Almighty painter

Chapter 226 My Disciple
Lao Yang brought Gu Weijing's works.

Not only the electronic version on the iPad tablet, but also a printed 16-inch photo.

Cao Lao is getting old, and for an old man of this age, he can be regarded as clear-sighted.

He has a little bit of early cataract and presbyopia, which belong to the normal condition of the octogenarians over 90 years old due to physical aging, and it is not enough to require surgery.

The assistant, Lao Yang, was still thoughtful and caring, enlarged and printed the painting sent by Gu Weijing with the photo printer in the house, hoping that the old man would find it easier to read.

Cao Lao took the photo in his hand.

After all, is the master,

Taking a casual glance under the light and moonlight, the little old man's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey, let him study Castiglione, it's really a bit of research." Mr. Cao pouted, appreciating secretly in his heart.

"When I received the photo, I thought the painting was not bad." Lao Yang nodded like pecking rice.

People say that if you burn too much incense, you can get a third of Zen on your body.

Lao Yang followed a big boss like Cao Lao every day, and under the influence of his ears and eyes, his artistic accomplishment was absolutely not bad.

At the Shwedagon Pagoda, Lao Yang was so anxious that he couldn't care less about seeing Gu Weijing's paintings.

Otherwise, with Lao Yang's eyes, if he calms down, he can see some tricks.

tonight,

When this work by Gu Weijing was just sent to his mobile phone, Lao Yang was a little surprised.

It really has a feeling of harmony between Chinese and Western, and what is even more rare is that it is strange but not strange, and it does not seem to be divided.

This Gu Weijing really painted something!

Lao Yang knew that Cao Lao would definitely like to see his juniors create such paintings, so he disturbed Cao Lao at night when he was meditating in the courtyard.

"How about it? I think I also want to follow this style. Xiao Cui, who was praised by the media, probably didn't have this skill at Gu Weijing's age!"

Lao Yang does not have the heart and tolerance of a master like Mr. Cao.

Now he is still dissatisfied with Cui Xuanyou for perfunctory them on the phone.

"The lighting here is not good, go back to the house and have a look."

Cao Lao did not answer Lao Yang's question.

He thought about drawing for a while, but stood up directly from the small chair by the flower pond.

The old man rolled up the photo, and began to walk quickly into the house without saying a word.

"Hey, slow down and be careful of the steps." Lao Yang hurried to Mr. Cao Xuan and pushed open the door of the yard for him.

Entering the study room decorated in Chinese style, he turned on the lights.

Now that it was night, Lao Yang didn't pour tea for the old man, but asked the kitchen to bring a cup of warm wolfberry.

Mr. Cao put the photo on the table, and put the IPAD screen on the side, slowly appreciating this work of Gu Weijing.

The little old man looked very seriously at this moment.

With Cao Xuan's eyesight, the good and bad of most works can be seen in the bones at a glance.

But this time.

Gu Weijing was able to draw this work, a little bit beyond the old man's expectations.

Therefore, he deliberately slowed down, not for any other reason, but to take a closer look at how much this kid has grown during this period of time.

"I asked him to learn line drawing and sketching, and he listened to it."

The old man glanced at the printed photos on the table, took a sip of wolfberry water from time to time, and occasionally traced the photos and the screen with his fingers.

If Gu Weijing was in the study at the moment, he would be shocked to find out that the finger movements of this old gentleman are exactly the details of the brush strokes and the way he uses the brushstrokes when he handles the details on the canvas.

I thought about what I drew by referring to the "Summary of the Essence of Lang Shining's New Style Painting" knowledge card provided by the system.

The painting technique that his grandfather Gu Tongxiang regarded as a baby bump.

Cao Lao only took a casual glance, and he reappeared!

Stroke by stroke,
Flowing clouds and flowing water,

Exactly.

This is the crushing of ranks.

Not only did he crush Gu Weijing, Cao Lao even gave Comrade Castiglione a second by the way.

Lao Yang was not surprised by this.

to be frank,
Excluding foreign monks who are good at chanting scriptures, as well as the academic contributions of integrating Eastern Xia art and oil painting, and carrying forward Western painting techniques in the ancient land of the East.

On the status of fine arts alone,

Mr. Cao Xuan is really not comparable to Castiglione.

And when it comes to painting techniques, hehe, comparing painting techniques with Lang Shining Lang Shilang is bullying the ancients.

Even in the three dynasties of Kang, Yong, and Qian, Lang Shining's techniques only accounted for the word "odd", and were not famous for their profundity.

The country is unfortunate, the poet is fortunate, and the poem is easy to work when it comes to the vicissitudes of life.

There are many similarities in art and literature.Artists such as Li Sixun, Zheng Sixiao, and Bada Shanren in ancient times have all experienced similar things like national destruction and family destruction.

