Almighty painter

Chapter 709: The Attacking Sloth and the Attacking Cat (Part )

Its source is not a forum post.

The original text is a paper published on the "Art-reaserch" website, which was reposted by the publisher to the discussion forum.

"Art-reaserch" is a pre-printing and pre-publication platform for papers specializing in art, similar to "arXiv" in the fields of computer science and physics.

Its advantage is high efficiency.

Post as you write.

There is no threshold for publishing papers on this platform. There is no editorial review, and no need for any peer review.

The disadvantage is that there is no threshold and anyone can publish a paper on it, so the quality of the articles is naturally mixed, with good and bad articles varying greatly, and fraud is rampant.

In the minds of many researchers, in addition to academic discussions, preprint websites have another major function, which is to grab "ideas" - establish the priority of scientific research discoveries and timestamp the published results.

When Gu Weijing was writing this paper, he had an argument with Katsuko Sakai.

Katsuko Sakai suggested that it was just speculation anyway.

Instead, they speculated that "Old Church in a Thunderstorm" was a painting of "Carla", the hostess of the unnamed studio who was mentioned once in Monet's collection of letters.

It would be better to attribute this painting directly to Monet's wife "Camille".

The spelling of the names Camille and Carol is very similar.

In the late 1870s, Monet and her family traveled to Asia several times, and since they visited Tokyo, it is also very likely that they occasionally went to Rangoon, which was an important colonial hub for Britain at the time, on vacation.

Just right.

Camille's hair is also light red in color.

Anyway, just scratch the lottery ticket randomly, one has a face value of 50 and the other has a face value of 500 million.

Naturally, you would choose the one with the largest denomination and the most famous one.

From the moment the merchant Schliemann dug the first pottery jar out of the ground, he shouted in the newspaper that he had found Troy.

Was it he who dug the Trojan horse out of the ground?

No.

It was because he had been looking for Troy. Since no one knew the origin of this ancient city, he had to find a name that would attract the world's attention and put it on the name.

Gu Weijing rejected Sakai Katsuko's suggestion.

If he doesn't mention this point of view, then don't blame others for stepping up to take it.

The June 6 issue of the journal Asian Art just published an article about the forgotten Carroll.

It’s only the end of the month and new papers are starting to be written.

It is definitely not enough time to write a formal paper, but it is not difficult to simply write a manuscript on a pre-print website and get a position as the "first person to publish an opinion".

"Camille, the Muse who was deliberately taken away."

"For a long time, the art world has been a male-dominated industry, and the role played by women, especially female artists, has always been ignored by society... We all know that there are many prestigious universities that only officially recognized the "identity" of women's art colleges in the late 1970s... Even famous schools like Cambridge..."

"It was the 1970s, not the 1870s. Men had landed on the moon, but women couldn't get a diploma with an art degree... Armstrong said, 'This is a small step for me, but a giant leap for mankind. So, when will women really take this giant leap for mankind?'"

"And a hundred years ago, the protagonist of the article, Camille, was undoubtedly another case of her personal contribution being embezzled and exploited by her husband..."

Anna opened a notebook on the side.

She browsed again the "paper" that she had added to her favorites.

Katsuko Sakai is right.

The discovery of an undiscovered female Impressionist painter was groundbreaking news in the academic world.

And if a well-known figure like Monet's wife Camille is the undiscovered "first female Impressionist", then the sensation will be doubled.

The level of attention it attracts in the academic field is truly groundbreaking.

And if - the writer adds that Camille's obscurity is due to her artistic contributions being "swallowed up and exploited" by her husband Monet, then this is an eye-catching title.

Oh well.

This is something that cannot be covered by the word "earth-shattering".

It is not even covered by the term "academic journalism".

It suddenly changed from major academic news to major social news.

This reprinted paper post on the "Oil Painting" forum has a "TOP" sign at the end.

This means that among all the discussion posts in the current forum counted in real time by the background, it is the post with the most replies in the past 24 hours.

The article has been covered with hundreds of replies, which can be stretched out into dozens of pages.

Anyone who subscribes to Oil Painting magazine through the official website will receive a forum qualification "activation KEY" upon purchase.

Almost anyone who works in art-related fields will subscribe to Oil Painting magazine, just like anyone who works in fashion-related fields will subscribe to a copy of VOUGE.

It is a must-have reference book in the industry.

