Yesterday at noon, Zhang Sheng almost got drunk again, but his wife came to pick him up...
This morning, Yuan Sheng saw a very interesting story: a migrant worker traveled thousands of miles to come to the Netherlands just to take a look at Van Gogh's paintings. He copied 100,000 paintings by Van Gogh, but he had never seen an authentic one. Before that, he was a painter in Dafen Village, Shenzhen. Living in a studio of less than 10 square meters all day long. Most of the painters here are from peasant backgrounds, but when they pick up a paintbrush, they become China's Van Gogh, Monet, and Leonardo da Vinci.
However, they are fundamentally different from painters. To be more precise, the birth of an oil painting here is more like an assembly line operation. Some people only paint the left eye of Mona Lisa, some only paint the crows in the wheat field, often for decades, and some only paint a cloud, a tree, and an eye.
It stands to reason that nowadays, the cost of printing an oil painting using a machine is much lower. But in this era of mechanical reproduction, the European middle class still advocates manual reproduction. The more advanced the technology, the more expensive the craftsmanship becomes. As a result, in the far east, an urban village called Dafen began to rise in Shenzhen, where transportation is convenient and rents are cheap. The most important thing is that labor is extremely cheap. Art dealers saw business opportunities. They gave up Hong Kong and South Korea, where labor was more expensive, and came here to rent studios, recruit painters, and then buy their paintings in batches and sell them overseas.
A man named Xiaoyong became one of them. After painting Van Gogh for more than 20 years, Xiaoyong opened his own gallery. The first apprentice he took on was his wife, and soon his younger brother joined in. Unlike Van Gogh, who only sold one painting in his life, Xiaoyong sold all his paintings. After repeated training, his wife painted one painting. "Starry Night" only takes two hours, and Xiaoyong only needs 28 minutes to paint a self-portrait of Van Gogh. Van Gogh's paintings have been deeply engraved in their muscle memory. Van Gogh a hundred years ago must not have imagined that his paintings that no one cared about would support countless families on the other side of the ocean a hundred years later. Ironically, many of the people who copied his paintings did not even know that Van Gogh had any idea. How to write the word "gao". But Xiaoyong is different. He feels that Van Gogh and himself are inextricably related.
One night, Xiaoyong formed a bureau, drinking and watching Van Gogh's documentary. He stared at the screen intently. He wanted to understand the man who allowed him to make a living. In the biography, Van Gogh was lonely all his life. He was treated as a freak and ostracized. From the Netherlands to England and France, he wandered around and sold only one painting in his life. Painting, and finally died in poverty. He left all his life's love and passion in his paintings. The crows in the wheat field, the new moon night, the sunflowers, the apricot blossoms, the painters stared at the screen intently. This painter from a hundred years ago, like them, was worthless, was at home all over the world, was not understood, and longed to be accepted. Deep in their souls, , have similar ingredients. They have copied tens of thousands of Van Gogh's paintings and are familiar with the tones and brushwork of each of Van Gogh's paintings, but they have never painted for their own hearts like Van Gogh did.
After the film ended, Xiaoyong had a wish to go to the Netherlands to see the original works of Van Gogh with his own eyes. During the Chinese New Year, he expressed this wish at the dinner table, and the middle-aged people of his generation smiled awkwardly. They did not respond, but said, "Gong Xi Fa Cai." Ideal is a luxury for a middle-aged man with a family. Relatives and friends could only see smoke from the fire in Xiaoyong's heart.
In 2008, Xiaoyong received an order from Europe, which came from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Xiaoyong was very excited. It was the location of the Van Gogh Museum and the place where dreams began. After many years of cooperation, the client sent an invitation to Xiaoyong, inviting him to Amsterdam. They paid for Xiaoyong’s food and accommodation, and Xiaoyong only needed a return ticket. Somehow, the fire in Xiaoyong's heart was ignited again. He discussed it with his wife countless times, but the final topic always came back to money. There is no room for idealism in the world of middle-aged people. To put it bluntly, He said, how many oil paintings must be painted to exchange for two air tickets. Mortgage, car loan, children’s tuition, which one is free of money?
But in the end, the wife agreed. She saw the rare light in her husband's eyes. After applying for a passport and arranging household chores, Xiaoyong packed his luggage and boarded the farthest flight in his life. However, after landing, what he saw in front of him refreshed Xiaoyong's understanding. He originally thought that there were many high-rise buildings here and the vast summer was everywhere, but when he arrived, he realized that Amsterdam was more like a small town, not big, but very exquisite. Shenzhen is more suitable for painting than the reinforced concrete city. Xiaoyong kept taking pictures. He smiled like a child in the camera. At a stall near the Van Gogh Museum, Xiaoyong recognized the paintings he painted at a glance. , that huge self-portrait of Van Gogh is Xiaoyong’s proud work. The boy in the store told the photographer: This Van Gogh statue sells for 500 euros. The photographer jokingly asked the boy: Do you know who painted this? The boy smiled awkwardly... The store owner warmly received them. Xiaoyong also brought a meeting gift: a pair of sunflowers and a self-portrait by Van Gogh. The boss joked: Tonight I will swap this painting with the one in the museum. Believe me, they won’t see any difference. The camera crew was all amused and laughed.
Only Xiaoyong looked more and more lonely. Xiaoyong said: He and I have been cooperating for so long. I thought his gallery was very high-end, but I didn’t expect that he was a souvenir seller. It is more appropriate to say that Xiaoyong's works are specialty products rather than paintings. They hang randomly on the wall for people to choose from. Standing next to the self-portrait that cost him so much effort, Xiaoyong fell silent. He was a little disappointed, but more puzzled. The imitation paintings in the store are low-end, but not cheap. The "Elephant" was taken away by a Dutch businessman for 450 yuan. Once it changed hands, it was sold for 500 euros (roughly equivalent to 5,000 yuan). It traveled across the ocean. This painting The price of the painting has increased more than 8 times. Zhao Xiaoyong doesn’t understand why his hard work can only account for a fraction of the value of a painting. This customer is both humorous and generous after so many years of cooperation. He also appreciates his output. , for the first time Xiaoyong felt what exploitation is.
