Almighty painter

Chapter 1057 Gu Weijing and the Philosopher's Stone

"Oh, I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong..."

Hunter Bull, standing in front of the display case, shook his head and made strange humming noises.

“You’re mistaken, Miss Elena.”

They promised to produce real gold and silver, but instead deceived people with fake metals and minerals.

This kind of alchemy is just empty talk.

he thought.

"Oh no, true alchemy was discovered by Leonardo da Vinci long ago, wasn't it?"

Looking at the sketch of two human figures back to back, their bodies linked together, and the two Latin words "clay" and "gold," the old man blinked.

When Einstein wrote "E=MC²" on the paper, he himself did not realize that this concise formula contained enough energy to ignite the entire Earth.

While Leonardo da Vinci was perusing various scriptures and ultimately concluded that alchemy was nothing but empty talk, he did not realize that someone in the world had already succeeded.

That person's name is Leonardo da Vinci.

That person was himself—the most amazing alchemist in the world.

Those so-called court alchemists of European city-states were nothing more than a combination of charlatans, mediocre chemists, and early magicians. Even their so-called alchemical performances were at best a matter of turning a tiny amount of copper and iron into gold dust that could be served in a spoon.

He, on the other hand, had mastered the secret of true material transformation, able to turn ink into gold. Any simple oil painting was enough to gild the roofs of all the palaces in central and northern Italy.

This man, who was constantly producing gold, whose wealth, if placed on a scale, would weigh more than all the gold forks, spoons, goblets, earrings of ladies, and golden crosses of priests in the hands of all the nobles of Florence, was a master artist with superb painting skills and a pioneering scientist with ten different skills, yet he spent his entire life searching for the true meaning of alchemy.

Such a story is truly full of the absurdity of "looking for a donkey while riding one."

Gold is not just gold.

It is an immortal symbol.

A piece of iron will be corroded by seawater and grow red rust; a piece of copper will be covered with moss by time; wood will rot; silver will mold; only gold...

Soak it, freeze it, burn it.

Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years.

Like a pharaoh's mask, gently wipe away the dust, and it will always shine as new.

Gold represents people's imagination of wealth, and it also represents their imagination of eternity. The craft that can transform volatile copper and iron into stable gold can similarly elevate fragile flesh into objects that bear the weight of eternity.

Therefore, within the alchemical system, the techniques for making gold can also be used to create elixirs of immortality.

In the earliest imaginations of alchemists, gold was originally conceived as a byproduct of the production of elixirs of immortality.
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"Ancient alchemy involved the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. This was a magical substance with astonishing properties. The Philosopher's Stone could turn any metal into pure gold and could also create an elixir of immortality, making the person who drank it never die. There have been many reports about the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries. But the only surviving piece of the Philosopher's Stone currently belongs to the famous alchemist and opera enthusiast, Mr. Nicolas Flamel. He celebrated his 665th birthday last year and now lives in seclusion in Devonton with his wife, Perena."

—J.K. Rowling, *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone*
-
"understand?"

Hunter Bull stood in front of the exhibition hall and gently asked Ms. Elena in the distance.

Mr. Elvis has now mastered the art of appreciating art, enabling him to become the world's best connoisseur, a sage who sees through everything.

He can see eternal gold.

Everything changes, even the best and finest paintings. The canvas becomes brittle, the paint is corroded by the air, the brushstrokes fade, and people's aesthetic sense changes. But if you look at it with eyes full of "gold," then...

He was able to detach himself from all the noise and see what he truly wanted to see.

Hunter Bull shifted his gaze to the other side of the artwork, looking at the web illustration that had initially been bought for ten dollars next to the multi-million dollar manuscript.

"Detective Cat Art Museum"

Hunter Bull turned his head to the side, fiddling with the alias badge in front of him.

The fundamental reason why Yang Dekang couldn't understand what Hunter Bull was doing was that Hunter Bull didn't use any tricks at all.

The artist witnessed the opening ceremony of the art museum as a pure bystander.

Hunter Bull's use of "Mr. Anderson's" ID card instead of his own name to sneak into the crowd of visitors was not due to any ulterior motive.

This is a well-intentioned decision.

One could even say that Hunter Bull made this decision simply to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.

As early as twenty years ago.

Hunter Bull thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the flashbulbs of journalists from all over the world in the exhibition hall.

just now.

He hoped to focus the world's attention on the museum's opening itself.

He was old; this was a time for young people, and Hunter Bull didn't want his presence to steal the spotlight from the media.

It would be bad if it were interpreted as him bringing the team from the "Oil Painting" magazine to provoke us, wouldn't it?

He was so humble, and he was so compassionate.

