Grandma Carla claimed in a letter from France - "At dusk in Paris, my friends and I saw the fiery red light hovering over the Arc de Triomphe, and my dreams were floating on it... A new artistic path slowly opened before my eyes. Expand. In the burning sky, I saw a dreamy river of colors that could extend infinitely. I felt that this would be the destination of my life."
in the nineteenth century.
The career path of aristocrats is very single;
Men go to the military department to obtain the title of officer, or go to the Congress and Cabinet to seek a civilian job.
Girls specialize in being a gentle wife and decent mother.
Painting, especially female painters, is a very unrecognized profession.
Although art is sought after by people, the status of painters...how should I put it, can be compared to famous actors in the traditional society of Eastern Xia.
Highs are limited.
Except for great painters.
You have to be able to draw Menzel to the point where he becomes a close friend of the Prussian royal family. Entering and leaving the palace is like eating and drinking, and his social status is quite high.
But,
How can a girl become a great painter?
In the mainstream values of the wealthy class, expensive works of art, like horse racing, salons, beautiful post office typists, and ballet dancers, are consumer goods that serve as the main daily pastimes of male aristocrats.
It's okay to play,
Being a painter yourself is quite unusual.
In those years, the elders of the Elena family almost went crazy. They first stopped Grandma Carla's family annuity, and then kept sending letters of reprimand, hoping that the other party would "return from their lost ways."
Grandma Carla is also a strange woman.
Faced with the rage of her elders, she only responded by giving her family a self-portrait without clothes as a confession.
Nude portraits are never vulgar.
On the contrary, it has always been considered the highest and most elegant form of aesthetics.
Take Austria as an example. Klimt, the most famous painter born here, is famous for his romantic nature and his love of painting nude models.
Countless national galleries are proud to have a Klimt figure.
However, painting nudes was once only the prerogative of male painters.
Even though the private lives of European nobles were chaotic, syphilis was frequent, and lovers had illegitimate children everywhere.
But even if an upper-class lady just steps into a studio with nude models, she will be considered very "slutty" and "indecent."
Kara's behavior is even more treasonous.
Painting nude portraits of herself is an expression of her ridicule of social and family disciplines.
The elders of Elena's family were so angry that Carla's rebellious behavior almost caused brain congestion. At that time, they sent a housekeeper and servants to rush to Paris by train and forcibly kidnapped the girl who had ruined the family's reputation back home.
He was put in solitary confinement, sent to a monastery, whipped, tied to a cellar and imprisoned.
This medieval legacy of treating disobedient girls has remained in the upper classes of Europe for longer than most people imagine, with sporadic reports continuing until after World War II at the latest.
It was even more commonplace in the 19th century.
They burned all of Carla's works including "Self-Portrait" in front of her.
Anna will be moved and lonely every time she sees Kara's story.
When she was a student, she went to Paris more than once and wandered to the location of Grandma Karazou’s former studio.
The studio was bought by a furniture contractor and is now the office of an investment bank in Paris.
All traces of hundreds of years ago have long been scattered by the wind, and no trace can be found.
However, just a few blocks away is the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub and the blue Seine.
This was once the birthplace of modern art in the world.
Monet met the master painter Bichat here; Seurat painted the world-famous work "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" here; in 1876, it was here that the 35-year-old Renoir cherished his passion for art and life. Out of love, I wrote the first piece of "The Ball at the Pancake Mill".
At the intersection outside the traffic lights not far from the investment bank, there is a statue of Miss Mary Stevenson Kessatt.
On the marble base, Miss Marie holds the drawing board in her hand and stares at the Seine.
She was smiling, her skirt was flying, and the sculpture was filled with flowers and letters of thanks from art students and Miss Mary's admirers from all over the world.
This Impressionist goddess, together with Marie Curie, was selected into Time Magazine's list of one hundred outstanding independent women in human history.
To this day, it’s International Women’s Day every year.
Representatives from the American Women's Federation and the Embassy in France will come to Mary's sculpture and place a bouquet of roses to commemorate the outstanding contribution of this first female painter of Impressionism.
