]

【and many more……】

Three in a lifetime?

[It might be too early to say "a lifetime," just as Picasso didn't become the end of the long nineteenth century, Hunt Bull was unwilling to become the end of the short twentieth century.]

He said, "No, sir."

Ladies and gentlemen, after nearly twenty years of absence, Hunter Bull, the legendary Elvis Presley, has returned to the public eye. His reappearance, like his disappearance, is unexpected and carries a strong sense of nervousness.

Elvis Presley only lived to be 42. If he had lived as long as Picasso, perhaps he could have written a different story.

Let us remember 1999.

This was a miraculous year for Hunter Boole in art history.

Let us mark this year as the "Hunter Bull" year.

……

For art history, 1999 was not only the year Hunter Bull disappeared, but also the year Gu Weijing was born. Two people: one stood at the pinnacle of the industry, the other was just a newborn.

[The era that truly belonged to Gu Weijing.]

[It won't be until seven years after he graduates from university that his miracle year will arrive.]

Almost exactly a century after Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris and officially entered the art market, Hunter Bull chose to withdraw from the art market in California.

[Almost a century after Pablo Picasso held a retrospective exhibition of his career in Switzerland.]

[Around the same time.]

Gu Weijing also held his first career retrospective exhibition.

This painter, who had just created a miracle at an art exhibition in Germany, a miracle in the art market, and received enough honors to hold a retrospective exhibition, was not even thirty years old. He was roughly half the size of Pablo Picasso standing here.

What would Picasso have thought if he could have seen this?

When Hunter Boole walked into the Zurich exhibition hall and saw the young man who would succeed him at the pinnacle of the market, what thoughts would he have had?

Nobody knows.

[2028 will be a pivotal year in art history.]

—Excerpt from "The Myths of Wealth in Art History"
-
In January 2028, Gu Weijing participated in the Cologne Art Fair, where his work "The Magic Flute" won the Art Cologne Prize.

【3月14日，该作品在纽约拍卖出2127万美元的价格，成为了顾为经首张超过1000万美元、1500万美元、2000万美元界线的作品】

On March 22, the official website of the Maes Gallery published a new announcement that the gallery has officially changed its name to Gu's & Maes Gallery.

On May 20th, media reports revealed that Gu Weijing and his management team had acquired a 57% stake in a gallery from the Hermès family wealth management fund for over $170 million in cash and a multi-year contract, setting a new transaction record in the modern gallery industry. However, well-informed individuals were no longer focused on the acquisition itself; they were sensing something else in the recent flurry of news. Media reports indicated that Gu Weijing had already returned to Hamburg earlier in the year and hadn't even appeared at the Cologne Art Fair. Even the awards ceremony was handled by Anna Irina's private secretary.

On July 19, Gu Weijing's name appeared on the list of artists for the Hamburg Federation of Painters and Musicians' annual exhibition.

Gu Weijing has expressed his interest in the annual exhibition on several occasions, but the Hamburg Federation of Painters and Musicians has remained silent. Perhaps intentionally, yet coincidentally, Gu Weijing, now perhaps the most renowned artist in the entire association—his name is enough to open the doors of any art exhibition in the world—has consistently been excluded from the association's own annual exhibition.

The association would rather give him an honorary president title than allow him to participate in the association's annual exhibition.

This will be the first time in history.

On July 22, the newspaper *The Economic Review* disclosed information regarding the shareholding structure of *Painting* magazine for the first time. The newspaper pointed out that, including last year's Documenta in Kassel, Gu Weijing was just one step away from fulfilling the restrictions of the equity incentive plan. All the grand preparations for the acquisition at the beginning of the year were for this moment.

On August 31, Gu Weijing won the Gold Medal at the Hamburg Federation of Painters and Musicians' Annual Exhibition.

On the same day, the magazine *Oil Painting* held a press conference to announce its lawsuit against the Hamburg Art Association and artist Gu Weijing.

On the same day, the Elena family's legal team held a press conference to announce that they would be suing the board of directors of the magazine "Painting" and Kruger Brothers Bank.

At this moment, this dramatic power struggle surrounding one of Europe's most valuable and authoritative magazines has officially entered a relentless phase of mutual pressure and backstabbing.

On September 21st, the much-anticipated drama continued. Forbes magazine released its list of the 100 most influential people in the arts industry this year. For the first time ever, Gu Weijing entered the top ten.

[In December of the same year, a retrospective exhibition of Gu Weijing's career was held in Zurich.]

—Excerpt from a partial chronology of "The Power of Art: Gu Weijing and Anna Elena: From the Heart"
-
28 years ago.

United States.

New York, Brooklyn.

Night fell. New York winters are cold, and snowflakes were falling from the sky. A group of homeless people huddled together by a fire in front of abandoned gasoline drums, their necks hunched over. The men shivered, waving their fingers to keep the cold air from seeping through their skin.

"Newspapers don't burn at all; they melt instantly when thrown down. It's better to just pick up some twigs."

The man said.

He casually tossed the newspaper his companion handed him into an empty gasoline can.

"Is this...that person?"

He glanced at the man on the front page of the newspaper, his fingers interlocked, looking at the camera with a cool, edgy look.

"That famous singer."

"What big singer? His name is Hunter Bull, he's a painter, very famous." The person next to him threw another identical newspaper into the bucket.

(End of this chapter)