Almighty painter

Chapter 968 Exhibition Preview
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"Texture is the spiritual expression that comes from the painter's hard work and the natural scenery gathered at the tip of the brush in that instant, and then naturally poured out from the tip of the brush."

"This week, I wrote on a sticky note—"

"As the Parisian sunset appeared before my eyes, the sea of ​​clouds seemed to be ablaze. In that instant, I felt as if I were seeing a river of art, a river of dreams, formed by clouds and sunlight."

"There's no need to cite the source. Both Gu Weijing and I know perfectly well that these are words Kara wrote to herself in her diary."

……

"November 3, 2018, 26 weeks until the exhibition opens."

"1. Today is Saturday, and we held our first rehearsal in the room. It was a five-minute piece that we'd been working on for almost a month. I personally think it went well. Next time, maybe we can try inviting some guests."

"2. Today I watched helplessly as Awang jumped onto August like a cannonball!!! Good heavens, it's not like there's nothing to eat, why do they always manage to steal it? My heart is bleeding. No, no, no, it has to lose weight. August is an old dog, it's really too much of a loss for him if this continues."

"3. G suggests not using the automatic feeder in the room, and separating the two cats and dogs into their own rooms. Ha, why should August give in? He can eat wherever he wants. Besides, who's to blame for the bullying he suffered before?"

Record from November 4, 2018: Miss Elena was taking a walk with her cane, and while walking, she followed behind August to help him snatch food.

Record from November 6, 2018: Miss Elena took a walk with her cane during her break. While walking, she followed behind and helped August grab some food.

November 9, 2018 - Miss Elena took a walk during her break, leaning on her cane. During the walk, she discovered that Gu Weijing, who was painting, was secretly helping Awang steal food. So, instead of helping August fight, she started chasing after Gu Weijing and "beating" him.

……

"November 12, 2018, 25 weeks until the exhibition opens."

"With a week's grace period before the exhibition's opening, we have exactly six months to begin preparing the preview invitations. We plan to hold a small internal preview three months before the exhibition opens, in February next year. Three days before the exhibition, we will hold a formal media preview at the Louvre Abu Dhabi."

"Now, I will begin finalizing the list of invited guests for the preview."

"..."

"Also: I had a serious talk with G, and I think his behavior was very irresponsible. He stubbornly insisted that his cat was healthy. I said, 'Little artist, let's leave the debate to the vet.'"

……

September 14, 2018.

"Today we decided to hold a family concert next week, and unlike before, we will each invite some close guests. The housekeeper, Elliott, my roommate Aurora from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, and... Brown Levinson."

"I thought about it a lot before I finalized the list. It's a little sad, but I realized I didn't even know who to invite. Putting together a list of family band listeners seemed much harder for me than putting together a list of judges for the preview, the latter of whom I had a hundred names to choose from—"

Why should I invite Brown?

"When I dialed the number, I didn't even know what I was thinking. It was like a dream, and I made the call as if I were possessed."

"At that moment, deep down in my subconscious, I wanted to prove something."

"Also, the vet's test results are in, but I didn't tell G; I just threw it in the drawer. Are you kidding me? Not even fatty liver? I've never seen such a greedy cat. Is this vet's qualification questionable? I think we need to get a different one."

……

2018年11月15日至11月20日。

Miss Elena battles Awang.

Gu Weijing fought a great battle against Augustus.

Miss Elena battles Gu Weijing.

The book includes a photo of Awang and August vying for a tennis ball.

……

"November 21, 2018, 23 weeks until the opening of the art exhibition."

"None of us are in charge of the art exhibition today."

"Over the past two days, we've decided to put all these other things aside and focus entirely on preparing for the upcoming concert. This is the first time in my life that I've organized a concert as the host. Even if it's the simplest kind, I don't want to embarrass myself."

"I told Mr. G, 'Hey, little artist, this is your first social season.' 200 years ago, messing up this would have been enough to drown a person in her social circle."

"..."

"There weren't many guests, but it was more lively than I expected. Gu Weijing invited his teacher Cao Xuan, his personal assistant, and his sister, the little girl named Jasmine. I've met that gentleman named 'Alai' many times; he's taciturn and was Gu Weijing's former personal assistant. Surprisingly, he speaks German quite well. Mr. Adlar told me that he had military service experience."

"I've met Cao Xuan's assistant, Yang Dekang, several times. I noticed that when we were chatting in the classroom, Awang ran to the sofa, and Yang Dekang immediately moved to another seat to give to Awang. He said he was a little allergic to cat hair."

"The entire concert went very smoothly. Cao Xuan is an elderly man who understands music. I heard that he used to enjoy listening to Black jazz and has a large collection of records. After his performance, Cao Xuan was the first to applaud, telling me that he was deeply moved. I asked him, 'Was our playing really that good?' 'No,' Cao Xuan replied, 'He said he breathed a sigh of relief today. After all, he had heard some rumors at the school and was quite worried that his protégé might switch to performance art. It's good that he's certain that G can still play the notes correctly, far exceeding his expectations. Congratulations!'"

"G was probably stunned when he first heard this cruel rumor. That scene was really, really funny. Mr. Cao Xuan must have had the talent to be an art critic when he was young." "He even had a pleasant conversation with Sarah. Brown was very quiet today; he didn't say much, but he brought a companion. When he asked if it would be convenient for me to invite Sarah along, I didn't refuse. But I know she doesn't like me, and she should know that I don't like her either."