Whenever she sees the statue of Miss Mary, Anna will think of her grandma Carla.
They have similar origins, the same life circumstances, the same independence and enterprising spirit, and the same view of art as a lifelong career.
One hundred and fifty years later, one man became famous and dazzled the painting world, attracting an endless stream of commemorators.
A man's life's hard work turned into dust, leaving only a small tombstone in the monastery.
This is the impermanence of painters.
After being imprisoned by the family for a year, Grandma Karazu died of tuberculosis in a depressed state.
She left a brief suicide note before her death - "There are only two works that I am satisfied with in my life. One self-portrait was destroyed in the fire, and the other painting, I hid her at the end of the world. The courage to pursue beauty is My motivation to fight against fate.”
The second half of this sentence also became Carla's epitaph.
Probably the elders of Elena's family were moved by her persistence, or maybe it was a small pity and unknown regret.
After Kara's death.
The identity on her epitaph is [Malerin Coral].
Malerin is the feminine word for artist in German, meaning female painter or female artist.
Apart from the painting that was "hidden at the end of the world", the only work Carla left behind was the burned fragments of her self-portrait.
Anna had seen the remains of the self-portrait that had been preserved by the family.
Most of the canvas has been burned, leaving only a few strands of long golden-red hair flying in a picture the size of a baby's hand.
Judging from the fragments, both the brushstrokes and the texture of the pointillism are all the work of the master.
But it’s the handiwork of a master, so what?
In the painting industry, every painter's artistic life is fragile.
They are like crystal clear and fragile ice sculptures.
After polishing it day and night, working hard, and finally painting it successfully, you barely reached the bottom line of success.
leftover,
Look at fate, look at noble people, and look at opportunities.
And any chance of rain or wind, any blow of fate, may destroy their lives.
Those who have seen the cold wind blowing know the suffering under the cold wind.
"Don't let me down, Ms. Detective Cat."
The reason why Anna was willing to make this call was simply because she hoped that Detective Cat's artistic path would be smoother than that of Grandma Carla, whom she admired.
She gently placed the other rose in her hand on Kara's tombstone,
Turn around and leave.
…
Dulwich School.
Mona put down her paintbrush and drank a cup of free coffee from the coffee machine at the water bar.
Her eyes scanned the crowd in the public studio.
International middle schools are relatively wealthy and have an entire art building dedicated to students.
The upper floor is the campus theater and auditorium used for drama rehearsals and social dances, and the entire first floor is a large public studio.
The studio is stacked with various easels, canvases, drying brushes, and plaster models. There is a water bar and sofa in the corner for resting.
The public studio is where art students spend the most time every day.
Probably because the school recruitment fair is approaching.
Even though today is Sunday, most of the thirteenth-grade students in the school have come to the studio, splashing ink vigorously in front of the drawing board.
Mona saw it,
At this time, many students were pointing at the row of easels in the corner of the studio.
"Amazing, this brushwork, this composition...it's really accurate, the lines are as accurate as if they were measured with a ruler."
"This must be the skill of a professional painter, but why do you only paint half of the painting?"
"What do you know? Maybe it's just this idea. You know what art is?"
"No... Although Miss Katsuko is indeed very powerful, the angle of licking is really novel." A male classmate mocked angrily.
"What about you? Miss Katsuko, do you agree to calling me so affectionate?"
Not to be outdone, others retorted.
Mona stood up curiously and glanced at the easel in the corner.
There are four oil paintings lined up there.
The brushstrokes of these oil paintings are surprisingly beautiful, especially when compared with other student paintings that are drying in the studio. The difference is as obvious as the difference between a 40-point exam and a 100-point exam.
"This is the work of the transfer student Katsuko Sakai this week. Isn't the picture stunning? This is the daughter of a great international painter."
Kou Kou, who wore a punk-style silver single earring in her ear, sighed in front of the drawing board.
