"You are overthinking it. The author of this painting is not my daughter."
Uncle Sakai smiled and waved his hand: "His name is Gu Weijing."
"Gu... as a scripture?"
Hanks read the name, changing the intonation and syllables several times. He was sure that he had never heard of this name.
"Does he have anything to do with the avant-garde artist Gu Dexing in the Queens Modern Art District in New York?" He racked his brains to think.
"There is no relationship, not even a last name." Uncle Sakai shrugged.
"A Nobody." Hanks also commented with a shrug.
He could no longer find any great painter's nephew or young disciple with this name in his mind.
It should be just a small role that no one cares about.
"I told you from the beginning, he is now a nobody."
Professor Sakai smiled: "I was once a nobody, OFA made me successful, and I also repaid Daejeon Art Gallery with generous benefits."
"Every master was once an unknown person. The difference between the poor Van Gogh and the wealthy Picasso may just be whether there is a suitable stage and whether there is a professional team of promoters behind him. Isn't this why galleries like yours exist? Does it make sense?”
Uncle Sakai used the airdrop function of his mobile phone to share this photo with Hanks, then glanced at the barbecue bar in front of him with a reluctant look, stood up, and prepared to leave.
"Perhaps this is the truth. But the resources that push such a painter to be worth millions are enough to push any creator of the same level to the same position. In the high-end art industry, this kind of technical level is not a scarce resource, Ma Shi The gallery platform is a scarce resource, so why should we recommend Gu Weijing?"
"I said the choice is yours."
Uncle Sakai stood up with an enigmatic expression.
He held out the Apple Watch on his arm to Hanks' eyes.
"In this industry, opportunities have always been reserved for those who are prepared, and this is true for both artists and galleries. Today you can find me in this barbecue restaurant at midnight. I personally appreciate your hard work and persistence, so I He introduced it to you.”
"I will call other galleries before I go home and go to bed. Well... you have thirty minutes to make a decision. You should have the contact information of my studio. Don't wait until later."
"I will think about it."
Hanks still gave the same answer as before, without much enthusiasm in his tone.
If other galleries are willing to sign such a painter, just sign it.
"Boss, please pay. I don't want any more sake." The manager waved to Master Otani, who was preparing the sake, and was about to end this unsuccessful late-night snack.
The chef of the roasted bird restaurant is not willing to let go of the opportunity to kill his culprit.
He stopped beside Hanks with a dark glass bottle of sake and shook the bottle to indicate that the wine had been opened. "The most expensive sake in the store, 122,000 yen, has been opened. If you don't want to drink it, you can't let it go." "
"You're worth 122,000 yen for a bad drink?"
Hanks curled his lips,
The barbecue here is cheap, but he didn't expect the wine to be so expensive.
122,000 yen is about a thousand dollars, which is already the price of top-notch sake.
The "Kikuhime" brand sake in the small shop in front of me is sold in stores and can't even be purchased at one-twentieth of the price.
"The price is clearly marked, you ordered it yourself. Young man, do you think you are the first guest to accompany Sakai-kun to dinner and call out the most expensive bottle of wine?"
Master Otani looked like a profiteer who wants to kill you.
"By the way, I think there is one more thing you should know." At this time, Professor Sakai had already walked to the door of the shop.
He suddenly stopped, turned sideways, paused for two seconds, and then said in a slow tone: "He is not my daughter, but he is also only seventeen years old."
"This is the work of a seventeen-year-old painter? Wait, can you elaborate..."
The uncle ignored the astonished Hanks' inquiry, said hello to Master Otani, transformed into a cold fat man, and disappeared into the vast night on the streets of Tokyo without looking back.
Hanks, who was still arguing with the chef, was stunned for a moment.
Seventeen?
He didn't bother to question the obviously deceptive sake and hurriedly took out his phone again.
Hanks once again carefully looked at the manuscript from beginning to end, which could only be seen in half.
The painting is still the same painting,
The mentality of people looking at paintings is completely different.
All of Hanks' previous judgments were based on the template of an artist in his forties whose painting style had matured.
at this time,
When he learned that the creator of this painting was surprisingly young, not even an adult yet.
Hanks had a completely different feeling immediately after seeing it.
All the irritation and shortcomings of using a pen immediately disappeared out of thin air. No matter how you look at it, you like it and it is pleasing to the eye.
This is no ordinary cheerleader.
This is obviously a beautiful woman who lives in the countryside but is extremely beautiful!
