Almighty painter

Chapter 701: Thesis Debate (Part )
"The first female Impressionist painter in history" - a scholar discovered Leonardo da Vinci's lost work "Salvator Mundi" in a dusty market.

Gu Weijing's research is more like a case of "fame" outweighing "profit".

Just consider the monetary gain.

From the authority of Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko to the conclusion of the paper itself, none of them could support the record-breaking price of the painting "Old Church in a Thunderstorm" at the auction.

But in terms of the ability to attract attention, it is likely to be stronger than "Salvator Mundi".

Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" attracts attention mainly because of its expensiveness.

Leonardo da Vinci is so famous and there are so few of his works available for trade, it's like he is some kind of gorgeous but endangered rare animal.

Like the red-crowned crane or the white-fin dolphin.

Thousands of Picasso's works are traded repeatedly every year, and there are special auctions for Monet and Degas every now and then. Even Van Gogh, whose actual average price of his works may be close to 1 million US dollars, painted nearly four-digit oil paintings in his lifetime, as well as a considerable number of sketches and watercolors.

As long as you really have money and want to buy it, you can always wait for it.

And that's all Leonardo da Vinci's work is about.

The information is relatively reliable and it is clear that there is a private collector who owns an authentic work of Leonardo da Vinci.

There are no more than five of them in the entire world.

Every time a piece of this kind appears on the market, it is rightly priced at a whopping $10,000, and the opportunity to buy a Leonardo, whether a painting or a drawing, is rare even for the wealthiest collectors.

Want to buy?

Sorry.

Can't find anyone selling it at all.

When collecting paintings reaches the level of collecting Leonardo da Vinci, you have reached the pinnacle.

If you want to go further, the only option is to consider hiring someone with AK to rob the Louvre.

Unless there is a special situation where they want to increase their political influence, the big guys may no longer care about those fame.

The few transactions that do occur are often between anonymous buyers or private negotiations.

If it weren't for the top auction house or the top art broker, you wouldn't even be able to find a list of collectors who currently own authentic Leonardo da Vinci works, let alone find someone to negotiate privately.

This is the art world’s version of a “treasure list.”

The scarcity of Da Vinci has made even the names of customers who own Da Vinci a valuable and exclusive market resource, which is tightly controlled by middlemen.

Every time there is a change in the ownership of these works, as long as it is circulated and known to the outside world, it is earth-shaking news in the art world.

The most recent one was two months ago.

Miss Anna Irene donated her Leonardo da Vinci's sketch "Wings of the Muses" which was owned by Irene's family.

Going back further is the year 2017.

2017 is a rare “Year of Da Vinci”.

This year, two works by Leonardo da Vinci were auctioned at the same time. One of them, the oil painting Salvator Mundi, was sold for nearly $5 million. The other was a very small sketch, the head of a bear, which was about the size of a playing card, about five centimeters long, and sold for nearly $1000 million.

The earliest reliable news was almost 20 years ago, dating back to a Christie's auction in 2001.

In the more than 21 years since the beginning of the st century, there are only a few cases and a few works, and the inheritance of more than one of them is vague or questionable.

All topics related to "Da Vinci" are naturally in the spotlight.

but.

On the other hand, Leonardo da Vinci is right up there.

Regardless of whether the Salvator Mundi is his own work or not, he is the most brilliant and important name in the entire history of European art. Regardless of whether the papers and endorsements of Oxford University and the British Museum are credible, it will not cause any changes or impact on the existing academic research on Leonardo da Vinci.

The greatest impact of these studies.

At most, at most, at most, it would be nothing more than adding a small suffix to Leonardo da Vinci's already magnificent list of works.

A suffix worth $500 million.

For this man who, to a certain extent, has become a symbol and synonym for the art category of "European painting" in social culture, it is just a small suffix.

"Salvator Mundi" needed Leonardo da Vinci to change its fate.

Leonardo da Vinci didn’t need Salvator Mundi to save him.

Research related to this painting has been brought up again and again by professional scholars and amateur members of the public, the biggest reason being that it is the most expensive painting ever sold in the art market.

Just because it sold for $5 million.

Long before the appearance of "Salvator Mundi", there had always been research on the authenticity of Leonardo da Vinci's works. For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has concluded that an anonymous sketch called "Martyr" is also an authentic work of Leonardo da Vinci.

This is like a replica of the situation in "Salvator Mundi".

It is also a well-known study by well-known scholars.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an authoritative museum on par with the British Museum and the big brother in the field of North American art museums.

But it did not cause such a big wave, and ordinary people who are not in the professional research field may not have even heard of it.

