golden ear

Chapter 57 Dying struggle?

"Thank you all the big bosses for coming to this private party today, I..."

Just when everyone arrived and Xie Rongcheng was about to say a few opening remarks, suddenly the boss Zhou interrupted loudly: "Old Xie, we are all busy, hurry up and get out the painting!"

"That's right, your reputation is not as good as before! If it wasn't for Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty, I wouldn't have time to come to you."

Xie Rongcheng was embarrassed for a while, and felt very sad, a phoenix that lost its hair is not as good as a chicken!But with a smile on his face, he said: "No problem, I won't waste everyone's time, thank God, let everyone have a look at the three paintings!"

More than a dozen people gathered around and carefully studied the treasures that Xie Rongcheng claimed to have collected for many years.No one is stupid, Xie's situation is not good now, Xie Rongcheng is also considered a senior collector, no one will believe that he has no private goods.

Wen Zhengming is a big name, and his authentic works are rarely circulated in the market, and once they are put up for auction, they are worth tens of millions.If you can receive one, you will definitely have face, so everyone brings people to participate.

"Boss, this is Wen Zhengming's intention to write plum blossoms! Inscription: Imitation of Mei Daoren's pen, Zhengming. Bell seal: Wen Zhengming's seal, Zhengzhong. A rare treasure."

"There is also this collection seal, which is the private collection of Xu Bingyi, a great collector in the Qing Dynasty. It is definitely an orderly inheritance."

Hu Jianmin saw a calligraphy scroll at a glance, and excitedly studied it with Song Lao.This is Wen Zhengming's running script West Lake in 1551.

"Mr. Song, do you see?"

Hu Jianmin was excited. Wen Zhengming was one of the four great talents of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also good at calligraphy.

"I think it's true! Both the inscription and the feeling are right, especially the Yulantang Appreciation Medal: Cao Zhenghui's style is Lu Zai, Shuyuan, and Mo Youzhi's book seal."

Song Lao was also very excited. He took out the seal rubbings saved in his mobile phone and compared them carefully. The more he looked, the more certain he became.

"Here is also a picture of Song Xu's visit to friends in Yun'an, which is his 78-year-old masterpiece. The bell seal: Song Xu's seal, from Shimen Mountain."

Several senior experts were discussing together, and the bosses were eager to try it. The authentic works of the Ming Dynasty are absolutely rare. A calligraphy and painting can pass through the vicissitudes of more than 700 years, and it has been handed down to this day. Whoever collects it is a great fate and blessing.

"I think it's true, the inheritance is orderly!"

"There is no doubt about the authenticity!"

"Mr. Song, do you see?"

Elder Song read it again, nodded, and said sternly, "I haven't found any flaws either, and I personally prefer the authentic one."

Xie Rongcheng looked at the people present and felt a sense of relief in his heart. As expected of Tan Jingfang, he even deceived several appraisers from the Forbidden City back then, not to mention you half-assed ones!

"Boy, can you see?"

Wu Tianyuan saw that all eyes were on him. He has become famous recently, and everyone present knew the grievances between him and Mrs. Xie.Since you are here, can you not talk about it?
Xie Rongcheng looked at Wu Tianyuan with disdain, and this time he was very confident. He asked Hu Jianmin to predict that Wu Tianyuan might come.But this time happened to be a good opportunity for revenge. Tan Jingfang was so perfect that even if he was beaten to death, he wouldn't be able to find any flaws!

Even if he couldn't slap his face in public, he would be very happy to see his nemesis Wu Tianyuan slapped his eyes and cheated Hu Jianmin out of tens of millions.

"Brother Wu, tell me?"

Wu Tianyuan looked at Xie Rongcheng's sincere expression, and asked: "They are all old paintings, do you know they are from Boss Xie's collection?"

"Of course, I, Xie Rongcheng, can be considered an experienced collector. I got these three authentic works of the Ming Dynasty in my early years, and they have always been the most cherished collections. If there is not something wrong with the Xie family, I probably won't come out in my life!"

The people present looked at Xie Rongcheng's reluctance, and they believed even more firmly in their hearts. It is common for business turnover to fail.Even the Six Great Collectors of the Republic of China, who were all-powerful in the past, were not accepted. It is normal when they want to sell their collections.

"That's a pity for these three Tan Jingfangs!"

After Wu Tianyuan got the answer he wanted, he laughed loudly and said, as long as you dare to admit it yourself, you will die without a place to bury you!
"What? Tan Jingfang?"

