Almighty painter

Chapter 228 Supreme Honor
"...In addition to working hard on the portfolio. Pay attention to what is submitted to the interviewer at the school recruitment meeting, and also attach a Sketchbook (creative sketchbook) that records your thoughts and feelings during the daily painting portfolio."

"Please don't ignore the latter! Students! This is an important material for you students to prove to the interviewer that you are an independent creative rather than a hired gunman outsourcing design portfolio. Regarding the specific considerations for Sketchbook, I will discuss it later. The course details…”

Although the teacher of the Dulwich sketch class, Professor Vatel, was lecturing on the rostrum, the chalk was very hard on the blackboard, knocking "bang bang bang!"

But on this warm afternoon in mid-March, everyone in the improvement class still looked downcast.

He was able to attend Dulwich College, but he was not selected into Mrs. Sakai's genius class.

In fact, most of the students sitting here have already confirmed their next homes.

Except for higher tuition fees, foreign art colleges are no different from ordinary Western comprehensive universities, with wide admission and strict exit.

In particular, it is relatively easy to apply for the large and small art academies in Milan and Florence, Italy, because of the policies of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Of course, whether you can graduate smoothly after entering is another matter.

The application itself is not too difficult.

Regarding the professional performance of ordinary students in Vatel's class, applying to the top [-] elite schools in the art list, regardless of whether they work hard or not, there must be little hope anyway.

But no matter what, he has paid high tuition fees to private middle schools for so many years.

They still have confidence in applying for some low-ranking ordinary foreign art schools that have a cooperative relationship with Dulwich College Education Group at the school recruitment fair, and get a small offer.

At worst, you can choose a university in Yangon.

Many people even understand that they have no talent for painting at all, and very realistically, they have long since given up these completely unrealistic extravagant demands of being a painter and signing a gallery.

Even their parents have planned since they were in school to let their children use their status as art students as a springboard.

When they are ready to go to university, let them switch to other majors that are easier to earn money, such as interior design, animation, game interaction, and civil engineering.

Even the sketch professor on the stage is famous for his rigidity and seriousness among Dulwich teachers.

After the freshness of the initial improvement class, the students in the big classroom still couldn't help but fish.

There was an atmosphere of drowsiness in the air, and many people's heads were bit by bit, trying hard to fight against the heavy eyelids.

A girl with braided hair put her arms on her cheeks and held a pen in her hand. She struggled to raise her head, but her eyelids were glued together and she was snoring softly.

A few boys who found the class really boring simply gathered together in the back row of the classroom, rubbing the glass of their mobile phones to play the online mobile game "Fortnite".

"Humph!"

Professor Vatel, with curly hair and a shape resembling the golden-haired lion king in Mr. Jin Yong's martial arts novels, glanced dissatisfiedly at the audience.

He found that if he continued speaking so dryly, he would hypnotize everyone in the classroom.

"Such an important content about the school recruitment fair is not good to listen to!"

Professor Vatter was a little bit annoyed.

He originally wanted to do a lion's roar, roaring to wake up these little bastards, but he sighed again.

"never mind."

It's already the graduation season of the 13th grade, and many of the students who are doing it are already adults.

I don't want to work hard, and he, a professor and a villain, has no meaning.

"Good words are hard to persuade, damn it."

Except for a few good kids in the classroom, Professor Vatel doesn't expect these low-achieving students to apply to good schools and earn himself an excellent teacher bonus.

Get out of school in a hundred days at most.

If you don't want to hear it, just ask for blessings!
I thought so,
After all, Professor Vatel is a teacher with good ethics and a sense of responsibility.

He hesitated for a moment, stopped talking dryly about the notes in the portfolio on the blackboard, and prepared to change to something more interesting.

"Okay, let's talk about the interview at the school recruitment fair. In previous years, the examiner would ask some questions about art history during the interview. For example, he would give you a painting and ask you to tell his story. Origin, creation background, collection history and so on. Or let you tell the story of the works of famous painters you like.”

Professor Vatel turned on his laptop and brought up the projector.

"It's useless to grind your guns in front of the battle. It needs to rely on daily accumulation. There are still a few months to go, and I will try to memorize a painting every morning and evening."

"Everyone is a professional art student. They are not ordinary people, so don't expect the examiners to ask you simple exam questions like "Mona Lisa" and "Night Watch."

"Let's do a few questions to familiarize yourself, and test your knowledge reserve by the way. These works are all classic paintings that were taught in school before, let's see how many of them you remember?"

Vettel used the touchpad to open the electronic album in the computer, and picked through the dazzling array of painting atlases for a while.