Cao Lao is one of the peaks in the history of Eastern Xia art.

Zhang Daqian once put forward the slogan of "bloody battle against the ancients".

In the "Mingyue Review" in the past, the art circle of the Republic of China commented on Xu Beihong's horse paintings as "Zongshi Han Gan and Zhao Mengfu are nothing more than the same, but Lang Shining is not as good as it is."

This is saying,

The horses drawn by Mr. Xu, even if they meet Han Gan and Zhao Mengfu, the most famous masters of horse painting in history, are just like this.

The works of Castiglione, a famous horse painter in the Qing Dynasty, are even worse than Xu Beihong's techniques.

The reason why Mr. Cao suggested Gu Weijing to learn Castiglione’s techniques is because his fusion painting style bears the original imprint of the fusion and collision of civilizations.

And because of serving the royal family, Castiglione's brushwork is neat and rigorous. There are currently a large number of well-preserved surviving works, which can be easily appreciated online.

It is convenient for children of Gu Weijing's age to study and study.

But Mr. Cao,
The style of fusion painting is certainly pleasing, but at Cao Xuan's level, learning from Castiglione would be putting the cart before the horse, and there is no need for it.

There is no need for the old man himself.

Professor Lin Tao's elderly second-generation disciples would be laughed at by the critics if they imitated Castiglione's painting.

These great painters who have already stood at the top of the pyramid, what they want to do is not simply to imitate the ancients.

It is to draw out one's own personal style, to grow new branches and bear new fruits on the big tree of art history.

"Hmph, cunning boy, I asked him to learn from Castiglione. It was to learn from Castiglione's picture expression ability, but I didn't let him completely transfer over all the original animation methods, stealing and playing tricks. The painting is not very good, but there is still merit in imitating and learning skills. Well, the composition is also reasonable."

The little old man carefully read all the brushes and techniques in the photo.

The old man didn't know whether he was criticizing or praising, he muttered and cursed with a smile.

"No intention!"

That Gu boy was able to hand in such a work as his homework in just over a month.

Mr. Cao Xuan is actually satisfied in general.

Even very satisfied.

The use of brushes is still clear and astringent, there is no Gu Weijing's own idea in the technique, and the excessive color is not mellow enough.

These are all shortcomings in the eyes of high-level art masters.

however,
In such a short period of time, he can grasp the techniques of such a famous and famous painter in history as Castiglione.

This level and talent are enough to shame many lesser-known painters who are much older than Gu Weijing.

and,

Gu Weijing's level of brushwork has also improved considerably compared to what Cao Xuan has seen before.

The ability to learn and absorb external knowledge is more important to the little old man than just whether the painting is good or not.

An excellent art student should be a sponge. Whenever a senior artist's pen and ink flow from his body and eyes, he can leave a bit of essence in his heart.

"It's already great enough to get your old saying 'you can still say it'."

Lao Yang saw Professor Lin Tao with his own eyes because of Cao Lao's barely readable comment, and he was very happy for a long time.

"So, I think that after signing Ma Shi Gallery, this little Mr. Gu is really rushing to win an award at the Singapore Art Biennale."

"Tsk tsk tsk, winning the prize in the master category at the age of 18 should have set a historical record in the competition. Titian rose to fame in Florence when he was less than 20 years old, and his fame at a young age has been passed down to this day. That's probably the case."

Lao Yang saw that the old man was actually in a good mood now, so he made a joke: "The young man he had his eyes on at the beginning has changed from a good apprentice to a junior. I guess Professor Lin's mood will be mixed."

"You are exaggerating. Titian has already started to paint the most important church murals for the archbishop at this age, and he can be as famous as the master Giorgione at that time. Gu Weijing only has a bit of talent for copying, which is not far behind others." Cao Lao snorted.

"Award? This kid is just imitating the paintings of the ancients. Even if the organizing committee is in a good mood and lucky enough to reward him with three melons and two dates, then the award should be awarded to Lang Shining, not this little guy." The little old man did not object that Gu Weijing's painting has the possibility of winning an award at the art exhibition.

"Old man, if you want to say that, then the Biennale cannot be held. Borrowing is a part of painting creation, and Picasso directly copied other people's paintings."

"At Gu's age, learning the painting techniques of some senior masters is not a shortcoming at all."

Lao Yang said casually: "If I could have the painting level of Mr. Gu when I was in college, I would like to wear the works on my body and show them off wherever I go."

"So you are only my assistant at most. When do you think I thought about taking you as an apprentice?" Cao Lao asked angrily.

Lao Yang is used to being choked, and has long since developed the cheeky ability to take the old man's ridicule as praise.

For a master like Mr. Cao, others have no chance to be scolded every day.

Now that he has been scolded for a few more years, the qualifications of serving Mr. Cao will be a lot of pretense in the future.

