treasure hunt god pupil

Chapter 5 Authentic [Double Horses]

Li Mo did order it right on time, and as soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "Sweet and sour pork ribs, braised fish head, and a tomato scrambled egg, this fragrance can only be made by the teacher herself."

"You don't need to talk about one dish. Your favorite five-spice pork head is bought by your master in line early in the morning." Liu Chuanqing got up and walked to the counter and asked, "What did you buy? You are carrying it and picking it up." clamped?"

"It's all pastries, including your favorite caramelized chestnuts, my wife's favorite sesame red dates, and Yingying's favorite osmanthus five kernels."

"Yingying must have sent you to buy it again. That girl is really good at calling people. Go wash your hands and eat later."

Li Mo put down the pastry, and said in a low voice, "Master, I found a painting in that time-honored shop, and I was a little uncertain about it, so I asked you to palm it when I bought it."

Although I have decided in my heart that this is the authentic work, but I can't act too abnormally, let the master participate, if he appraises that it is also the authentic work of Master Xu, then at most it is luck.

"Oh." Liu Chuanqing was stunned for a moment, went out for a walk yesterday and picked up a genuine Qing Qianlong powder blue-glazed gourd bottle, and today went to Xijiekou to buy a pastry and picked up an authentic one?
Li Mo gently unfolded the picture of a horse, moved away to let the master see clearly.

Liu Chuanqing put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses and slowly identified them with a special magnifying glass.The more he looked, the more dignified his expression became, and in the end he was a little more puzzled, and his brows were furrowed.

"Old Liu, what are you looking at, let's eat first."

"You eat first, I have something important to call." Liu Chuanqing dialed a number and was connected quickly, "President Xu, did you bother you? I can’t see it, so I want to ask you to help identify it.”

"President Zhu and the others are also here, okay, I'll go there right now."

Liu Chuanqing hung up the phone, waved at Li Mo and scolded with a smile: "You are still in the mood to eat, come with me to the Four Seasons Tea House. The two vice presidents of the Painting and Calligraphy Association are drinking tea there, and there may be other insiders , just to make a judgment on this painting.”

"Master, it's never too late to go after eating." Li Mo licked his fingers, unable to move his butt off the chair.

"Boy, you really have a big heart. If this is the authentic work of Master Xu Beihong, it will be worth tens of millions."

Li Mo studied antiques and miscellaneous studies with Liu Chuanqing, and was not proficient in calligraphy and painting, so the price surprised him.

"Master, save some for me to eat when I come back."

The Four Seasons Tea House is near the Town God's Temple. Liu Chuanqing was in a hurry to get angry, but Li Mo seemed much calmer.One of the master and apprentice kept urging, and the other complained that they were not full.

When I arrived at the teahouse, I went to the private room on the second floor under the leadership of a young cheongsam waiter.The private room is about 30 square meters, and through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the square in front of the temple not far away at a glance.The interior is decorated in a retro style. The three-meter-long walnut solid wood tea table is carved with dragons and phoenixes. The mist is billowing. The environment is elegant and accompanied by soft music. This is definitely a good place for friends to drink tea and chat.

There were six people in the private room, and Li Mo only knew one of them, and it was Boss Wang who bought his pink celadon gourd bottle.

"Boss Liu, you won't find good things again today, right?" Boss Wang got up first to say hello, with a bright smile and narrowed eyes.

"It's not me, it's Xiaomo. No, I'm not sure, so I have to trouble the experts in calligraphy and painting."

"Old Liu, we are old acquaintances, don't be so polite. If we really come across Xu Beihong's authentic works, it will be our good luck."

The person who spoke was Xu Guoming, the vice president of the Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Association. He was in his early sixties, with short gray hair and a thin body. He probably worked with calligraphy and painting all the year round, so he naturally had a refined temperament.

"Come on, Lao Liu, don't stand in that ink blot, open that picture of twin horses quickly."

Another vice president, Zhu Changji, was a little impatient. If Xu Beihong's masterpiece was real, it would be of great value.I have seen many more expensive paintings, but those are basically in the collections of major museums, or some private collections.There are countless folk imitations, and the probability of authenticity is very small.

