There are a total of three paintings in the black painting tube.
The moment Gu Weijing touched the inside of the painting tube with his hand, he frowned.
There is a problem with the way these paintings are preserved - they are rolled inward, and there is no padding in the middle of the scroll tube.
"Very low-level mistake."
A thought immediately came to Gu Weijing's mind.
Oil painting is a three-dimensional art, and paint is not a simple two-dimensional plane.
It has volume and thickness.
If you touch the paper of a painting with your own hands, you will feel very intuitively that the surface of the painting is as uneven as rough particle board.
These are the marks left by the painter's brush on the canvas.
The paint solidifies layer by layer on the surface of the canvas, forming the unique luster and texture of oil painting.
These pigments are relatively fragile.
Therefore, after the painting is completed, proper preservation is also very important.
Generally, in order to prevent the paint on the surface of the oil painting from weathering and drying out, a layer of varnish is sprayed on the surface of the canvas, and then fixed in a dark place with a frame.
If you really don’t like the space the picture frame takes up, you can roll it up in a picture tube and save it.
Just for better preservation, so that the paint will not squeeze each other, even if you want to use a painting tube to store it, one of the most basic principles is - the direction of rolling the oil painting should be such that the side with the paint is rolled outward, not like Gu Weijing The painting tube in the hand also folds the picture inwards.
Normally, a thicker paper tube should be placed in the center of the painting tube to prevent the painting from being accidentally squashed.
These are basic common sense for preserving oil paintings. They are not complicated or technically difficult.
Just use snacks and you can’t go wrong.
There are only two possibilities for these three paintings being treated so hastily.
Either the person who handled these works was an outsider, or he felt that these three paintings were not worthy of attention and were regarded as ordinary garbage.
Or both.
Gu Weijing's heart went cold at that time. He knew that if it was a fine oil painting, he would never be treated like this.
He still had the patience to unfold the three dirty canvases in front of him one after another.
These oil paintings look like they were once furnishings and decorations in the hotel rooms of great writers.
The first painting at the top looked brighter, and Gu Weijing just glanced at it and lost interest.
No wonder the people who handled these paintings were so flippant.
This is really not a good piece of work.
In fact, this is not an oil painting at all, but a print.
Modern oil paints are dense pastes, and prints are a layer of colored dots attached to the surface of cotton or plastic paste.
With just a casual glance at the side light, it is easy to tell whether the painting is authentic or fake.
This is normal. Looking at the labels on the booth, Gu Weijing shouldn't have had too many expectations.
Most of the art displays in hotels around the world are this kind of thing.
Prints are not a tiny bit cheaper than hand-painted oil paintings, and more than 70% of tourists simply do not have the ability to distinguish the difference between the two.
"The fine old paintings of the 20th century... I really dare to brag about them."
Gu Weijing complained speechlessly.
The second painting is also the same work without surprises, and then the third painting is still the same dirty, still the same...
Wait!
Gu Weijing, who was already overwhelmed with disappointment, realized something was wrong as soon as he got the drawing paper.
My eyes haven't fallen on the drawing paper yet, but my sense of touch has already fed the information back to my mind.
The feeling of this canvas is obviously different from the previous two.
The first two paintings are paintings, no, they are printed on cotton.
The advantage of using cotton cloth as a base material for oil paintings is that it is cheap.
The downside is everything except cheapness.
Cotton fabric is too smooth and inelastic and will be eroded by acidic pigments.
And this canvas is soft and elastic to the touch.
The cloth base material has a unique texture style, and you can feel the vertical and horizontal weaving of plant fibers.
This is a pure linen canvas.
This is a rare thing, especially for old paintings.
Even in the contemporary era when the textile industry is highly developed, a roll of natural rain-dew hemp canvas known as the "Queen of Fibers" costs hundreds of dollars.
Many painting students cannot afford high-end pure linen canvases, and will use cotton cloth or semi-linen blended cloth instead.
The price of a pure linen canvas is several times that of cotton, which is not a small expense for a painter, especially the earlier painters.
Gu Weijing was refreshed.
He lowered his head and looked at the canvas carefully.
This look.
He froze again.
Gu Weijing never expected that he would see such an unusual work.
This is a dark oil painting.
Since its birth, Impressionism has appeared on the stage of art with the attitude of overthrowing classicism and romanticism.
It opposes any works with religious mythological themes and the gray-brown color of the pictures.
This painting clearly uses impressionist techniques, but the subject matter is the opposite.
What the painter depicts is the old church in a thunderstorm.
The whole painting uses a lot of dark light spots, and the picture is poorly preserved and dirty.
Many traces of weathering and drying of the paint destroyed the original harmony of the painting.
It looks like it was fished out of the dirt.