The opposite is true in "Old Church on a Thunderstorm".

Its actual price in the auction market is less than a fraction of that of "Savior Mundi".

However, Liu Ziming has already realized that the attention and social discussion it has aroused in academia and the public sphere may be even more intense than "The Savior".

What Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko are doing is not looking for a famous painter for an old painting, as many scholars are doing.

What they are doing.

It is an old painting that "created" a completely new and famous painter.

The subtle difference here is enough to shake the entire academic community's existing research on Impressionism and classical views in traditional fields.

It will also be like a huge rock falling in the middle of a lake, causing a huge uproar.

In the non-professional field, for ordinary art lovers, or even for people who do not love art but simply want to watch the show, an early female Impressionist artist who has been "forgotten" by history is also a topic of considerable public discussion.

Don’t say anything else.

If this view is true, and the historical data is more complete... or even more edited and perfect, then those Hollywood filmmakers might rush forward with their cameras.

Let’s use the story of “Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer” as a template to make a movie called “Meeting the Painter Carroll”!

Of all Western film genres, biographical films are the most suitable for winning awards.

It may also be the most "harmless" topic.

It doesn’t matter if there is a lack of materials. This kind of story, which is exactly between "fiction" and "non-fiction", is exactly the trend in literary and artistic works in recent years.

There is a lot of room for creativity, and a real sense of immersion.

In short, these are topics that can attract a lot of traffic and discussion.

Controversy means there is discussion, and discussion means fame.

Fame means spotlight, interviews and exposure.

This paper was published just before Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko participated in this year's Singapore Biennale. Is there any other publicity resource that is more naturally endowed with fame and discussion than this? Is there any other more perfect means of winning awards than this paper?
Fame and fortune, fame and fortune. In the art market, fame and fortune are often tied together.

Profit can bring fame.

Fame can also bring profit.

Perhaps Carroll's identity as an Impressionist female painter cannot bring enough monetary benefits, but if the topic itself can bring a lot of social discussion and public attention.

The value of the works of a forgotten female painter and a forgotten female painter "known by everyone" are two completely different concepts.

Many people are discussing this.

This kind of controversy could actually drive up the price of the painting "Old Church in a Thunderstorm" to the sky.

Say.

Let’s not talk about how much the painting “Old Church in a Thunderstorm” is worth. Let’s take a look at it——

Teacher Cao Xuan no longer hides his happiness.

Perhaps it was because of this paper that Gu Weijing actually won the award at the Singapore Biennale.

It is also very likely because of this paper.

Gu Weijing really became his last junior fellow apprentice and the last disciple of his master.

The next generation leader of the Southern Painting Sect, how much is this position worth?

Is there any way to estimate?

I'm afraid not.

Even if we don't mention this unrealistic concept, Cao Xuan has no children.

In the art market, the sales of works by the top artists on lists such as the Hurun Artist Rich List are calculated in units of 1 billion yuan.

It’s more than 1 billion yuan... every year!
Don't underestimate Mr. Cao's worth.

Cao Xuan was certainly not as rich as the countess in the wheelchair or his father, the old shipping tycoon, but Cao Xuan was definitely richer than the youngest son of a shipping tycoon like Liu Ziming.

after all.

He knew since he was a child that his group must belong to his brother.

It would be no problem for Liu Ziming to live a life of luxury by relying on dividends, or to be a carefree billionaire.

But don’t think about more.

As for Cao Xuan, his wealth cannot be measured by a little dividend.

The old man’s works alone exceed the market value of many listed companies.

To put it bluntly.

Becoming Mr. Cao's last disciple not only means that he has embarked on a ladder to the sky in the art world.

After a little calculation, it's time to think about what will happen to the old man after his death.

After Cao's teacher died, a large number of calligraphy and painting works and sutra collections were all left to Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan didn’t even have any children. After the old man died, all these things belonged to them, his disciples.

After Picasso's death, his heirs were at loggerheads.

Everyone is swallowing pills and guns.

No matter what the reason was, it was a tragedy anyway.

According to the French government's audit calculations, Bi's estate, taking inflation into account, is approximately US$7 billion. Such assets can directly push a person onto the Forbes rich list, which is undoubtedly a figure that makes people jealous and lose their minds.

As for the several disciples, they don't have to think about the title of the head of the painting school. Whoever can get a bigger share of Mr. Cao's "legacy" is equivalent to taking home a certain number of Monet paintings.

Is Gu Weijing the last disciple of Master Cao, or is he a disciple of Lin Tao or Tang Ning, and is taught by Master Cao himself... These two things seem to be similar, but the inner difference is so different that it cannot be explained by Taoism at all.