A round dining table was cleaned up, and the picture of two horses was slowly spread out, and two horses with obviously different painting styles were displayed in front of everyone.

Several people gathered together to form a circle, and there were voices of surprise and doubt for a while, and after ten minutes, everyone began to whisper and express their opinions.

"Little Mo, here are all seniors in the industry, come here and study hard."

Master's words had to be listened to, Li Mo smiled and bowed slightly to everyone.

"Old Liu, your apprentice is calm and imposing, and you are considered to be a thriving talent among your peers..." President Xu had bright eyes, and his first impression of Li Mo was good.

"Old Xu, what do you think of this picture of two horses?" President Zhu is still more interested in the painting, and he has also carefully identified it, and there is indeed some doubts that cannot be solved.

"Let me first talk about my own opinion. To identify a painting, we mainly start with the three aspects of painting style, conception, layout and inscription. The seal carving is made of big seal characters, and 'What a strong man does' is indeed one of the seals used by Master Xu. At the end The inscription shows when the painting was made, and there is no flaw in either of these places."

Everyone nodded, approving his judgment.

"Looking at the picture, the horse on the left adopts the bold and unrestrained splash ink and the vigorous line drawing freehand brushwork method, focusing on portraying the charm and temperament of the horse."

"The horse Xiongjun on the left in the painting is vigorous and mildly ill. He has the aesthetic feeling of "skinny bronze sound". The galloping horse is strong and vigorous."

If there is only this steed, they will not hesitate to identify this painting as authentic.

"But the ink on the horse on the right has no sense of hierarchy. The strong body of the horse is too weak, which makes people feel like splashing ink randomly, lacking a sense of agility."

President Zhu sighed slightly when he said this, and this is where the doubts lie.

"Old Zhu, what do you think?"

President Zhu didn't take up the conversation immediately, but was thinking about something.

"I think it's a knockoff." Others began to weigh in.

"If there is any doubt, it means that the painting has flaws."

Liu Chuanqing was a little anxious, he looked at his apprentice, good boy, standing there calmly, listening with relish, he didn't seem to care about the authenticity of this painting.

"Xiao Mo, you bought this painting, what did you think at that time?"

Master asked, Li Mo didn't hide his clumsiness, he coughed easily and said: "At first when I first saw this painting, I thought the same as your predecessors. Uneasy."

"But seeing the inscription on the back, I concluded that this 'Twin Horses Picture' is definitely the authentic work of Master Xu Beihong. "

"Young man, there are some words that cannot be arbitrary." A fat man in his 40s curled his lips, obviously not used to Li Mo's words.

But at this moment President Zhu's eyes were sharp, as if a ray of sunlight broke through the fog, and he said excitedly: "The painting for the charity sale."

"Exactly." Li Mo nodded, "Kuimo 1943, this reminds me of a special time when Master Xu held charity sales many times during his study abroad to raise funds for the domestic war of resistance. On such occasions and in such an environment, Xu The master splashes ink and paints while raising funds for a charity sale, and his works are slightly inferior to his other masterpieces."

President Zhu also said at this time: "Although this picture of two horses has shortcomings, it can profoundly reflect the noble patriotic qualities and great national sentiments of Master Xu Beihong."

Li Mo looked admiring, and his tone was firm: "This picture of two horses can make people recall that period of suffering and remember that special history. I personally think that Master Xu's quality and feelings not only make up for the flaws in the pen and ink, but also make up for it. It also adds a lot of color to the connotation expressed by the picture of double horses."

"Well said." Someone applauded, it was a tall and burly man in his 50s, with undisguised admiration in his eyes, "Everyone knows that there is a big collector in Kyoto who loves horses very much. Ten years ago, I bought back a similar pair of horses from an auction in Europe. At that time, I spent 420 million euros, equivalent to about 3000 million yuan. Now Xu Beihong's paintings are becoming more and more popular. The price per square foot exceeds one million yuan, and once a picture of eight steeds was sold for a sky-high price of 1.6 million."

There was a sound of exclamation in the private room.

"This painting of twin horses is undoubtedly the authentic work of Master Xu. If it goes to auction, the value will not be less than 500 million yuan. Xiaomo, do you want to keep this painting yourself or sell it?"

(End of this chapter)