In the end he chose a portrait of a woman in a red silk coat, a hoop necklace around her neck, and a yellow gold floral accessory tied in the center of her forehead with a thin headband.

"Come on, can any of you tell me the specific information about this work, the more detailed the better."

"Miss Koko?"

Vettel stepped off the podium, and lightly tapped the desk of the sleeping little braided girl with the end of a chalk.

"Your face is almost stained like a little tabby cat by the ink from the nib."

"What?"

Kou Kou woke up from her sweet afternoon dream and straightened up in horror.

She turned her head, and then casually pulled a pencil case from the girl's desk next to her.

Kou Kou moved her face closer, and took a look at her face with the metal surface inside the pencil case, which was as smooth as a mirror.

Finding that the skin was as white and tender as freshly peeled egg whites, Kou Kou bared her teeth and said happily, "What, I scared my sister to death."

"Miss Koko! This is class! Why did you go last night?" Vettel's tone rose, very dissatisfied, feeling that his anger gauge was about to be filled.

"Ah, oh...Professor, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Kou Kou finally woke up from the daze.

She suddenly remembered that she was in class, and immediately stood up and apologized to Professor Vatel.

"A big French food blogger made puffs live on tiktok last night. The popularity was very high. I followed suit. I didn't expect it to be time-consuming, and it was a bit late. Sorry, professor, but I made it It tastes good, why don't you eat one to calm your breath."

While Kou Kou was talking, she really pulled out a plastic food box with a sticker of a coffee cat from the desk under the desk, and handed it to Professor Vatel pitifully.

There was a burst of laughter in the classroom.

Professor Vatter was also amused.

Looking at the small lunch box that the girl handed over, I wanted to lose my temper, but I couldn't.

Miss Kou Kou has this advantage.

She is the type who accepts humbly and never changes after repeated admonitions.

Skateboarding in the hallway, painting coffee cats and graffiti of the puppy named Milu in "The Adventures of Tintin" on the wall... Kou Kou is a little expert who violates school rules and disciplines on the Dulwich campus, and also has a strong influence on the student union. President Mona's discipline is simply dismissive.

But whenever she is caught by the teacher for violating discipline, Kou Kou never speaks up, and has a very good attitude of admitting mistakes.

While apologizing, he looked at the teacher pitifully with big eyes full of water.

Teacher Feng Ji couldn't bear to punish her too harshly.

Anyway, it wasn't a principled mistake, the girl apologized so sincerely, the teacher raised his hand and let her go.

rest assured,

As soon as she disappeared from under the teacher's nose, she would definitely go back to her old ways immediately.

"You."

Professor Vatel shook his head, "Forget it, next time I have to go to bed and sleep in the back, don't get in the way in front of my eyes. Now, since I stand up, answer my question, you can recognize the origin of the painting on the projector ?"

"Uh, professor... let me think about it."

Kou Kou sniffled, feeling that the portrait on the projector looked familiar, but couldn't remember the exact origin for a while.

"It seems to be called 'Beautiful Mrs. What', I think it should be the work of Leonardo da Vinci, probably this."

Kou Kou said hesitantly.

"Yes, you can remember that this is Da Vinci's work." Professor Vettel said half-sarcastically and half-jokingly, "At least I didn't go to the Academy of Fine Arts in vain."

"In the school recruitment interview, if you can tell the full name of 'that Mrs. blah blah', I might give you a three. Now, I can only give you a one or two. That means failed."

"Failure means you may lose the offer."

"Sorry, professor, I really can't remember." Kou Kou stuck out her tongue.

"Well, in order to prevent our Miss Koko from going to college. Gentlemen present, is there anyone willing to lend a helping hand?" The professor glanced at everyone.

The classroom was silent for a few seconds.

When Professor Vatel has begun to feel very disappointed.

A voice came from the back row: ""The Beautiful Madame Ferronnier" is considered to be a work practiced by Da Vinci in the Milan studio. The excessive light and shadow and the arc on the corners of the woman's lips are similar to those of "Mona Lisa". ", so it is also speculated by some people in the academic circles as the predecessor of "Mona Lisa."

"Bingo! Very good, this is the answer I want. By the way, I am also very impressed with the sketch assignments you hand in every time. Mr. Gu." Only then did Professor Vatel show a satisfied expression on his face. he praised.

"Miss Koko, congratulations, you can sit down now. Gu Weijing, is there anything else you can add?"

the professor asked with a smile.

Kou Kou flicked her braids, glanced at the back of the classroom inexplicably, and sat down on her seat.