He hopes that young people will fully enjoy these moments that belong to them, and that this feeling will "nourish" their artistic careers, like a gentle rain that helps them grow faster and faster.

Hunter Bull didn't want to miss such a moment.

and so.

So he decided to disguise himself and sneak over.

"Oh, not enough, not enough, not enough."

Mr. Bull ran his fingers through the wig at his sideburns, as if humming a strange lullaby.

"That's not enough—"

He stared at the ten-dollar illustration of the detective cat, looking at the light screen in front of him.

The legendary level of "calligraphy and painting appraisal skills" has many benefits. For example, it is as if one can see the process of creating a work of art through the brushstrokes.

He could see through the painter's outlines, coloring, and final touches at a glance.

"Mr. Gu Weijing".

He looked at the Detective Cat's sketch and said with a smile.
-
three days ago.

Zurich.

Many tourists who come out of ZRH Zurich International Airport with a travel guide in hand may mistakenly think that this is the capital of Switzerland. In fact, the capital of Switzerland is neither Zurich nor Geneva, but Bern, which has a population of only a few hundred thousand.

Bern is the political heart of the country.

Geneva is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations.

Zurich is like a combination of half Vienna and half New York, with more of New York's prosperity than Vienna and more of Vienna's tranquility than New York.

This is the wealthiest city in all of Europe. Over 70% of the stock market transactions in Western Europe occur here annually. In terms of the density of billionaires, it is second only to Monaco, a city so small that it could be captured in a single landscape photograph. In terms of economic size, it is nearly twenty times that of Monaco.

This is not just a place for the wealthy to enjoy yachts and watch races.

It boasts some of the top universities, banks, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies in all of Europe. It is also the birthplace of Dadaism and home to some of the best art museums in Europe.

Take, for example, this building on the corner of the long street.

This is a gray cement building, completely different in style from the European-style museum owned by the Elena family, which was converted from an entire former royal palace. The old museum was built in 1910, at the very last minute of the golden age of old Europe.

The building is constructed entirely of limestone, with a boxy shape reminiscent of the Austrian Secession. The complex Baroque style was no longer fashionable at that time, and more geometric forms were preferred. In terms of opulence, the museum pales in comparison to the Louvre, the newly opened Hélène Family Museum (seven years prior), and even smaller museums.

At first glance, it seems...

In the affluent city of Zurich, passersby might even think that such an unassuming building is at most a logistics warehouse.

At least the Zurich Cathedral, which is not far away, looks much more majestic than this place.

But this "logistics warehouse" houses a collection of Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Matisse that rivals many major French museums. It is also home to the world's second-largest collection of Edvard Munch works outside of Norway.

Oh, right.

The famous Van Gogh self-portrait, painted by Van Gogh himself, has always been kept on the second floor of the museum.

The retrospective exhibition held here is also seen as the final piece of the puzzle that Pablo Picasso needed to conquer the European art collecting world.

About a hundred years later.

Gu Weijing, the master artist who recently broke the record for the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist in the past three years, is also holding his first retrospective exhibition here. ...

“Do you know? There was once a piece of his work from his student days that was placed in front of me. It sold for 30,000 kyats, which is about 15 US dollars.”

The man pressed the shutter on a sketch drawn by Gu Weijing in his youth in the exhibition hall, and said in a dreamlike voice.

"real or fake?"

The person next to them was drawn to this and turned around. "So-and-so has a piece by Gu Weijing from his early years. It's a classic scam from recent years."

The man shook his head.

He took out his phone and brought up a newspaper.

“Look, I wrote this article. I may be the first person in the world to write a report about him.” He pointed to the old news about Good Luck Orphanage. “Gu Weijing was still in middle school at that time. I saw him sitting in front of me and finishing that sketch.”

"and then?"

“I thought it was too expensive, so I didn’t buy it,” he said.

This is the story he has told countless times to others, and every time Mr. Du Wen mentions it, he still feels heartbroken.

Gu Weijing's works have never been particularly numerous in the art market.

Even if his sketches can't be as exaggerated as Leonardo da Vinci's, $30,000 is still a fair price. Given his current popularity, it's not impossible for them to sell for $100,000.

This is not a painting.

This is clearly a huge nugget of gold.

"Okay, I'll believe that."

The audience nodded and chuckled softly.

"It seems ridiculous, right? But who could have predicted that his work would be so valuable back then?" Du Wen asked expressionlessly, completely numb.

"No, my friend, I didn't mean to mock you at all."

The audience member next to him pointed to the work in the very center of the exhibition hall. Typically, a painter's retrospective exhibition is a condensed chronology, with the curator arranging the exhibition according to the timeline or thematic thread of the painter's creation.