Even a stingy person like Old Man Gu has made a reservation, so the identities of the forum members are also varied.

In this post, the identity verification provided by the users who replied includes not only researchers.

Many people outside the academic circle were attracted and rushed in to watch the show.

"What a surprize! If this news is true, then the sensation caused by this painting "Old Cathedral in a Thunderstorm" should be greater than that of Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" in 2017, right?" - A person with the identity of "Senior Art Consultant of Melk Auction Company" left a message in reply.

"This time, the game is so fierce!"

"First, the lost works of Leonardo da Vinci were discovered. Now, the lost works of Monet's wife have been discovered... What's next? According to this routine, in a few years, someone will claim to have found a painting by Jesus himself, and start selling relics and calling for the Holy Spirit to descend."

The avatar is a 2D subscriber said.

"Who knows what will be summoned? A bunch of fake painters? Seriously, is there no one stepping up to take care of this kind of thing? A boring painting can be sold for a sky-high price by simply putting the name of Leonardo da Vinci or Monet's wife on it. The money in this industry is so easy to make, but how many years can you make it for? Doing this is shaking the foundation of the entire industry!" - A user who is authenticated as an in-service review editor of "Art Review" replied sharply to the art consultant who left the original message.

"Now even Sakai Kazunari's daughter is going to start earning this money?"

“I haven’t read the original paper in Asian Art yet, so I won’t comment on it for now. Take this paper reposted on the forum for example… It made me physically uncomfortable, and I don’t feel that its views are convincing at all.” - Anonymous user “Jacky” answered.

"Women were once considered unsuitable for artistic creation. Society believed that architecture and painting were exclusively male fields. Universities refused to award degrees to female students, and women's colleges were not recognized by Cambridge until the 1970s. Even for a long time, French critics refused to acknowledge the professionalism of female painters... Which of these is false? Does telling the truth make you feel physically uncomfortable? You make me feel physically uncomfortable."

Someone seemed to be irritated by "Jacky"'s answer.

……

“I don’t like this paper. It doesn’t mean that I am a male chauvinist. On the contrary, I encourage women to fight for the rights they deserve, but I still don’t like this paper. For academic purposes, this paper is not qualified.”

Dr. Gustav also expressed his views.

"That is a purely emotional article. Yes, we must admit that for a long time, women's contributions have been ignored in the field of art research. Yes, the European art world did not accept women's participation for a long time. Yes, university art departments did not accept female students for a long time. This is a fact. Monet claimed that he loved Camille deeply, but he got married immediately after Camille died. This is also a fact."

"The academic community needs to re-examine the role of female painters in history and attach importance to gender equality, so that both men and women can enjoy the same professional status and development prospects. There is nothing wrong with these things. Even the article says that Monet is a scumbag, which may not be wrong. But these things cannot prove that Monet embezzled his wife's artistic contribution... This is a very, very, very serious accusation. It cannot be proved by expressing emotions... If this was a paper written by my student, I would be ashamed of it... In comparison, I think the two authors of the article in Asian Art are still children."

"They obviously performed better. At least in terms of academic norms, I didn't see any problems. At least it was a serious paper. There are already too many people expressing their emotions. Professional researchers should make professional judgments."

Dr. Gustav concluded triumphantly.

"What's the difference? The basis for their judgment is nothing more than a missionary's diary, whose authenticity is unknown, and a line of words in Monet's letter. Is there any difference between guessing it's Kara and guessing it's Camille? They are just a group of greedy people, talking nonsense."

Immediately, someone refuted Gustav from below.

"Is this the same thing? They are all guesses, and we can't make outrageous guesses. Creative people can always see through the truth of things from the tiniest gaps, as Keats said! I think Gu Weijing's guess is very close to the truth of the matter. It is normal to have unsolved mysteries. We can't just make conspiracy theories or shocking guesses. Otherwise, if you want me to guess, I would guess that this Carol is Ms. K. from Oil Painting magazine. Wouldn't that attract more attention... Didn't Ms. Elena just mention in her speech that she had a painter ancestor..." - said user "Yang".

……

In a hotel suite.

Anna's eyes lingered for a moment on the reply from the handsome, melancholy young poet on the screen, and her eyebrows blinked.

Oh.

Do not misunderstand.

This user has no professional identity verification.

