"It's Lao Sun's painting."
The old man glanced at the label on the scroll.
Gu Tongxiang still has some impression of this painting.
The traditional calligraphy and painting style in Myanmar's history is similar to Chinese painting, but since the British came here, the entire artistic style has been influenced by the West.
Nowadays, even in Myanmar, oil painting and watercolor painting are the mainstream.
There are only a few named painters who follow the oriental art route in Myanmar.
Gu Tongxiang, who has learned both oil painting and Chinese painting, is one of them, and so is the old Sun he talks about.
The other party lives in Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, and has met Mr. Gu several times. His painting skills are also on par with others.
Because Lao Sun is relatively young and has room for improvement, his reputation and price may even be slightly higher than that of Gu Tongxiang.
This painting is not large in length, it is a small painting about two feet square. Based on the uncle’s purchase price, it is profitable, but not huge.
"What happened to this painting?"
Gu Tongxiang frowned.
"It's not that there was a problem with the preservation, it's just that when I looked at the painting, I suddenly felt a little out of place."
Gu Weijing unfolded the scroll.
"It's incongruous, what's the incongruity! What do you, a child, know?" Since there was nothing wrong with the painting, my aunt stopped working on it. She felt that Gu Weijing had no good intentions.
My husband is responsible for the purchase of art and various social activities, which is hard work without any credit.
It turns out that the nephew hasn't inherited the gallery yet, and now he's starting to pick and choose.
If the old man really hands over the gallery to him in the future, will he still be able to live a good life of his own family?
"Okay, be quiet."
Mr. Gu Tongxiang stopped his daughter-in-law's noise with a wave of his hand.
"Incongruous? Did you send the painting to Professor Lin Tao? This is what Professor Lin meant."
Gu Tongxiang took a look at the picture "Kingfisher Singing Bamboo" and thought of a possibility.
"No, it's just my personal opinion."
"Humph, my personal opinion." Auntie made a long-pitched nasal sound on the side.
Gu Tongxiang was immediately disappointed.
In fact, when he first saw the painting, he thought it was a bit strange and felt that the picture was a bit scattered.
But where exactly the problem lies is hard to say.
The old man just thought that he had no luck.
Gu Weijing could understand the works that he himself could not understand.
Gu Tongxiang still didn't believe it.
He believed that his grandson's artistic achievements would be higher than his own, but that was in the future, not now.
Although my eldest son is not good at painting, he has followed me in the art market since graduating from high school and has been exposed to the art industry for so many years, so his eyesight is not bad.
This old Sun’s painting skills are no worse than mine.
Although they belong to the dwarf General Liba.
But if anyone in Yangon wants to find a better expert in Chinese painting than him, they may not be able to find one.
If my grandson wants to appreciate calligraphy and painting of this level, it would be best to wait a few years before doing so.
"Okay, tell me what you think."
Gu Tongxiang still wanted to listen patiently to his grandson's opinions.
Whether it's right or wrong, having your own opinions on art is not a bad thing after all.
"First of all, the artistic conception of this painting is not quite right."
"Looking at the state of the kingfisher's feathers and the luster on its body, the whole painting has a watery feel. It is filled with dense moisture. But the bamboo has a very dry feeling, which is a bit out of place."
Gu Weijing said softly.
He pointed his finger at the bamboo joint where the kingfisher's claws rested, and continued: "Especially the bamboo joint here, the mood of the whole painting is broken here... And the ink spots on the bamboo joint here, grandpa, Don’t you think it’s a little strange?”
Gu Tongxiang lowered his head and looked at the painting, tapping his fingers on the scroll.
"you mean……"
He raised his head and took a deep look at his grandson, then lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
The first half of his grandson's sentence was like a bolt of lightning piercing the dark night, accurately describing the sense of dissonance he felt when looking at the painting.
But what really made Mr. Gu Tongxiang fall into deep thought was the second half of the sentence.
Things like artistic conception are inherently mysterious, seeming to exist and seeming to be non-existent, making it difficult to fathom.
But whether there are errors in the picture is much more intuitive.
We are all experts in Chinese painting, so we naturally understand how bamboo should be painted.