The entire exhibition hall displays almost entirely Gu Weijing's early student works.

"Do you see that painting?"

"A listener asked."

Du Wen turned his head; that display case likely housed the most important work in the entire exhibition hall.

[Title of the work: Wisteria Flower Painting]

[Note: This work measures 100 cm in height and 27 cm in width. Created in 2017, it is one of Gu Weijing's early representative works and is on loan from the Elena Family Foundation.]

Du Wen turned back again.

“You know what? I can tell you, there are so many stories behind this painting. It was after seeing this painting that Mr. Cao Xuan decided to take Gu Weijing as his student. He specifically mentioned this work at the art conference. It was also the first painting by Gu Weijing that Ms. Elena ever saw. The whole story between the two of them started because of this painting.”

"You said Gu Weijing had a sketch, and you missed it?"

The man smiled again.

At first, Du Wen thought the other person was mocking him, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the other person's smile was full of bitterness and a slight numbness.

He felt a sense of familiarity with that feeling, but it was even more intense.

It's like a small sesame seed meeting a super sesame seed.

“This painting was once right in front of me, and I had the chance to have it. Then, I just watched as Anna Elena took it away.”

Great joke.

How much does a sketch cost?

This painting, "Wisteria Blossoms," which bears witness to an important moment in Gu Weijing's career, may not be any cheaper than "The Magic Flute," which sold for a sky-high price just a few months ago.

It could very well sell for eight figures.

US dollars!

The man gazed at the artwork with endless affection, as if he were looking at his large yacht, sports car, and villa.

He turned his head again.

The two men looked at each other, speechless and choked with emotion, only tears streaming down their faces.

……

Hunter Bull is also at the Zurich Art Museum at this moment.

He is on the second floor.

Unlike the first floor, which displays Gu Weijing's early paintings from his childhood, this exhibition hall showcases his paintings from after he became famous, which can be considered the "masterpieces" of Gu Weijing's entire career to date.

It contains almost all of Gu Weijing's award-winning works, and almost all of the artistic styles he has explored.

It includes his painting "Human Noise," which won the gold medal at the Singapore Biennale, works previously exhibited at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, and "The Magic Flute," which was encased in bulletproof glass and sold for over $20 million.

The entire exhibition hall is even called "The Ultimate Realm of Painting," which is quite domineering.

Hunter Bull was examining the work that occupied almost the entire wall in front of him. In terms of length, it was over four meters long, almost comparable to Rembrandt's "The Night Watch".

It seems that the most renowned artists in European history could never lack a representative large-scale painting in their careers.

When people talk about Michelangelo, they think of "The Creation of Adam".

When people talk about Rembrandt, they think of "The Night Watch".

When talking about Picasso, without a doubt, it is his famous painting "Guernica".

Gu Weijing's oil painting is called "Human Comedy". It was this painting that won Gu Weijing the prize at the Hamburg Federation of Painters and Musicians' annual exhibition, filling the last piece of the puzzle of that "impossible mission".

This art gallery is called "The Ultimate in Painting".

On techniques.

On significance.

This painting can be seen as a peak and climax in Gu Weijing's career to date. It is the most precious work created in Gu Weijing's life.

It is the jewel in the crown.

The gold of gold.

Considering that this painting represents more than just a painting, but also the shares that the Elena family handed over to the association in the post-war era, it would be one of the most expensive works of art in human history, easily ranking among the top ten.

The significance of "Oil Painting" magazine to the art industry cannot be measured in money, well, if it could, it would be a lot, a lot, a lot of money.

In a sense.

The previous painting, "The Magic Flute," and Gu Weijing's unprecedented fundraising efforts—in which he, as a working-class man, "swallowed an elephant" to buy the Maes Gallery, one of Europe's top and oldest galleries—were all part of laying the groundwork and creating momentum for this painting.

It can even be understood this way—

From the moment Gu Weijing signed a new agency contract with Anna Elena, for the entire seven years after graduating from university, they had been working tirelessly to prepare for this painting.

Both within and outside of art, the collaborators have poured everything into this painting, making it difficult to say exactly how much such an oil painting is worth.

If I absolutely had to give an estimate...

The Magic Flute is worth $21 million.

If they could buy this painting and allow Gu Weijing to skip the Hamburgers Association of Painters and Musicians' annual exhibition, Kluge Bank would probably be willing to pay 100 million dollars.

$200 million.

They probably would be willing, after all, they've already invested over 2 billion in the entire Oil Painting magazine group.

of course.

That said, if these shares could be bought with money, the Elena family would be happy to pay the same amount, even if they had to mortgage their own estate.

(End of this chapter)