His username is “Handsome and melancholy young poet·YANG”, and his current profile picture is British movie star Jamie Dornan.

Thanks to the fact that when the forum page of "Oil Painting" was written, a sufficient number of bytes were allowed for the user name to accommodate such a long user name.

This user is a rare one in the forum who directly stands on the side of Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko.

See the number of recent replies.

Ever since the paper attracted discussion and attention, this "YANG" has been passionately exchanging arguments with others online, sometimes casually quoting Keats's English poems between the lines, and sometimes inserting one or two ethical jokes.

He called himself a "handsome and melancholy young poet".

The profile picture is not your own.

It’s hard to say whether he is depressed or not, but he does look quite schizophrenic.

Miss Anna's eyes paused for a moment on "Ms. K.", then she closed the notebook.

She closed her eyes.

Concentrate and meditate.

What changed the woman's mind was not only the butler's concern for her safety, but also the words "Your whereabouts will not be a secret."

Yes, the interview schedule for Oil Painting magazine is all open to the public.

Her private jet was also watched by paparazzi.

If Miss Elena suddenly flew to Yangon, it would not be difficult for anyone who wanted to know about it.

The old butler was worried that those people with ulterior motives who sent threatening letters to the manor would find out about this.

What Anna was worried about was that the authors of the paper, Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko, as well as the person with ulterior motives behind the paper (if any), knew about it.

It sounds a bit confusing.

The internal logic is very simple and straightforward.

Based on the current information, Anna is not sure whether the paper is true or not.

After reading this paper, Mr. Liu thought it was a great coincidence that he was about to participate in the art exhibition, and this paper was published "just in time".

His first reaction was that this was a trap set by Gu Weijing for Mr. Cao, so he had to remind the teacher.

It is better to kill ten thousand people by mistake than to let one go. No matter whether there is evidence or not, as long as he thinks it is false, it is enough.

Our own sect cannot take such a risk.

Wouldn't Miss Elena have such concerns?

Kara's existence, her resume, her life... all of these are scars that the Elena family is unwilling to touch.

It was buried deep for a century and a half, but the staff at the manor, those former secret friends of the family.

If they really wanted to dig deeper, they might not be able to find out any clues.

What if this painting, all of this - was a fake designed for Elena's family?
Miss Irina had just revealed the identity of "Ms. K." to the world at the European Art Annual Conference in May, and immediately in June this paper appeared before the eyes of women.

The writer seems very "simple" to infer Carroll's identity as the hostess of an unknown studio on the banks of the Seine, rather than the more famous Camille or Cassat.

There are two possibilities.

One is that they are all pure art researchers who are not moved by monetary interests and say what they think.

another kind.

They already knew something.

They are…greedier than anyone else.

If this is really the painting that Kara left behind at the end of the world, how much is it worth?

It is difficult to put monetary value on how much this painting means to Anna.

Could it be a scam set up by someone with deliberate intent?

There are no impervious walls in the world.

Some people in the industry have a sharper nose than a dog. For example, someone on the forum casually linked "Carol" and "Ms. K."

They may have said it casually.

Could it be that these two paper writers did not do this unintentionally, and that they had some other conspiracy behind them? Or, even if it was not for money, it was for fame, or even simply to please themselves.

For her as "Anna".

She is sensual and pure.

Anna wanted the paper to be true more than anyone else. The moment she saw the picture of "Old Church in a Thunderstorm" on the paper, she intuitively believed that the painting was true.

For her, the head of the Irina family and the largest private shareholder of Oil Painting magazine.

Miss Elena must consider everything as carefully as possible.

Anna's heart was full of hope, but she also understood clearly that for many things in this world, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Liu Ziming hopes that Mr. Cao’s school of thought will be pure, without any impurities in it.

How often does Miss Elena hope that what happened to Grandma Kara is pure and without any impurities in it?
precisely.

She herself is the most crucial person who can influence the direction of events, and her attitude is even the biggest "impurity".

"It's really Schrödinger's cat." Anna said softly in her heart.

Schrödinger's cat is trapped in Schrödinger's box. Before the box is opened, the cat is in a superposition state of both life and death.

The same box was also placed in front of Miss Anna.

The "cat" in the box is in a superposition state of being both real and fake.

When Anna went to open the box, she hoped it was real, then there would be a fat cat in the box, holding its tail and blinking its eyes, looking at it.