When Gu Weijing took this painting into his hands, his first impression was a strong sense of dissonance.
It is completely different from any impressionist work I have come across before.
When I first came into contact with this work, at first glance it looked like it was some clumsy unknown painter who was far-fetched and forced to use Impressionist techniques to create mismatched creations.
But in the next second,
When Gu Weijing carefully appreciated the painting from beginning to end, he realized that he was wrong.
Because the light and shadow of this painting gave him a familiar feeling.
Obviously one of the two paintings has bright colors, and the other has gloomy light and shadow, but the temperament of this painting reminded him of the "Dance at the Pancake Mill" that he had just seen before.
This is a kind of sixth sense.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s real.
He has always had a feeling, ever since he admired the painting "The Ball at the Moulin de la Pancake" that day, and when he saw the dreamy Paris brought about by the painting.
When Gu Weijing looked at other Impressionist works on the calligraphy and painting auction, he felt a sense of dullness.
For those who are lucky enough to have seen the gluttonous food of the gods, even if it is just a moment of fragrance between their lips and teeth, it will be difficult for them to be intoxicated by the delicacies of the mortal world.
And this painting... actually gave Gu Weijing a similar feeling to "The Dance at the Pancake Mill".
Although the subject matter is vastly different, the artist's wanton expression of emotions and the condensed and unbroken brushwork are very similar.
On the surface, the subject matter and the color combination used in this work look completely un-Impressionistic.
But ordinary people look at appearance,
Experts look at the connotation.
Since appreciating Ray Noir's famous paintings handed down from generation to generation, Gu Weijing has somewhat understood the connotation of Impressionism.
"The so-called Impressionism is nothing more than the pursuit of inner emotions and pure visual enjoyment. We do not depict gods, we just record sunlight and air. We do not follow dogma, because beautiful things will remain, and pain will eventually pass away. "
At this time, Gu Weijing remembered the confession of that loyal and powerful French man again.
If we talk about the pursuit of inner emotions and pure visual enjoyment——
Although the painting in front of me depicts a church, it is by no means a rigid and dogmatic religious preaching painting of the medieval church.
Although it is a thunderstorm in the sky, the colors are dark but not depressing.
Those messy and boring dots with different colors on the picture that you see from close up, when combined together, the picture changes magically.
The originally loose dots converge into light, color and form, giving people a beautiful impression.
Especially the dimly lit candlelight in the window in the church seems to dispel the flames of darkness, and can even bring substantial warmth to people.
Such a painting,
If not Impressionism, then what is it?
I really found a treasure!
Gu Weijing judged that this was definitely the best Impressionist oil painting he had seen today.
Even if it looks dirty and unobtrusive.
But it is still good enough to instantly beat the previous painting "Mountains in the Snow" that was surrounded by people.
The only question is, how good is it?
Gu Weijing stood leaning against the booth, and then activated the calligraphy and painting appraisal technique.
Ding……
The illusory scene appeared in Gu Weijing's mind again.
An invisible pen began to draw rapidly on the light screen in his mind.
The roof of the church, the stained glass windows, the shining candlelight...
When the last stroke on the picture fell, a melodious church bell rang. In the wind and rain, the sound of hymns drifted across time and space, coming from a hundred years ago, and reflected in Gu Weijing's heart.
"Young man, you have a nosebleed, are you okay?"
Gu Weijing noticed someone tapping his shoulder.
Only then did he recover from his trance.
A middle-aged man holding a thermos cup beside him kindly handed over a roll of paper, and then looked at Gu Weijing with sympathy for his weak body at such a young age.
Gu Weijing couldn't care less about the stinging pain in his mind.
He first pushed the oil painting in front of him forward to prevent his nosebleed from dripping onto the paper.
Then he took the toilet paper handed over by the uncle and blocked his nose.
Fortunately, I didn't faint this time.
He was glad in his heart.
"Young man, you don't know how to do it. In the calligraphy and painting industry, the important thing is that you would rather eat a bite of fairy peaches than a basket of rotten peaches."
The man with the thermos cup stretched out his head and glanced curiously at the dirty canvas in front of Gu Weijing.
The uncle suddenly lost interest and shook his head disdainfully, "This kind of junk, no matter how low the price is, if you buy it back and you can't sell it, you will just throw away the goods in your hands."
Gu Weijing looked at him with a complex expression as he watched the thermos cup man strolling to one side with a master-like step.
He lowered his head,
The details of the painting have emerged on the virtual panel.