"Compared with others, we look like country girls. I thought your little boyfriend's paintings were good enough. But this transfer student's paintings and brushwork are simply disappointing."
Mona nodded subconsciously.
These four paintings all have the same theme and composition.
Judging from the finished shape, it should be something like a church or a classical castle.
It's a pity that I don't know why,
Maybe Sakai Katsuko herself is dissatisfied? These four paintings stopped just after painting the dark thunderstorm background, and the buildings in the middle only had simple initial configurations.
Like a charming and charming beauty,
But only half of the face was drawn.
pity.
"By the way, Gu Weijing is not my boyfriend, so don't talk nonsense."
Mona seemed to have thought of something and rolled her eyes at Kou Kou angrily.
Kou Kou smiled playfully.
"Just be happy. I would like to advise you kindly. There are only so many people you like that you can meet. If you let them run away, there will really be no more people. You don't really like that Jerry, do you? Even I don’t like it.”
Mona glanced around the studio and snorted in her heart.
Since the beginning of this semester, she has almost never seen Gu Weijing in the public studio.
Mona knew that Gu Weijing's family had a small gallery and there was also a studio where he could paint.
But so what?
She can also paint on her bedroom balcony.
But normally, the painting atmosphere at home and at school are different.
You can study in dormitories and libraries, but for ordinary college students, the learning atmosphere and efficiency are different.
In the school’s public drawing room,
Your peers around you are working hard to prepare their portfolios, and you will be busy without realizing it.
At home, people with poor self-discipline will waste time because of this.
That's what environment does.
Gu Weijing had always been a frequent visitor to the public art studio on campus and the king of drawings. However, during such an important semester, he disappeared.
This was still under the premise that she would agree to date the "king" at the school recruitment meeting.
"I don't care at all."
This is what really makes Mona very angry.
She can forgive the other person for trying hard but not succeeding.
After all, he was about to graduate, and even if the other party didn't get the biggest offer, as long as he went to the same university as him, it wasn't impossible to go back on the bet or something...
But she at least wanted to see Gu Weijing's attitude.
What do you think you are doing when you are just fooling around every day instead of using your time on the right path?
"Why does this transfer student Katsuko Sakai only draw half a picture at a time?"
Mona was not interested in hearing that Kou Kou, who had always been with her, gave advice on her love life with a condescending tone like a tutor instructing students.
She changed the subject.
"It's because I'm not satisfied." Kou Kou stuck out her tongue.
With the help of the same girl, the transfer student Katsuko Sakai was not as indifferent to Kou Kou as the crazy bees and butterflies on campus.
Even though she was still far from her goal of "capturing" this chick, she at least managed to become friends with Katsuko Sakai on the pretext of asking for advice on art issues, and she could even speak a few words on a daily basis.
This makes Kou Kou quite excited.
The rice has to be eaten one bite at a time, and the beautiful girl has to be bent into a ball step by step.
You came up with a despicable look of lusting after other people's bodies, and people were scared away by you.
Koko heard Miss Sakai explain that she had seen someone paint the same theme of thunderstorms, and the paintings were much more vivid than hers. She wanted to know what her problem was.
"Much more vivid than her paintings?"
Kou Kou only thought that the person Miss Sakai mentioned was Professor Sakai Kazunari.
This kind of great artist who seems to be floating on the clouds from a distance, probably only an artistic genius like Sakai Katsuko can generate a comparative interest in his heart.
"I'm not satisfied with this. God... I really don't know why such an artistic little princess came to our Yangon."
Mona also sighed.
She secretly compared her works and found that the gap was too big.
The painting environment is like a well.
The people around you are the walls of your well. If you stay in Yangon for a long time, you may sit in a well and look at the sky.
Mona originally thought that people of the same age as Gu Weijing were already very good.
Maybe that's true,
But this kind of "small town painter" in Yangon is compared with the heirs trained by the words and deeds of real great artists.
There is still a difference between cloud and mud.
"Oh, I may know why she came to Myanmar."
Kou Kou said with a mysterious face at this time.
(End of chapter)