After thinking for a while, Gu Weijing in the back row continued to add: "There are still disputes about the identity of the portrait owner of this painting and whether it is the authentic work of Leonardo da Vinci. It was once the royal family of King Louis XIV of France. At that time, he also ordered someone to paint a copy, which is currently in the Chambery Art Museum. Now the original painting is in the Abu Dhabi National Art Museum, which is commonly known as Abu Dhabi. Louvre."

"Perfect! 5 points, this is an unquestionable 5-point answer, and even the inheritance has been said, it's perfect. Let's give Gu Weijing a little applause."

Professor Vatel made no secret of his satisfaction, and clapped his hands lightly.

"Come on, Gu Weijing, keep working hard, even if you are not selected by Mrs. Cruz to participate in her genius improvement class, I still think that if anyone here has the potential to be admitted to the top [-] prestigious schools in the QS art category If you are admitted, then it is you."

Professor Vatel returned to the podium and pressed the Enter key.

The detailed information of "The Beautiful Madame Ferronnier" appeared on the screen of the projector, including the creator, year of creation, school of art and the museum to which the modern collection belongs.

It is exactly as Gu Weijing said.

"I have nothing more to say about this painting, so let's move on to the next one..."

Sitting alone at the back of the classroom, Gu Weijing noticed that many people were looking at him with surprised eyes.

They were whispering quietly.

"Wow, a robot, it can remember all this, true or false."

"Nerd."

"Are you jealous? Professor Vettel said that he might be able to apply to the top [-] prestigious schools."

"The professor just encourages you like that. If you really lose, you didn't listen to what the seniors and sisters said. There is not a recommendation letter with enough weight to open the way. The interviewers from top prestigious schools don't bother to read your portfolio. Yes, idiots are talking about dreams."

……

Gu Weijing shook his head expressionlessly.

In fact, if Professor Vatel asked about other works, he should be able to answer the name, creator and painting school, which is already good enough.

He was able to come up with such a perfect answer, there really was something of a coincidence in it.

Gu Weijing saw that Professor Vatel seemed to be immersed in the courseware, and he didn't intend to ask any questions, so he inserted a wireless earphone into his left ear.

He took out his mobile phone, opened the official homepage of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and clicked on the most prominent promotional video.

"The Louvre Abu Dhabi - a 30-year great adventure unprecedented in the history of art, the largest overseas cultural project in the history of France, and the dream-seeking heart of the Arab world."

Accompanied by a symphony soundtrack.

The video starts playing.

The grand steel-woven building comes into view. This is a museum that was built at a cost of nearly [-] billion U.S. dollars from the bird's-eye view of the aerial camera on the photography helicopter.

The museum was designed by Jean Nouvel, a famous contemporary architect and winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The building above the water was inspired by a lagoon island called Saadiyat Island at the junction of the ocean and the desert.

The overall shape looks very similar to the combination of Dongxia's Bird's Nest and the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre.

After a few seconds of overhead view.

The four-color flag of the United Arab Emirates and the tricolor flag of the French government first emerged on the screen, as well as the official name of the museum in Arabic and French [Arabic:, French: Louvre Abou Dabi].

Then a brief black screen.

It was as if an invisible pen was swiping on the screen, and a new text emerged with golden lacquer-like cursive letters——【Manac'h Gallery】

"Ma Shi Gallery, the pioneer of modern art gallery industry, the cradle of artists."

"Damon Clarkson, Vidic Bullitt, Leonard Frank..."

The video began to look like opening a physical album, turning over the portraits of artists and pictures of their representative works page by page.

The pioneer of the modern gallery industry, this title is a bit of a bragging element of Ma Shi Gallery.

However, it is undeniable that this grand gallery with a long history had a very glorious history.

Many of the names flashing on the screen are famous artists in the history of modern and contemporary art.Everyone who studies art will bow his head in awe in front of such a bright list of stars.

It’s a bit of a fly in the ointment. If someone plays it in slow motion at 0.5x speed, and takes a closer look at the time when these great painters joined Ma Shi Gallery, they will find that a large number of them are concentrated in the eighties and 90s.

That was the most star-studded day of the Marsh Gallery.

After the turn of the millennium, there are only a few sporadic representatives of first- and second-tier famous painters.

The screen finally freezes on the name [Deke Allen].

"This summer, Abu Dhabi, the inventor of modern art galleries, will redefine modern art for you."

Subtitles flow through.

The drums of the symphony began to become high-pitched and passionate, and when the pianist struck the thunderous drums in the bass area, a new line of text appeared on the screen.

"Louvre Abu Dhabi, Deckard Allen Solo Art Exhibition."

"Let modern art start again!"

The video came to an end immediately, and began to jump out of the ticket booking channel, detailed information such as the exhibition time of the individual art exhibition.