She thought it was fake.

This box will contain a ball of air.

Therefore.

Anna became cautious about opening the box.

Her heart was in turmoil, but she said nothing at the airport. She did not even try to contact Gu Weijing and Sakai Katsuko through the mailing address on the paper, like Dr. Gustav did.

She first collected a lot of relevant information and decided to go to Yangon by herself to take a look at the church at its original site.

Even Elliot was not informed of these decisions.

You know, Miss Elliott is the "working secretary" in charge of these things.

It's not that Miss Elena suspected that the news was leaked by the female secretary, but Anna subconsciously still felt that when dealing with such an important matter, the butler was more trustworthy.

But now.

Flying to Yangon, she realized, would still be too conspicuous.

If this paper was really written to "please Anna", then when she flew, anyone with ulterior motives would know that she had been hooked.

How to do it?

Half a minute later.

Anna opened her eyes.

"Go ahead, Adrar, you're right. I do want to fly to Yangon, but I can wait until the day when there are no interviews during the exhibition. This time should be enough to prepare a security team."

She nodded to the housekeeper.

"A wise choice." Mr. Adrar breathed a sigh of relief.

"August looks like his neck is a bit uncomfortable. Stop using the nylon one and change it to a woven one," the woman ordered.

“Also, please ask the editorial department of Asian Art when they first received the submission related to the paper. Please be precise to the specific date. Then give me a copy of the different versions of the paper.”

The butler did not ask stupid questions like "What if Asian Art is unwilling to disclose the news?"

No need.

As a journal and magazine company headquartered in Switzerland, they had no reason to reject the small request of Elena's family.

If we go back a century, the Irene family was the masters of the European art world.

This would be even easier than getting August a new knitted collar.

"Understood. Prepare the plane, set up a security team, change August's collar, and... send an email to the office of Asian Art. I will do everything one by one."

The butler nodded.

He said good night.

"and many more."

When he was about to leave, Miss Elena called him from behind.

"Thank you, Adrar, this reminds me of the old days," Anna said softly.

"Me too, miss. This is my job."

Mr. Butler smiled.

He pushed open the door and walked out.

After the sound of the door closing, Anna picked up the paper at hand again and looked at the photo of Katsuko Sakai next to it.

"Ah."

The woman made up her mind, before the formal meeting——

She will attack in the form of Mr. Sloth.

Before Miss Elena opens the box in her hand, the sloth will use her little paw to poke a small hole in the packaging... to see if there is a cat inside.

Meow!--
"Meow!"

Singapore Changi International Airport, Monday, July 2023, 7.

The second Monday in July.

The opening ceremony of the Singapore Biennale just ended this morning, but Lao Yang did not show up at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.

Lao Yang once again arrived at the international airport with a dangling belly.

Instead of going to the VIP channel, he found a seat in the airport pick-up area, put a large cardboard next to him, took out a foldable screen mobile phone from his arms, and folded it with a "snap".

Lao Yang first looked at his appearance today on the screen. After he was satisfied, he opened the "Oil Painting" APP on the left half of the phone, opened WeChat Reading on the right, and selected a book "The Source of Humor by Will Rogers" to continue reading.

He was eagerly repairing his broken soul of jokes.

While he was passionately arguing with others online with his fingers flying.

From time to time, he would look up and glance at the international airport's flight take-off and landing time and price schedule.

Three threads operate simultaneously.

So slippery!

Just after 3:00 p.m., a Lion Air passenger plane had just landed and taxied into its berth.

Lao Yang stretched, put his phone back in his pocket, picked up the large sign next to him with "Artist Gu Weijing" written in both Chinese and English, and trotted into the airport reception channel.

This point.

There are not many passengers in channel numbered 3C. Passengers in business class and first class can get off the plane first, and the person you are going to pick up should come out soon.

as predicted.

Not long after, the sounds of dragging suitcases and trotting leather shoes could be heard from the corridor, and shouts of "Hey, hey, hey" could be heard.

So eager?

Old Yang laughed secretly in his heart.

"It seems that even though he is late, he is still anxious to see our Brother Yang!"

Lao Yang took a deep breath, waved the sign, and prepared to step forward to extend the warmest greetings and welcome.

then.

He saw a fat cat walking in a very slow manner, with its tail raised, strolling out from the airport corridor.

(End of this chapter)