Such temptation of interests is enough for a person to set up an elaborate scam.

It's certainly worth writing a fake paper for this.

One article?
All one hundred articles are worth a thousand times more.

Write an article that is hard to tell whether it is true or false, and you will have a promising future that will soar to the sky.

Bow your head, and a few years later, go home with hundreds of millions of dollars.

There are very few examples of such a high rate of return in the entire history of mankind, even if you search with a lantern.

Don't blame Liu Ziming for thinking badly of people.

He is a nobleman from a wealthy family, but he is not an ignorant fool.

There are some rich second-generations like him who are real losers, but they are not many.

Liu Ziming is definitely not one of them.

Even if you have not experienced them personally, you have heard a lot about the various intrigues in the business world and the treacherous political struggles.

A scam more sophisticated and sinister than writing a fake paper.

He has seen a lot.

Liu Ziming certainly had to think more. He brought up this matter because he wanted to get to the bottom of it before Gu Weijing gained enough "reputation" from this paper and truly became a disciple of his teacher Cao Xuan.

"True gold is not afraid of fire. Mr. Cao believes in that kid, so of course I believe in him too. Moreover, this article was written together with Katsuko Sakai, so it should be reliable. So as an elder, I should help if I can. Isn't it a good thing to have a more authoritative endorsement? It can stop many people from gossiping."

Liu Ziming smiled.

"gossip."

Wei Yunxian sneered again without understanding the reason and turned her head away.

Cao Xuan took a serious look at Liu Ziming in front of him.

The smile on Liu Ziming's face faded a little, but... he did not look away, still looking directly into his teacher's eyes.

He couldn't hide his inner thoughts in front of Mr. Cao, and perhaps Liu Ziming didn't even want to hide them.

He just felt that there was something wrong with this paper.

Make this issue clear.

This is good for the disciples and for the teacher as well.

As for Gu Weijing?
Liu Ziming was too lazy to care.

He didn't think there was anything shameful about his thoughts.

He was able to say this in a relatively tactful way, not out of consideration for Gu Weijing's emotions, but out of consideration for his teacher's emotions.

Mr. Cao seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"As a student, I am better than many of my students. As a teacher, I am not as good as my own teacher."

This thought flashed through the old man’s mind.

Cao Xuan's life was so smooth. He smiled and said to Miss Elena that he had never felt the pain of being unknown in his life.

He became a disciple of a master, his senior brothers and sisters loved him, and his teacher liked him.

When he was just a few years old, he was reported in newspapers as a child prodigy. Before he reached adulthood, he inherited his teacher's mantle and became a great painter.

He is now nearly a hundred years old.

He was also a great painter.

It was not a smooth era.

But he lived a relatively smooth life.

Some things can only grow after going through hardships.

Blood and fire often forge the most outstanding works of art.

Educational experience...perhaps, also requires setbacks to temper.

He became famous too easily, took over too early, and the relationship between him and his fellow apprentices was too harmonious, so there were many things that Cao Xuan had not experienced and he did not have much experience.

In Cao Xuan's heart.

A teacher is actually a father-like figure.

A great painter is not equal to a successful father. On the contrary, many great painters have a less harmonious family.

Cao Xuan didn't believe a child who painted "Wisteria Flowers" and "Good Luck Orphanage in the Sunshine".

For fame and profit.

Falsified this paper.

But Cao Xuan never believed that Tang Ning would become so unfamiliar to him.

That was a little girl who had been with him since she was a child and was like a daughter to him!

In the past, Cao Xuan really trained Tang Ning as his last disciple and successor.

He truly believed that Tangning would take over his class, just like he took over his teacher's class.

Cao Xuan once vaguely saw his own shadow in Tang Ning. He was also from a scholarly family, had been a disciple since childhood, and had also become famous at a young age.

When Tang Ning was 20 years old, he won the gold medal at the Shanghai Biennale.

Cao Xuan was happy, he was really happy, he ordered a sports car directly from the UK as a gift for her.

Many friends felt that Mr. Cao was too doting on Tang Ning.

Cao Xuan disagreed.

The best painter should be able to maintain his original heart in the face of everything, endure loneliness and pain, and bear fame and honor.

When he was less than ten years old, he used to drive a Rolls-Royce to and from the residences of big businessmen in Shanghai, and he also cried for a dying woman with a heart disease in the alleys.

He had seen famous actors and actresses on stage at the Peace Hotel, with their sleeves fluttering in the wind, and as soon as they sang, the audience cheered loudly.

The experienced amateur singer said "Hao wow" in a full and roundabout way.

Along with the ones thrown onto the stage like rain.

