Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 887 Request for Painting
Since she had promised Li Li, Fang Minghua chose to donate the Chinese painting to the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University.

There is no need to choose too many, one painting from each famous artist will be enough. There is no need to choose the best ones either. The paintings are not sent abroad for exhibitions, but just to show Chinese culture to ordinary students. Besides, Fang Minghua herself would not be willing to give up the best ones.

Of course it can't be too bad.

Qi Baishi's "Shrimp Fun", Zhang Daqian's "Autumn Sunshine", Pan Tianshou's "Cat, Rock and Banana Scroll", Xu Beihong's "Horses", Wu Changshuo's "Loquats in May".
Fang Minghua selected twelve paintings by painters of the Republic of China, and then carefully packed and organized them to take to the United States. Ten of them were donated to the Confucius Institute, and he planned to hang the remaining two in his own study and tea room in the manor.

Song Tangtang knew about this and naturally supported it. She smiled and said, "Minghua, it doesn't have to be paintings by painters from the Republic of China. There are also many famous painters in contemporary Qin Province, such as Wang Xijing, Ma Xian, Zhao Zhenchuan, and Liu Wenxi. You can also ask them for paintings."

"Yes, how could I forget this? My wife is so smart!" Fang Minghua took the opportunity to compliment her.

Song Tangtang smiled slightly and said nothing.

Having made the decision, Fang Minghua drove to Xijing City to find these painters the next morning. He first found Wang Xijing.

Wang Xijing is now the chairman of the Qin Province Artists Association and the president of the Xijing Chinese Painting Academy. The two have a close relationship. The painting hall on the third floor of Fang Minghua's home was designed by Wang Xijing himself, and he also hired people to install and debug various protective equipment inside.

Xijing China National Academy of Painting is located on Nanjiao Lingyuan Road. Fang Minghua first called to ask if Wang Xijing was in the office, then drove over and stated his purpose straight away.

San Francisco State University is going to set up a Confucius Institute, and my daughter-in-law's cousin is the American director. In order to allow more foreigners to see and feel the profoundness of our traditional Chinese paintings, please donate one of your paintings and I will take it to San Francisco.

“President Wang, this is also a personal favor to me, and this painting of yours is not a gift but a temporary loan. If the Confucius Institute is closed in the future, I will return it intact,” Fang Minghua emphasized at last.

Wang Xijing laughed loudly and said in authentic Guanzhong dialect: "It's nothing. You can pick any of my paintings. You can take as many as you want, but I have a condition."

"What's the condition?"

"Choose thirty or fifty Chinese paintings from your private collection and hold an exhibition at our Chinese Painting Academy. This will increase the popularity of our academy and allow young painters from Qin Province to observe and learn from them. The exhibition doesn't need to be too long, just one year."

One year isn’t long?!
Fang Minghua was shocked when he heard this.

I really can't bear to let go.

Seeing Fang Minghua's expression, Wang Xijing said, "Minghua, you hide those paintings at home, not exhibiting them or auctioning them, like a miser. What's the point?"

I do!
However, Fang Minghua couldn't say this as it would hurt his old friend's feelings.

Seeing Fang Minghua's expression, Wang Xijing paused and said, "If you agree to me, I can do you another favor."

"What are you busy with?"

"I don't think you want one person's painting, right? Do you want paintings by Marcian, Zhao Zhenchuan, Liu Wenxi and others? I can help convince them."

This can be!
Fang Minghua was overjoyed when he heard this.

In the Qin Province painting circle, Fang Minghua is more familiar with Wang Xijing, and the others like Ma Xian and Zhao Zhenchuan are just nodding acquaintances. If he rashly goes to them to ask for paintings now, they may not give them. After all, painters are now ranked in the country, and a painting is worth tens of thousands of yuan.

Of course, Fang Minghua couldn't agree easily: "Dean Wang, Ma Xian and the others alone are not enough, you have to help me convince Lei Zhenmin, Gao Xia, Wu Sanda and others to help write!"

This time Fang Minghua was not talking about a painter, but a famous calligrapher in Xijing.

In fact, Fang Minghua's calligraphy is now well-known in Xijing City, and he has connections with calligraphers, but with Wang Xijing, the two people's words carry more weight. After hearing what Fang Minghua said, Wang Xijing laughed again: "Minghua, you are such an open-minded person when writing articles, but why are you so stingy when doing this? Okay, calligraphy and painting are inseparable, and I know these people well, so I will help you with this."

"Thank you very much." Fang Minghua said.

"Then I want to go to your house to personally select the paintings for the exhibition in our art academy!" Wang Xijing made another request.

What the hell!

This Wang Xijing didn't suffer any loss at all.

Since Wang Xijing had agreed, he ignored the hot weather and got in Fang Minghua's car to follow him around Xijing City to look for people. Some had good connections and were easier to talk to, while others had average connections and were harder to talk to. However, he still asked for one or two works from each person.

Ma Xian's "Smoke and Clouds of Qinling Mountains", Zhao Zhenchuan's "Autumn Harvest of the Yellow River" and Liu Wenxi's "I am Even More Delighted by the Thousands of Miles of Snow on the Min Mountains". Of course, there is also Wang Xijing's own "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" and "Pine Songs".

The calligraphy community also found nearly ten works by several calligraphers in Xijing City.

There are a total of thirty pieces of calligraphy and paintings.

Wang Xijing was not polite either. After finishing his work, he immediately took people to Fang Minghua's house and selected works by major painters of the Republic of China in the art hall.

Fang Minghua said, you asked for thirty pieces of calligraphy and paintings for me, and you can only choose thirty pieces from me at most!

Wang Xijing was naturally unwilling. Thirty paintings were not enough for an exhibition. Minghua, why are you so stingy?
Finally, 52 pieces of calligraphy and painting works were selected. After completing the formalities, they took them away with satisfaction, which made Fang Minghua feel a pang of pain.

In the evening, Song Tangtang came back and learned about this, so he smiled and said, "Minghua, since you want so many paintings and calligraphy, not counting those from the Republic of China, you can also hold another Qin Province painting and calligraphy exhibition in San Francisco."

Huh.
That's an idea!
Fang Minghua agreed immediately.

"But thirty pieces are a bit too few for a calligraphy and painting exhibition. How about I be shameless and ask for more? That Wang Xijing took fifty-two pieces from me!" Fang Minghua felt aggrieved when he thought of this.

"You..." Seeing her husband like this, Song Tangtang didn't say much, but just said:

"Thirty pieces are a bit too few, but you can write. I think your handwriting is not much worse than those calligraphy works." Song Tangtang came up with another idea.

This one
That’s a solution!

"Okay, I'll write it, and ask Pingwa and Zhongshi to help write a few more!" Fang Minghua made the decision immediately.

Of course, there was no need to be too polite to these two people. Fang Minghua immediately called them separately to explain the reason and set a task: "At least five works are required."

There is no need to emphasize the best, they will definitely write with their heart, or bring out the works they have already written and are satisfied with.

Fang Minghua was also not idle. He wrote in the study every day for the past two days and finally selected five works that he was relatively satisfied with.

Fang Minghua naturally couldn't carry so many paintings on board the plane, so she had to check them in internationally. In order to prevent any accidents, she also paid for a huge amount of insurance.

It was August 8th when he finished all this and he packed his bags to go to San Francisco.

(End of this chapter)