"No, I'm satisfied to be an assistant. I don't have such a great blessing to be your old disciple. I have to practice for another two lifetimes."

Lao Yang casually licked a few words.

"At this level, at this age, signing a gallery contract shouldn't be counterproductive, right?"

He has a lot of contact with the front-line art market.

On the matter of signing the gallery, Lao Yang and the old gentleman he served had a slightly different point of view.

Lao Yang believes that young painters with good painting skills are pushed to the front of the stage earlier to let collectors know that there is such a number one person, and it can't be a bad thing.

Fame grows bigger and bigger.

As long as you are not scolded by some top art magazines and senior critics every day, the big market environment and the overall confidence of collectors will not collapse.

Then the price will naturally be an upward curve step by step.

An amateur like Gu Weijing came up with a super high starting point like Ma Shi Gallery, if he can really become the last personal disciple of Mr. Cao.

Marketing for ten years.

Even if you rely solely on foam piles, you might be able to pile up one or two works worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even a higher price, which is not something you can't hope for.

Thinking of this,

Old Yang was startled suddenly.

In his heart, Gu Weijing's future is already regarded as a painter who can sell hundreds of thousands of dollars a piece of work?

In Dongxia, who can sell such a work, how could they have already entered the top [-] on the Hurun Artist Rich List.

Putting it in the age range below 40 years old, it is at the level of ten to five.

In a year when the art trade was relatively quiet,
Maybe this data can really be connected to the top three.

What concept is this!

The guy might not even have been a teenager in his 30s then.

Lao Yang felt indescribably envious.

Being able to be Cao Lao's assistant is mainly to obtain the invisible wealth of earning qualifications and connections. When Cao Lao became famous, Lao Yang and his father were all liquid, so it is definitely impossible to get a commission.

Of course, the pure salary is also a proper high-income rich man.

However, not including tax deduction, it is about 27 to [-] euros per year.

I have worked hard for so long.

Originally, he wouldn't even look straight at the little guy, but in a few years he might overtake him.

"What a blessing, I might be witnessing the birth of the next wealth supernova in the history of art." Lao Yang sighed.

With many thoughts in his mind, he shook his head and said softly: "Thinking about it this way, Ma Shi Gallery has signed Mr. Xiao Gu. From a long-term perspective, it is really hard to say who will make money."

"Of course the gallery made money."

Cao Xuan lightly tapped the porcelain teacup containing wolfberry water with his fingertips, and the water rippled, making a light "ding".

"I said before that the gallery is not interested in Gu Xiaozi, but Sakai Kazushige's face, I want to take back this sentence now."

The little old man smiled and patted the table: "It's the luck of Mashi Gallery that such a good boy is willing to sign with the gallery."

"You agree with him signing the gallery?"

"Since it was introduced by Sakai Kazunari, there should be no problem. But those businessmen have dirty hearts, so please be careful, help me to check the contract, and don't let Xiao Gu be deceived."

Mr. Cao Xuan has a general impression of commercial galleries.

He specifically asked his assistant.

The old man called the junior Cui Xuanyou himself out of respect for his teacher.

There is no need for him to handle such a small matter as connecting with a commercial gallery.

"Come on. Mr. Gu has an elder like you, and others are really envious."

When Lao Yang was about to go back, he called Ma Shi III.

With the words of Mr. Cao, the gallery did not dare to make any fools.

"By the way, Gu Weijing has another request about signing a contract with the gallery. He is afraid that the gallery will not agree to it if he talks about it, so I hope you can help pass it on."

Lao Yang didn't rush to contact Ma Shi Gallery, but then mentioned another matter with Cao Lao.

"This reminds me, an old man, well, since he did hand in a work that barely passes, it's based on the fact that he paints with his heart and mind, so if he wants to make money, he can make money..."

Mr. Cao pointed at the photos on the mahogany desk with his thin fingers, and said casually, "...does he want a higher share or something? As long as it's not too much, you can just pass it on to the gallery."

"Oh, no, about the split, I heard that Mrs. Cruz has opened a very good deal, and the agent who came to sign the contract is asking the gallery headquarters for advice."

"Mr. Gu mentioned some additional terms, and he hopes to add these terms to the contract. He intends to continue to draw illustrations anonymously online, and he doesn't want the gallery's exclusive agency contract to interfere with his creative content." Lao Yang raised his eyebrows and mentioned Gu Weijing's request when he contacted him.

"Anonymous illustrator?"

Cao Lao was stunned for a moment.

He didn't expect Gu Xiaozi to have such a hobby.

"KAWS, NFT virtual art exchanges and so on. Young art students now like these trendy cultural concepts."

Lao Yang shrugged and explained.

"It's similar to playing with Taihu stones when I was young?" Cao Lao asked.