"You said it was Tan Jingfang?"

Everyone was shocked, especially the expert who confirmed the authenticity, his face changed drastically, and he hurriedly re-confirmed.But this time, no one questioned Wu Tianyuan for the first time. It seemed that he had begun to gain his own prestige.

Xie Rongcheng stared at Wu Tianyuan in disbelief, tremblingly said: "Don't talk nonsense! What Tan Jingfang? Don't listen to him!"

Wu Tianyuan smiled lightly, and slowly said: "Tan Jing, whose name is He'an, and whose name is Quzhai. His ancestor was one of the famous Thirteen Banks in Guangzhou. He mainly engaged in overseas trade. He has been in business for decades and became a rich man in Shanghai. .”

"From 1939 to 1949, in this short period of 10 years, Tan Jing grew up from a newcomer in the business world to a master collector in Shanghai, standing shoulder to shoulder with old famous collectors such as Pang Laichen, Wu Hufan, Zhang Heng, and collected many historical records. masterpiece."

"This is due to three points: first, due to continuous wars and social turmoil, collectors began to ship goods continuously for their livelihood; second, Tan Jing's business went smoothly and he was rich and powerful; third, he received great help from Mr. He has long eyes, and because of the influence of Zhang Heng, Tan Jing's collection also focuses on Song and Yuan calligraphy and paintings."

"On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in 1947, Tan Jing, the leading collector in Shanghai at that time, approached Tang An, a famous counterfeiter, and asked him to make a copy of Zhao Mengfu's "Shuangsong Pingyuan Picture" collected by Yuan Dynasty. The two hit it off, so Tan Jing provided the venue. And led by Tang An, Xu Zhao, Zheng Zhuyou, Hu Jing, Wang Chaoqun and other people were organized, all of whom were the most outstanding counterfeiters in Shanghai, and started the most famous calligraphy and painting counterfeiting activity in modern history."

As Wu Tianyuan introduced Tan Jing, Xie Rongcheng's face became paler and paler. Seeing that everyone present was attracted by Wu Tianyuan, he quickly scolded: "You said it was Tan Jingfang? What evidence is there?"

Xie Tian hid behind his father, seeing Wu Tianyuan's confident look, and the warning just now, he felt even more nervous, and couldn't even speak.

"Brother Wu, although we have all seen your eyesight, we still have to have real evidence, right?"

"Yes, do you have evidence for what you said?"

Naturally, several experts who confirmed the authenticity couldn't admit that they drilled holes, and they all stood up and asked Wu Tianyuan to reveal the flaws.

"I have read many memoirs introducing Tan Jing. Chen Julai, a Shanghai seal carver who was acquainted with Tang An at that time, exposed many of Tang An's falsifications in his "According to Characters" and pointed out that there are three types of Tang An's fake antiques. The first one is the seal. The fake ones include those of Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Bohu, Qiu Ying and other four great masters of the Wu School in the Ming Dynasty, as well as the seals of a large number of famous people from past dynasties, such as Wenshui Taoist, Jin Junming, Fang Xiaoru, etc. These fake seals are made of rhinoceros horn , ivory, etc., the fake moths and cracks are particularly realistic."

"The second category is the purple clay teapot, which was once borrowed from Wu Hufan's possession of the Ming Dynasty Chen Mingyuan purple clay teapot. After copying it, Wu Hufan couldn't tell the authenticity from the fake. The third category is the fake calligraphy and painting. Chen Julai even visited Tang'an's counterfeiting workshop in person."

Wu Tianyuan said: "Mr. Zheng Zhong has conducted in-depth research on Tan Jing's forgery. He wrote in "The Story Behind the Fake Paintings That Have Been Sleeping for 60 Years": "Tang An found Xu Zhengbai, Zheng Zhuyou, Hu Jing, Wang Chaoqun and others. The team divided labor and cooperated, Xu Fanghua, Zheng imitated the characters, Hu made the seal, Tang Quanse made it old, and later Jin Zhongyu imitated the painting, and finally Wang mounted it into a scroll. "

"However, it is not easy to imitate ancient paintings. It is impossible to make the vicissitudes of calligraphy and painting that have been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years in a short period of time. After painting, it was washed with water to make it seem like nothing. After it was finished, it was uncovered and mounted repeatedly like the process of spreading old paintings, and it was necessary to repair the residual brushwork like repairing old paintings, and finally to carry out full color to make it full of ancient appearance. "

(End of this chapter)