Li Mo had indeed ordered it at the right time. As soon as he entered the door, he called out: "Sweet and sour pork ribs, braised fish head, and a tomato scrambled egg. This aroma can only be made by the chef's wife herself."
"You need to mention one less dish. Your favorite five-spice pork head, which your master queued up to buy early in the morning." Yanagawa Kei stood up and walked to the counter and asked, "What did you buy? Clamped?"
"They are all pastries, including your favorite caramel chestnuts, Mistress' favorite sesame and red dates, and Yingying's favorite sweet-scented osmanthus and five kernels."
"Yingying must have assigned 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 bought a painting in that time-honored store. I couldn't see it right, so I asked you to help me palm my eyes after I bought it."
Although I have determined in my heart that this is an authentic work, I can't behave too abnormally and let the master get involved. If he identifies it as an authentic work by Master Xu, then it can be said that he is lucky at best.
"Oh." Yanagawa Kei was stunned for a moment. Yesterday he went for a walk and picked up an authentic Qianlong pink-green glaze gourd vase. Today, he went to Xijiekou to buy pastries and picked up an authentic piece?
Li Mo gently unfolded the picture of a horse and moved his body so that Master could see clearly.
Yanagawa Kei put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses and slowly identified them with a special magnifying glass. The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became, and finally he became a little more confused, with his brows furrowed.
"Lao Liu, what are you looking at? Come and eat first."
"You eat first, I have something important to call." Yanagawa Kei dialed a number and was quickly connected, "President Xu, I'm not bothering you, right? I have Deputy Master Xu Beihong's 'Double Horse Picture' here, which is a bit I can’t tell for sure, so I’d like to ask you to help me identify it.”
"President Zhu and the others are here too, okay, I'll be there right away."
Yanagawa Qing hung up the phone, waved to Li Mo and said with a smile: "If 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 judge this painting."
"Master, it's not too late to go after you're full." Li Mo licked his fingers, unable to move his butt from the chair.
"Boy, you have such a big heart. If this is the authentic work of Master Xu Beihong, it would be worth tens of millions."
Li Mo studied antiques with Yanagawa Kei and was not proficient in calligraphy and painting, so the price surprised him.
"Master's wife, leave some for me to eat later."
The Four Seasons Teahouse is located near the Chenghuang Temple. Yanagawa Kei is anxious to get angry, but Li Mo seems much calmer. One of the two masters and apprentices kept urging, and the other complained that they were not full yet.
When we arrived at the teahouse, we were led to a private room on the second floor by a young cheongsam waiter. The private room is about thirty square meters, and through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the square in front of the temple not far away. 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 rolling. The environment is elegant and accompanied by soft music. This is definitely a good place to gather friends to drink tea and chat.
There were six people in the private room, and Li Mo only knew one of them, the boss Wang who bought his pink-green glaze gourd vase.
"Boss Liu, you won't find something good again today, right?" Boss Wang stood up first to say hello, with a bright smile and his eyes almost narrowed into a thin line.
"It's not me, it's Xiao Mo. I'm not sure about this either, so I have to trouble an expert in calligraphy and painting."
"Lao Liu, we are all old acquaintances, don't be so polite. If we really come across Xu Beihong's authentic work, it will be our blessing."
The speaker 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 figure. He probably worked with calligraphy and painting all year round, so he naturally had an elegant temperament.
"Come on, Lao Liu, don't stand there on the ink mark. Quickly open the picture of the two horses."
Another vice president, Zhu Changji, was a little impatient. If Xu Beihong's masterpiece was authentic, it would be worth a lot of money. I have seen a lot of more expensive paintings, but those are basically collections of major museums or some private collections. There are countless folk imitations, and the probability of authenticity is very slim.
A round dining table was cleaned, and a picture of two horses was slowly spread out. Two horses with obviously different painting styles were displayed in front of everyone.
Several people gathered around and formed a circle. There were sounds of surprise and confusion for a while. After ten minutes, everyone began to whisper among themselves to express their opinions.