"It's almost like drawing some cartoon pictures or trendy symbols or something. Gu Weijing promises to be anonymous and will not affect his normal painting creation and studies." Lao Yang replied.

He didn't take Gu Weijing's request seriously.

Children like to play.

Besides,

He is also the middleman in charge of conveying the message. Whether he is willing to agree or not depends on the intention of Mr. Cao Xuan.

"I don't do business. What can I get out of playing with these things? Painters, painters, in the end, they have to return to using a paintbrush to paint works that last forever and stand the test of time. Now I hate that the road to painting is too long and life is too short. I wish I could make up for all the time wasted when I was young in learning painting."

Mr. Cao is not satisfied with Gu Weijing's well-established road and spending his time on heresy things like illustrations.

"It's understandable if you want to change your mood. Didn't Picasso also like to play with pottery and silverware?" Lao Yang said.

"Hmph, that's not doing business properly. Take a look at Pablo's truly artistic works, those works that are truly recognized by collectors, which one is not drawn with painstaking effort one stroke at a time."

"Thousands of crooked pottery, strangely shaped silver plates, and works that ghosts can't understand are all made to fool laymen."

Old Cao shook his head and said disdainfully.

Pablo is the name of Pablo Picasso.

Cao Lao had contact with Picasso himself in France when he was young, and the two knew each other.

At that time, Mr. Cao had just won a great reputation in the western art world at the Autumn Gallery, and Picasso was in the period of looking back on his career and preparing to reinterpret the styles of the works of historical painting masters.

It is rumored that the contact between the two great painters was not very pleasant, and there was some friction in many concepts.

"Alas, my ancestor, you can tell me what you say, but don't talk nonsense outside." Lao Yang was a little flustered, "It's okay to be a critic. In your position, if you say such things, there will be a lot of noise."

It's not news that artists spray each other, and it doesn't matter if they talk about it in private.

But if Mr. Cao suddenly became interested in formal public occasions such as the annual art conference, he casually spit out what he just said, whether the low-end Picasso art market will be reshuffled, Lao Yang doesn't know.

But the paparazzi are bound to go crazy.

Lao Yang felt that he would go crazy too.

"Future, what are you afraid of? That's what I said in front of Pablo back then." Cao Lao curled his lips.

"Tell me to Gu Weijing, take care, don't think about those things that are not there. Illustration seems to be at the lower level of the contempt chain of art, but it is also a profound knowledge. There are many ways to express one's own thoughts on behalf of the employer with painting. Seeing those great illustrators are so beautiful, this bowl of food is not as simple as serious art."

"Understood, let Mr. Gu focus on his job."

Lao Yang understood: "That means I don't need to mention this matter with Mashi Gallery?"

"Why didn't you mention it?"

Cao Xuan asked strangely: "Since Gu Weijing wants to draw anonymous illustrations, even if I don't like him, it's my business. I can ask Gu Weijing to calm down and focus more on the study of serious art, but who is his gallery, why should he take a share of Gu Weijing's illustrations?"

"This kind of matter that has nothing to do with his gallery, Ma Shi Gallery shouldn't reach out." Cao Lao said without anger.

Lao Yang could only smile wryly.

After getting along for so long, he sometimes overlooked that Mr. Cao Xuan, under the appearance of an old child, is still the top art master who is quite protective and domineering.

"By the way, when you notify Ma Shi Gallery, you can tell the other party that I am considering personally teaching Gu Weijing, maybe... I will officially accept him as my closed disciple."

When Lao Yang was about to leave the study, Cao Lao stopped him again and spoke softly.

Lao Yang stopped and turned sideways, opening his mouth slightly in surprise.

He wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it. He was silent for a few seconds, and finally had to ask again: "Are you sure I want to say that? Mr. Cao, you know how crazy the gallery will be because of this news."

"Just tell them that. Keep them quiet."

Cao Xuan said with a light smile, "Anyway, what I said is maybe."

When leaving the study, the first thought in Lao Yang's mind was...

tonight,

There will be a group of people who can't sleep in the Marsh Gallery.
-
Yangon,

The next morning, when Gu Weijing opened the door early in the morning and was about to go out for a morning run, he was startled.

The door just opened, revealing a pair of blue eyes covered with bloodshot eyes.

Looks like I've encountered a ghost!
"Mr. Hanks Marsh?"

Gu Weijing took a step back and looked up and down for a few seconds before recognizing the figure of the blond manager across from him.

There are already spring mosquitoes in March and April in Yangon, and Hanks didn’t know how long he stood outside, his whole body was covered with bumps, and his neck was swollen a lot.

"We...we..."

Seeing Gu Weijing, Hanks threw the briefcase to the ground, panting and said, "Mr. Gu, we will sign the contract now."

(End of this chapter)