Ink dots on the bamboo joints - usually use the smallest size outline pen, use thick ink, and use the center of the pen to make the dots.
The ink spots on Gu Weijing's finger on this painting look like... dripping on the painting.
This is like the computer games Spot the Difference or Lianliankan. If no one reminds him, Gu Tongxiang may not notice the problem at all.
But now that Gu Weijing pointed it out, Gu Tongxiang, who had been working in the painting industry all his life, immediately discovered the problem.
Gu Tongxiang took out his mobile phone and made a call.
"Hey, Boss Wu... it's you, I'm Gu Tongxiang. My son received the painting "Kingfisher Singing Bamboo" from you... uh uh uh... or I'll give Lao Sun a call... Well... there is no need to return it, we have been friends for so many years... Well, we will continue to cooperate in the future."
Within a few minutes, the old man hung up the phone again.
"What did Boss Wu say?"
The aunt kept her ears open and listened. She felt that her father-in-law was making a fuss. It was obviously his nephew who wanted to cause trouble, and he still made unnecessary phone calls.
Now she wants to see what others say.
Boss Wu is the second-rate dealer who sold the picture "Kingfisher Singing Bamboo" to the uncle.
Gu Tongxiang did not answer immediately, but looked at his grandson with surprise and more of relief in his eyes.
"My grandson is really born to eat this bowl of rice."
At this moment, Gu Tongxiang really believed that the ancestor Gu Kaizhi in their family's genealogy was not a far-fetched descendant. The genes of this legendary painting saint really flowed in the family's blood.
He called Boss Wu before and asked about the painting.
It turned out that the second-rate dealer was still playing tricks on me.
When Mr. Gu Tongxiang accurately pointed out the problem on the picture and suggested that he could call Mr. Sun to inquire about the situation, the other person immediately changed his tone.
After all, there are only a few famous painters of Chinese paintings in Myanmar, and it is very possible that they know each other or are familiar with each other personally.
"This painting is indeed a remnant. Originally, the painting that Lao Sun commissioned for others was a picture of a river view and a lotus pond. Halfway through the painting, the ink stained the rice paper, so it was cut into several small paintings of one and a half feet. , take it and sell it."
This situation is not impossible,
This is how some painters deal with scrap manuscripts that are quite good.
All you need to do is agree with them when you accept the painting.
As a result, Boss Wu received the painting at the price of the scrap manuscript, which was less than two hundred dollars, and sold it to Gu's calligraphy and painting shop for four times the price.
"Boss Wu said he wanted to return the painting to us, but I refused. In the end, he refunded me $500."
Gu Tongxiang shook his head.
Calligraphy and painting, like antiques, can be bought and sold. Boss Wu is able to sell a two-hundred-dollar painting to Gu's calligraphy and painting shop for four times the price. This is his ability.
From a business perspective, you can only say that the other party is unreasonable, but there is no fundamental mistake.
Even if you bought it for a hundred thousand dollars, let alone a thousand dollars, you can only blame yourself.
People are willing to refund the money because they hope to continue doing business with the gallery for a long time in the future.
But Gu Tongxiang didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
First of all, Gu's calligraphy and painting shop may not be to blame. He, Gu Tongxiang, didn't see the problem with the painting at first, and ordinary customers couldn't see it either.
Now that you know the ins and outs of this painting, if you are a conscientious merchant, it would be best to add a small defective label in front of the frame.
It will be discounted, but it may not be sold.
Instead, many people like to buy this kind of discounted works, as if they are getting a bargain.
What really surprised him was that Gu Tongxiang discovered that in the blink of an eye, his grandson was already ahead of him on the road to art, at least in some fields.
A new generation replaces the old.
For the elderly, this sense of accomplishment inherited from the family makes Gu Tongxiang feel a great sense of happiness.
This is much more important than getting a few hundred dollars back.
"You already have the ability to take up our family's ancestral business. When grandpa can't do it anymore, you can take over. Gu's calligraphy and painting shop will belong to you in the future."
Gu Tongxiang ignored his aunt's embarrassed expression and said firmly.