"Xiao Mo, here are all seniors in the industry, come here and learn from them."
He had no choice but to listen to the master's words. Li Mo smiled and bowed slightly to everyone.
"Old Liu, your disciple is calm and majestic. He is considered to be the best among his peers..." President Xu has a sharp look in his eyes, and his first impression of Li Mo is good.
"Old Xu, what do you think of this picture of two horses?" President Zhu was still more interested in the painting. He also carefully identified it and found that there were indeed some unsolved doubts.
"Let me tell you my opinion first. Identifying a painting mainly depends on three aspects: painting style, layout and inscription. The seal is carved using large seal script, and 'What the Strong Man Did' is indeed one of the seals used by Master Xu. At the end The inscription indicates the time of painting, and there is no flaw in either place.”
Everyone nodded, agreeing with his judgment.
"Looking at the picture, the horse on the left uses bold splashing ink and vigorous line drawing to focus on depicting the horse's charm and temperament."
"The horse on the left side of the painting is handsome, vigorous, and light-footed. It has the beauty of a "skinny bronze sound". The galloping horse is strong and vigorous."
If there was only this horse, they would identify this painting as authentic without hesitation.
"But the ink on the horse on the right has no sense of hierarchy. The strong body of the horse is too weakened. It feels like the ink was splashed randomly, lacking a sense of agility."
President Zhu sighed slightly when he said this. This is where the doubt lies.
"Lao Zhu, what do you think?"
President Zhu did not answer the question immediately, but was thinking about something.
"I think this is a high imitation." Others began to express their opinions.
"If there is any doubt, it means there is a flaw in the painting."
Yanagawa Kei was a little anxious. He looked at his apprentice, a good boy, who stood there calmly and listened with great interest. He seemed not to care about the authenticity of the painting.
"Xiao Mo, you bought this painting. What did you think at the time?"
When the master asked the question, Li Mo didn't hide his clumsiness. He coughed easily and said: "When I first saw this painting, I had the same idea as all the seniors. The two horses have very different painting styles. The horse on the right splashes ink casually, and it seems that there is a little bit in the painting. Uneasy."
"But when I saw the inscription on the back, I concluded that this 'Double Horse Picture' is definitely the original work of Master Xu Beihong." "
"Young man, some words should not be arbitrary." A fat man in his forties curled his lips, obviously not satisfied with Li Mo's words.
But at this moment, Chairman Zhu's eyes suddenly brightened, as if a ray of sunshine broke through the fog, and he said excitedly: "The paintings for the charity sale."
"Exactly." Li Mo nodded, "Kuimo 1943, this reminds me of a special period when Master Xu held charity sales many times while studying abroad to raise funds for the domestic Anti-Japanese War. On such occasions and in such an environment, Xu The master painted with ink and raised money through charity sales at the same time, and his works are slightly inferior to his other masterpieces."
President Zhu also said at this time: "Although this double-horse picture has shortcomings, it can profoundly reflect Master Xu Beihong's noble patriotic qualities and great national sentiments."
Li Mo looked admiring and said firmly: "This double-horse picture can remind people of those difficult years and remember that special history. I personally feel that Master Xu's quality and feelings not only make up for the flaws in the pen and ink, but also It also adds a lot of color to the connotation expressed by the double-horse picture."
"Well said." Someone applauded. He was a tall and burly man in his fifties, with undisguised admiration in his eyes. "Everyone knows that there is a big collector in Kyoto who loves horses very much. He bought back a similar painting of two horses from an auction in Europe ten years ago. At that time, he spent 4.2 million euros, equivalent to about 30 million yuan in personal currency. Nowadays, Xu Beihong's paintings are becoming more and more popular in China. The average price per square foot exceeds one million yuan, and a painting of Eight Horses once sold for a sky-high price of 160 million yuan."
There was an exclamation of exclamation in the private room.
"This painting of two horses is undoubtedly the original work of Master Xu. If it goes to auction, it will be worth no less than 35 million yuan. Xiao Mo, do you want to collect this painting yourself or are you planning to transfer it?"