Although she is still Xiaojiabiyu now, what she lacks is that she needs to slowly wait for time to brew her youth. With a few experienced old ladies, who can teach her the style of a woman, she can transform into a beauty that will turn all living beings upside down.
Hanks thinks,
Ma Shi Gallery is quite suitable to serve as this old lady.
"You're like this at such a young age, how can you still do it in five years? This is clearly Miss Sakai Katsuko again."
The growth of an artist's skills is never a smooth curve, and is related to each person's physical condition, learning ability, talent, and the artistic environment around them.
Painters come out of remote areas,
Come to a big city like New York, London, Paris or Provence.
The most cutting-edge art trends are coming at you like waves. If you are not destroyed by the waves, you will easily be able to grow rapidly.
Many black painters from Kenya and Tanzania gradually reached the peak of their careers after arriving in New York.
But generally speaking, after deducting the environmental impact,
Before the age of 25 to 33, painters are in a stage of rapid growth in their painting skills. They have stronger learning abilities, improve their techniques faster, and their creative styles will quickly mature.
Titian rose to fame in Florence, Picasso truly formed his personal creative style during the "Blue Style" period, Monet and Renoir began to participate in French salon exhibitions, and came up with the idea of creating Impressionism, all occurred in this age range.
This is the golden age when painters can most easily improve their techniques and become inspired.
There are also artists in the circle who switched from lay professions such as actuaries and lawyers to painting in their thirties and ended up being late bloomers, but after all, they are only a minority.
The younger you are, the greater your plasticity.
After reaching middle age, the level of skills begins to take shape.
If Mashi Gallery signs a contract with a 43-year-old oil painter.
They certainly do not and cannot expect that the painter will make any impressive improvement in his painting skills when he is 53 years old.
Don't say ten years,
Even twenty years later, if he is still creating, his painting style may have changed, but his skill with the brush will usually not have increased much.
But young painters are different.
A 23-year-old painter does not need to be 33 years old. As long as he is properly trained and has a good learning environment, his painting level can easily change completely in three or five years.
Every five years is a completely different realm.
The reason why Ma Shi Gallery is willing to pay a million dollars in liquidated damages to poach Sakai Katsuko is certainly not because the little girl is beautiful...at least not mainly because of the little girl's beauty.
But because she is not yet an adult, her painting skills are already quite mature.
Among painters of the same level, Sakai Katsuko is much younger than others, and it is almost impossible to imagine where the limits of her skills would be when she was thirty.
In the eyes of the gallery, Katsuko Sakai is a scratch-off lottery ticket with a high probability of winning a big prize.
No one is sure whether the next Yayoi Kusama can be created.
To be a great painter who stands at the top of the pyramid, one needs to be on the cusp of the times, have sufficiently excellent personal skills and unique good luck. All three are indispensable.
It belongs to the type where seven points are determined by nature and three points depend on hard work.
But given enough time, she can definitely become the next top Asian painter like Sakai Kazunari.
It is a model for the future.
The worth of such a genius is naturally not comparable to that of other adult painters of similar caliber.
Like a horse on a racecourse,
Running the same results, whether the foal is a seven-year-old prime horse, a four-and-a-half-year-old young horse, or a three-year-old foal that has just been able to compete, the price in the trading market is often more than zero or less. Zero difference.
Now, suddenly, another three-year-old pony with smooth fur and a "Gu Weijing" name tag around its neck appeared shyly in Hanks' eyes.
His heartbeat slowly began to accelerate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His heart hit Hanks' chest, his breathing became faster and faster, and his face began to turn red even though he had not drank at all.
The best part, he discovered.
At this moment, the name is unknown.
Obscurity means that the room for appreciation is unimaginable.
certainly,
There are many uncertainties on the artistic path.
He has just read a draft and only knows two very rough information: Gu Weijing's name and the other party's age.
It is too far away to say now that a top master like Takashi Murakami or KWAS will be cultivated in the future.
But after thinking about it for a moment, Hanks still felt excited.
The more you put in upfront, the more rewards you'll reap.
There is no business in the world more profitable than cultivating an unknown person into an art master, and for galleries, this means a gold mine of mass printing of money.
For a hunter agent, if you do this thing for a lifetime, you can live the financially free life of a yacht supermodel. A small commission from the contract can amount to tens of millions of dollars.
Hanks wiped the sweat from his brow.
He felt he shouldn't wait any longer.
"122,000 yen, welcome to patronize!"
Hanks raised his head. Chef Otani of the restaurant was still holding the sake bottle, blocking him in front of him like a door god, with an attitude of not letting you leave until you pay.