It is gold, jade and pearls.

It is a gold bracelet and a ring inlaid with diamonds.

Cao Xuan could also say "I don't want to go" when faced with an ivory jewelry box inlaid with pearls given to him by the British lady of the Ocean Bank.

Art does not float in the clouds.

Art always comes from life.

Those who are rich and wealthy, extravagant, shabby and downtrodden, and have a rough life are all incorporated into his writing.

The more you experience, the more solid your painting will be.

It is understandable that people in their early twenties like fame and respectability.

Children, it's inevitable.

Mr. Cao was never stingy with his children.

Tang Ning liked these things, so he gave them to her, the most expensive and best ones.

Could it be possible that Cao Xuan's last disciple would be so distracted by a small sports car?
And later.

Tang Ning thought the same as Cao Xuan did, her value was rising step by step. However, unlike what Cao Xuan thought, some of her temperament... had changed.

So, Cao Xuan wrote the word "Jing" and gave it to her.

Until that night, Cao Xuan looked at Tang Ning and slowly asked, "I want to know, where is the Xiao Ning that I once looked forward to, the Xiao Ning that I could entrust great responsibilities to and expected to rise step by step on the road of art?"

Cao Xuan asked Tang Ning this question.

It... was actually what Cao Xuan asked himself.

Perhaps only those who have been fathers can truly understand the bitterness involved?
Cao Xuan really wanted to hold Tang Ning's hand and tell her.

It doesn’t matter if an exhibition succeeds or fails, it doesn’t matter if it can be turned into a gallery, and it doesn’t even matter if it wins the gold medal at the Biennale.

He is Cao Xuan.

He had already taken all the honors and achievements in his life.

"It's great that you have these things, but I don't care if you don't."

You are the most valuable female painter of all time, and you are my student.

you are not.

You are also my student.

What does he care about?
What he cared about was where the little kid who told him that it was always a good idea to judge a person by his paintings or poems had gone!

On that distant afternoon, in the study room that had become mottled with light and shadow in his memory, when the little girl that day looked into his eyes and told him, "The teacher is wrong. It is never wrong to judge a person by his paintings or by his words."

He really wanted to laugh.

He really wanted to leave everything he had to her.

On that day, at that moment, at that second.

He, Cao Xuan...he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that Tang Ning was the person he had been waiting for!
He really told himself in his heart, "It's her."

Cao Xuan wanted to ask anxiously, he wanted to cry, he wanted to roar, he wanted to question.

finally.

Cao Xuan just sighed softly.

He watched Tang Ning walk away without answering his letter. He had never felt that this female disciple who had grown up by his side was so strange.

now.

A similar situation appeared before his eyes again.

Cao Xuan stood here thirty years ago. He was too lazy to respond to Liu Ziming's words, and he would not care in front of Miss Elena.

Both here and in front of the camera.

Whether facing the Elena family or facing the whole world.

He would always say with absolute certainty: "The viewpoint of this paper may be right or wrong. This is an academic issue. But for the children I am interested in, there is absolutely no problem with the authenticity of the paper itself."

“It’s a question of character.”

But now.

But Mr. Cao hesitated.

He would ask himself: "Could it be that I set the goal for him too high? Could it be that... I am forcing his growth again?"

finally.

Cao Xuan sighed again and said nothing.

……

Anna noticed the subtle attitude between Master Cao Xuan and his apprentice.

For an instant.

Miss Elena understood.

Perhaps Master Cao himself liked this "Gu Weijing", but the rest of his disciples had a very playful attitude towards him.

This matter may not be what she thought.

Anna was not interested in these things. Out of respect for Cao Xuan and in order not to embarrass the old man, Miss Elena decided to avoid the next topic.

She nodded at Cao Xuan.

She turned the wheelchair and returned to the corner of the lounge. When she passed the coffee table, she noticed the "Asian Art" that Lao Yang had placed on the table.

The conversation just now still aroused Anna's curiosity.

thought for a moment.

She walked over and picked up one of the journals.

"Artibus asiae" - Miss Irena's eyes lingered for a moment on the cover of "The Old Church on a Thunderstorm".

"It's actually a rare dark-toned Impressionist painting?"

Anna's heart moved slightly.

In the podcast she recorded, Mrs. Detective Cat said that Impressionism is the art of light and air.

In early Impressionist paintings.

This kind of dark-toned Impressionist work is very rare, and I don’t know how Gu Weijing got this work.

I recalled Liu Ziming's tone during the previous conversation.

It's almost instinctive.

Miss Elena also had some doubts about the authenticity of this paper.

(End of this chapter)