"Throughout the entire conversation, we barely exchanged a single word, except for one thing—"

"After the performance, I asked everyone to help serve some refreshments. Sarah saw the fresco in the living room, along with Deckard Anlen's image on it. She asked Gu Weijing, 'Do you think the meaning of your painting is merely to steal wealth and status from others?'"

"Hey, that's a really impolite question. And more importantly... I don't think I ever said that today was interview time."

"When did I send the preview invitation to 'Oil Painting' magazine? How come I didn't know about it?"

Gu Weijing shook his head. His answer was very good. He said that many artists are narcissistic. He felt that this self-love could be understood as a sense of history. They knew that they would be watched by history.

"Dali said the happiest thing is to be Dali. Picasso said no one in the world can refuse Picasso."

"They are often filled with unwavering beliefs in their lives and have great confidence in their work."

"And he prefers to interpret this as a kind of confidence."

"Then how do you define the boundary between confidence and arrogance?" Sarah countered with a cool smile. She added that she actually quite liked Deckard Anlen; his work had an implicit Greek quality...

Finally, Sarah said she knew G was preparing for an art exhibition and asked if she would have the "honor" of seeing his work, if it was convenient for her.

Gu Weijing looked at me, wanting to ask for my opinion.

Sarah immediately asked in an arrogant tone that I found unbearable: "Hello, Mr. G, I have a question. Is this your exhibition or someone else's? If it's the latter, perhaps I don't need to come." I asked her why I didn't need to come, and she looked at me and smiled—"I've seen your work before. Since it's Miss Elena's painting, naturally—" she said casually—it's a very good painting."

I know she was mocking and ridiculing me.

"I controlled myself and endured the ridicule. Looking into the old woman's gray eyes, I calmly told her, 'Thank you. If you need, I can send you a painting by Miss Elena to express my gratitude for your many years of hard work at the 'Painting' magazine and your willingness to take over the magazine's work at this time.'"

Sarah replied, "Thank you. If I could choose, could I choose another work by Miss Elena? The one by Ms. K., if it is truly as Miss Elena painted it. I hope that the courageous and persistent light can reach those who need it more."

She shrugged.

"I understood the meaning behind her words: I am simply unworthy of such brilliance. How dare she, how dare she, insult me ​​to my face with Kara!"

"Gu Weijing interrupted, saying, 'This is his exhibition, and it's also my exhibition. Not only our exhibition, but also the exhibition of many, many behind-the-scenes staff at the Ma Shi Gallery. I'm not just his agent, but also, in effect, the curator of the exhibition. A curator should rightfully be entitled to the credit for contributing to the exhibition, shouldn't he?'"

Sarah glanced at me, then quickly turned her gaze to him, smiled at Gu Weijing, and softly said "Oh".

"The contempt in that expression and tone was self-evident."

"I've had enough, I've really had enough. I don't care if this old lady is a member of the French Academy, how many medals she has, or what her tenure is. I don't care at all if she interviewed Picasso more than fifty years ago. But I absolutely will not allow her to just walk up to me like that and insult my painter with such a contemptuous and arrogant tone."

"Just as I was about to tell them to leave, Sir Brown stepped in to smooth things over. He said that everyone was there for a concert, and that there was a proper way to discuss art exhibitions. He had seen Gu Weijing's painting 'Human Noise' before, and it was a very impressive work."

"Dike Anlen was also an impressive painter," Sarah replied.

Gu Weijing shook his head and invited all the guests to his studio upstairs. Since they were works of art, they shouldn't be afraid of being seen. However, the works on display might not be the final versions. He hoped that the magazine "Oil Painting" could keep the contents of the works confidential until the final media day.

Sarah replied that the magazine was a professional and authoritative publication, and he could rest assured of that. Regardless of how previous generations had treated the magazine's content, she would now treat the content she was responsible for with dignity. (Note)

(This is a footnote from the original book, *The Power of Art*.)
(Anna Elena was the former director of the art magazine. According to Pace Eliot's recollection, Anna interpreted this statement as two things: first, that the other person was implying her behavior was not dignified enough, and second, that it was sarcastic. Let alone a preview, even for a formal exhibition, if she were the art director, Gu Weijing might not even be qualified to appear in the "Painting" section. Therefore, those who knew him well could see that she was extremely annoyed at the time.)
(Among the guests who visited the second-floor studio were artist Cao Xuan and his personal assistant Yang Dekang, Sir Brown Levinson, executive director and chairman of the board of "Painting" magazine, former artistic director Elena, and current artistic director Sarah, etc. The jury comprised of these people was so prestigious that it could easily form the jury for several top biennials.)
"In the art studio, no one got along well..."

"..."
-
"Life is a constant battle, meow meow meow meow."

—Awang.
-
"Gu Weijing, come here for a moment."

Today is December 3, 2018, and there are less than six months until the opening of the art exhibition.

December has arrived.

Hamburg had already entered winter, and the classrooms weren't very warm. Even inside the classrooms, the students were still wearing thick coats.

The atmosphere in this watercolor class was slightly different.

Professor Samuel Kertzens surprisingly left get out of class on time, a rare occurrence in art history, and perhaps even more worthy of gratitude from the students at the art academy than the upcoming Christmas holidays.

The teacher announced the end of get out of class.

Everyone rushed out of the classroom like a swarm of bees, afraid that if anyone was a step or two behind, the professor would grab them by the back of their shoulder and collar and drag them back to their feet.

however.

There will always be unlucky ones.

Gu Weijing, who was in a hurry, was called by name by Ke Cens and walked up to the professor amidst everyone's sympathetic gazes.

(End of this chapter)