The next day, Xiaoyong finally stepped into the Van Gogh Museum. The safe doors were opened one by one. Behind the doors were the authentic paintings he had dreamed of, such as sunflowers, self-portraits, and apricot blossoms. He stayed for a long time in front of each portrait he passed, and said, He murmured, "It's not right, it's completely wrong, the color is wrong." Over the past 20 years, he copied these paintings from books countless times, and every line was engraved in his bones. Only when he saw the original painting did he realize that those references were The photos have long been distorted due to printing. He has accumulated many years of experience and concluded that the painting method is simply wrong. The oil paint in each painting is not as thick as he imagined. The free and flexible brushstrokes and bold colors make it difficult to see. At the slightest bit of sadness, it was full of love and optimism. The surging vitality on the canvas made Zhao Xiaoyong breathless. At this moment, Xiaoyong realized that he may have never stepped into the door of art for half his life. After painting Van Gogh's works for 20 years, he was almost Less than a piece of work in a museum.
The staff of the art museum heard that he had been painting Van Gogh for 20 years and paid tribute to him. At the same time, he asked him if he had any works of his own. Zhao Xiaoyong was silent... He followed in the footsteps of Van Gogh and went to Paris. Van Gogh The turning point of art, listening to the walk in the church, this journey is no longer a journey, but a pilgrimage. Then he came to St. Mire Mental Hospital, where Van Gogh received treatment more than 100 years ago. It was here that Van Gogh looked up at the stars through the iron window and painted "Starry Night". Along the narrow path, Xiao Yong found the cafe where Van Gogh painted during his lifetime. After a hundred years, the cafe still remains the same, and Xiao Yong set up his drawing board. A "Cafe at Night" was made on the spot, which attracted passersby to stop and watch. When he looked up, Xiaoyong was surprised to find that the sky here was really as blue as in Van Gogh's painting.
The day before returning home, Xiaoyong went to the Auvers Cemetery. He squatted in front of Van Gogh's tombstone with three apples and three cigarettes. Xiaoyong worshiped Van Gogh in the Chinese way. More than 100 years ago, Van Gogh, who had no professional training, often used the lives of ordinary people at the bottom as painting materials. In that era when he was accustomed to singing praises, he was destined to be marginalized and isolated, living in the most miserable hut and living the most miserable life. The world said he was crazy, but maybe he was never crazy, but he ran too fast, and time was panting behind him.
After returning home, at the wine table in Dafen Village, Xiao Yong was chatting and laughing happily. Everyone was envious of his trip to Van Gogh. After three rounds of wine and five delicious dishes, Xiao Yong was suddenly confused. He had seen the original work and the painting was more like it. Well, the girl at the same table, Xiaoyu, wanted to create realistic creations. She was moved and cried while listening to Van Gogh's story. She didn't want to end up miserable like Van Gogh. Xiaoyong held Xiaoyu's hand and supported her. Go on according to your own ideas, and with the help of Jiu Jin, Xiaoyong said, I also want to cry, but I am a man after all. When I returned home, Xiaoyong, who looked strong, still cried... When he was in the first grade of junior high school, Because the family had no money, Xiaoyong dropped out of school. Because of poverty, Xiaoyong had a purpose in everything he did since he was a child. After copying Van Gogh for so many years, he has never painted for his own heart like Van Gogh. But after this pilgrimage, Xiaoyong began to change. He tried to use his brush to paint the people and scenery in his hometown. He painted his most respected grandma, Paint the children in the village and the rainy alley where they grew up.
A father and daughter photographers made a documentary about Xiao Yong's story, titled "Chinese Van Gogh" and it was released abroad. Xiao Yong became famous instantly. Many viewers traveled thousands of miles to visit him in Dafen Village. The guests were willing to pay tribute to him. Xiaoyong was inspired by the high price paid for the painting, and what he bought was not the painting, but the story of Chinese Van Gogh. His works slowly transitioned from copying to original works. His first original work was in his own studio. For more than 10 years, he has been painting, taking apprentices, and getting married here. In this painting are his lover, brothers, children, himself, and of course Van Gogh.
This person who has been looking up to other people's starry skies all his life finally found his own starry sky. Xiaoyong knew that he would not become Van Gogh, but his painting brush would not stop. The soul lurking in the middle-aged man's body began to slowly awaken. For example, Van Gogh once wrote in a letter to his brother Theo: In the eyes of the world, what kind of person am I? A nobody, an insignificant and annoying guy. It is difficult for such a person to exist in society now and in the future. Where I live, in short, I am the most humble low-class person. However, even if this has become an indisputable fact, one day, I will use my works to show the world that I, an unknown person, a mere pariah, have deep feelings in my heart. There are treasures, gorgeous and dazzling.
After reading this story, Yuan Sheng thought deeply: The stock market and painting have the same things: it is not difficult to master the basic methods. To become a painter, you can basically reach the standard after rigorous training. However, to become a painter, let Paintings that have agility, spirit, and soul are very difficult to achieve, especially for painters who have masterpieces that have been handed down from generation to generation.
Similarly, in the stock market, it is not difficult at all to make money once or twice, especially in a bull market. What is difficult is making money stably in the long term, especially making money in a bear market. Only in a bear market, being able to make money continuously and stably is one of the essential elements for a mature investor (speculator).
Next week is the last trading week in the Year of the Tiger, and Yuansheng is waiting for its arrival......
(To be continued)