He shook his head, took out his wallet from his pocket and took out his bank card. After thinking about it, he simply threw all the Japanese yen in it mixed with a pink five-hundred-euro note with a modern-style building printed on it on the dining table. .
"Enough to pay."
I am now a top agent who wants to create the next new art star and earn tens of millions of dollars in big business, so I am too lazy to care about this small amount of money.
Without waiting for Master Otani to change the money, Hanks picked up his briefcase with one hand, took the bottle of sake from the other party's arms with the other hand, and hurried out of the store.
"Professor Sakai! Professor Sakai!"
When Hanks rushed to the street, Uncle Sakai was gone.
He took out his mobile phone and started to call the number of Professor Sakai's personal assistant. Before the call was connected, Hanks waved down a taxi and ordered: "Go to Narita Airport."
He couldn't wait any longer.
Hanks wanted to fly over and see Gu Weijing in person the first moment he learned the specific information about him.
…
When Professor Sakai returned home, he saw the message his assistant left on the social software LINE and smiled as he should.
He knew that Hanks must be looking for him anxiously now.
Uncle Sakai only told the other party the key information of Gu Weijing's age at the last moment when he left. Of course, it was not to create some bad dramatic effect.
Uncle Sakai is already a veteran in the industry.
Whether it is a collector buying a painting or an agent signing a contract with a painter, the more anxious the two parties are, the more they rush to sign the contract and the greater the cost.
He deliberately wanted to make Hanks anxious, so that he could better reflect the value of Gu Weijing.
Similar to when buying a house, the agent said that if you don't want it at a certain point in time, I will sell it to someone else. The same principle applies.
Professor Sakai was willing to recommend Gu Weijing to Ma Shi Gallery not just because Hanks happened to come over today.
He had thought about it in his mind before and found that the situation of Ma Shi Gallery really matched Gu Weijing's situation.
My arsenic,
His honey.
Professor Sakai didn't like the declining Ma Shi Gallery, but it was very suitable for the development of the Yangon young man.
Even Gagosian may not be able to compare.
first,
Objectively speaking, super galleries like Gagosian may not really like Gu Weijing.
Geniuses are rare, but there are already many art masters in super galleries, and you are not the least of them. There is no need to gamble on the uncertainty of whether a genius can succeed due to his size.
Uncle Sakai hesitated to sign Gagosian,
It's because even if he joins Gagosian, he won't be a rotten fish, but he will still be a small fish and shrimp. It sounds majestic, but he may not be more comfortable than he is now.
Gu Weijing is not even considered a contestant. Compared with those great artists, his status is really just a hair on his body, nothing.
No matter how many resources these big galleries have, they will only be used on you as a bit of residue after the art giants pick their teeth.
The same is true for Uncle Sakai's own private galleries such as OFA or Tokyo Gallery, which take the high-end route and only represent four or five painters in total. All resources are divided up.
He mobilized some connections and it was not difficult to get Gu Weijing a contract as a cutting-edge painter.
But this may not be the best for Gu Weijing.
Ma Shi Gallery has been in desperate need of medical treatment over the years, signing up 200 people like crazy. Although it seems to be a bit of a laughing stock in the industry, it is precisely the situation where there are no tigers in the mountain and the monkey can become the king.
There are not so many seniority rankings, and it is easier for capable young people to get ahead.
Uncle Sakai thinks that Ma Shi Gallery is a small pond that cannot be expanded. That is because he is Kazunari Sakai.
The difference in weight between the names of Sakai Kazunari and Gu Weijing in the minds of collectors is countless times greater than the difference in their weight.
No matter how down-and-out the big, veteran galleries are, they can't compare to second-tier galleries.
Just the global promotion of art works and the presence of galleries across five continents are a foundation that requires decades of operation.
The small pond in his eyes, if Gu Weijing had jumped into it, would have been a vast ocean with no visible edges. The sea and sky were vast, and there was plenty of room for splashing.
"The wind is blowing, the clouds are blowing, and the clouds are blowing, and I step on the white clouds."
Uncle Sakai softly recited this famous line from a Japanese poet who planted fire on the mountaintop, and smiled, "Boy, the opportunity is there. Whether you can step on the white clouds depends on your own luck."
He was stuck for thirty minutes and finally answered the call from Hanks, who had been transferred from his assistant.
Last night, Picasso's last lover passed away.
Last year, there was a solo exhibition of this grandma’s 100th birthday.
What a sign of an era that has faded away.
In the writing plan of this article, there should be a plot about this old woman, and then it will be regarded as the unfolding of another timeline.
(End of chapter)