[Title of work: "Old Church in the Rain"]
[Sketch Technique: lv.7 Master Level 1]
[Oil Painting Technique: lv.8 Master Level 2]
[Emotion: Feeling something in my heart]
"Master Level 2... is rated even higher than Ms. Tangning's painting of hundreds of flowers. Even the sketching techniques have reached the level of a master... Who is the author of this painting? He can have such superb painting skills. He shouldn't be..." It’s better to rely on the unknown in history.”
"And that church? Why is it a bit familiar, as if..."
Just now in the fantasy world, he saw the church lit with glistening candlelight, and he suddenly felt that this scene seemed a bit familiar.
Gu Weijing had seen a similar scene before - the [Lucky Orphanage] that he visited every weekend.
When he first saw this painting, he felt that the scene in the painting looked familiar.
It's just that it's too common to use churches as the subject of oil paintings. Impressionism does not focus on depicting details like photos like pure realism, but prefers to use passionate brushwork to express inner subjective feelings.
Although the main building structure of Good Luck Orphanage has not changed, many of the original small furnishings and decorations on the exterior have long since disappeared.
This made Gu Weijing unable to react for a while.
Think carefully at this time,
The photo in the oil painting is basically the same as the general structure of the orphanage in my impression.
The biggest difference is the two Madonna statues at the door of the building in the oil painting.
This is something that the real Luck Orphanage does not have.
In other words, it’s not that they didn’t exist, but that the two original Madonna statues at the entrance of the orphanage had long been lost in the turmoil of history.
Gu Weijing vaguely remembered that the director of the Good Luck Orphanage mentioned the history of the orphanage to him.
This used to be a church almshouse called "St. Mother Teresa's Church". Originally, there were two statues of the Virgin Mary at the door of the courtyard.
However, with the beginning of the Anglo-Burmese War in the 1890s, church forces and nuns withdrew. One of the two Madonna statues was damaged by shelling during the war, and the other was moved into the courtyard by volunteers.
It was the statue that Gu Weijing had seen hanging with the bronze plaque "You should love your neighbor as yourself".
"Count the time..."
Gu Weijing's heart skipped a beat.
If the subject of this painting is indeed the Good Luck Orphanage.
Then it will be interesting.
He might actually have found a big fish.
This means that the painting was not created in the 20th century, but in the 19th century, or even before the 1890s to be precise.
Half a century earlier and half a century later,
This is a completely different meaning for Impressionist works.
In the painting industry, the first batch of people who braved the pressure of public opinion and the ridicule of art critics to establish a sect and go their own way were the real masters.
The second batch is the warriors.
The third and fourth batches can only be craftsmen.
Whenever a painting trend emerges and its market value is gradually recognized, a group of followers will immediately appear to seize the market.
Impressionism was the foundational school of modern art, and many painters followed suit.
If it were the 20th century, there would be many painters who imitated the Impressionist style.
But in the second half of the nineteenth century, Impressionism was still the work of a niche circle.
Most of the painters who worked in the Impressionist style in the 19th century, except for a few unlucky ones, left their names in the history of art.
The prices of the two are simply not comparable.
This painting is a masterpiece both in terms of technique and emotion.
Could it be that the author of this painting belongs to the unlucky few?
Gu Weijing carefully checked the painting paper of the oil painting. Many painters would sign their names or their own special marks on their official works.
Of course, there are many exceptions.
For example, the artist signed his signature on the frame, or it was a practice work and there was no signature at all.
Gu Weijing originally didn't have high expectations about whether he could find a mark to identify the painter. After all, no matter how unprofessional the second-hand dealers who dealt with it before were, they couldn't leave a work signed by a famous artist alone.
did not expect,
He actually found the identity of the painter of this painting.
Just on the back of the painting, the artist signed his name - Coral - in black ink that was completely consistent with the main tone of the painting.
"A female painter?"
Gu Weijing's confusion immediately found the answer.
Why is this painter unable to leave his name in history despite his superb skills?
Because she is a woman.
Historically, the social status of female painters has been very low for a long time. It was almost after World War II that a large number of female artists became famous.
In history, many daughters, sisters or wives of painters actually had superb painting skills, but only a handful of them left their names in history.
Moreover, the stories of these painters are often accompanied by tragic elements such as being raped by teachers or patrons.
Gu Weijing firmly remembered the name of the painter and planned to check if he could find relevant information later.
If he could investigate the origin and provenance of this oil painting, the value of this painting might be doubled.
Even if he cannot be found, a painter with such superb painting skills will definitely respect him.
Gu Weijing took out his bidding card and filled in the amount of US$2,500 in the bidding box on the side.
This is all the cash I have on me.
Although the package bid for this set of miscellaneous items was only one hundred and fifty US dollars, if he had the opportunity to pick up such a treasure, he would have missed it because he wanted to take advantage of it.
Gu Weijing will never forgive himself.
(End of chapter)