"That's great!" Gu Weijing sighed in his heart and clenched his fist slightly.

In the past week, he has watched this video countless times, but every time he played it, Gu Weijing felt his blood throbbing and his heart beating like a drum, and he was so excited that he couldn't control himself.

What would it be like for a painter to nakedly analyze his deepest dream without hiding anything?
The answer may be clichéd.

Artists are human beings, and they do nothing more than make money, win prizes, and open art exhibitions.

If you ask what is the ultimate dream?
Then, the answer might become——

Make a lot of money and sell works for [-] million dollars;
Win big prizes, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale;

Open a huge art exhibition, let the Louvre hold a personal art exhibition for him.

This is the highest honor in the art world.

If one or two of these three items can be collected, the British may be buried in Westminster Abbey, and the French may be buried in half a century. The remains were moved to the Pantheon.

Being able to hold an art exhibition in the Louvre is no easier than selling a work of art for [-] million dollars.

Uncle Sakai has sold more than [-] million US dollars in cumulative sales of his works, and he dare not say that he will have the opportunity to hold an art exhibition in the Louvre in his lifetime.

Admittedly,

There is still a big difference between this Louvre and the Louvre in France.

But don't take the village chief as a cadre.

The 985 campus is also 985, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi is also the Louvre.

This is not a knockoff.

In order to cooperate with France, the royal family of the United Arab Emirates injected enough cultural symbols into the new museum in its capital to attract the attention of the world.

People's museums can also engage in joint names.

Simply in order to be able to use the name "Louvre", the United Arab Emirates paid France [-] million euros for the joint name fee alone.

I didn't buy it yet,
Just to rent the right to use for the next 30 years.

Who dares to say that the Louvre Abu Dhabi is not the Louvre?Even if you ask the French government, they will not give the second official answer.

Minus the "Louvre" gimmick.

The museum itself is also the most modern, grandest and most eye-catching art center on the Arabian Peninsula.

The scale of the exhibits may not be comparable to that of the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in France.But looking at the world, there is no doubt that if you can't rank in the top ten, you can rank in the top [-] or top [-].

Da Vinci's famous painting, rent!

Classic portrait of Napoleon on a prancing horse, rent!

Van Gogh's self-portrait, rent!

All of Mondrian's most classic geometric paintings are rented to Lao Tzu!
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is probably the strangest art museum in the world.

The academic circles describe an institution like the British Museum as a robbery-style collection where a group of armed robbers broke into other people's homes and looted all the artwork.

Even in the 21st century, it has an imperial background that is difficult to wash away.

With a piece of cloth on their heads, the richest oil tycoons in the world have created an unprecedented way to open a museum.

Talk with money, if you can buy it, buy it at a high price.

Are you willing to sell a national treasure?It doesn't matter if you don't want to sell it, then we will rent it at a high price.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi was just put into operation in 2017, and now it has a collection of famous paintings.

It is an extremely noble honor for all the famous painters in the world to hold a personal art exhibition in an exhibition hall with so many masters.

Gu Weijing took out a leaflet printed on coated paper from the textbook.

【Deckard Allen, Acting Artist of Mashi Gallery - "Meditations on History" (Personal Art Exhibition of Thinking on History)】

【2023.5.9-2023.7.9】

The promotional pages are extremely beautifully printed, and are stitched together in black and white and color.

An invisible dividing line splits the main exhibition hall of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and there are two figures with their backs facing each other standing on one left and one on the right.

Standing on the black and white side is an old man with messy hair in a bulky linen jacket and long-leg pantyhose.

This kind of dress was the most common dress of Italian men during the Renaissance, and this old man represents Da Vinci.

The middle-aged man standing sideways in the color photo on the right is naturally the current head artist of Mashi Gallery, Deck Allen.

There are two picture frames on the leaflet,
In front of Leonardo da Vinci is precisely the treasure of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, "The Beautiful Madame Ferronnier" mentioned by Professor Vatel.

The oil painting frame in front of Deck Allen was covered with a mysterious brown velvet cloth.

This very well-designed promotional page with a solemn atmosphere like a religious ceremony is a gift from the boss of Ma Shi III to Gu Weijing through his agent Hanks.

Mashi Gallery and Louvre Abu Dhabi have a long-term strategic partnership.

From May to July this year, just after the end of Ramadan, Mashi Gallery will hold a personal art exhibition for its leading artist.

If Gu Weijing can win an award at the Lion City Art Exhibition.

next year,

Ma Shi Gallery will give this opportunity to Gu Weijing.

At the age of 19, he held his own personal art exhibition in the Louvre,
unprecedented!

(End of this chapter)