The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 183 - 118: Attention from a Publishing Titan (Part 2)

This is a more neutral and objective fan opinion.

"Normal? LOL (short for ’laugh out loud’), I’m a professional painter. I can tell you very responsibly that Lady Detective Cat’s interpretation of these five paintings, in my opinion, is nothing short of magic. This understanding of art has nothing to do with whether Detective Cat is a professional painter; it’s simply because she’s awesome."

A fan countered the comment above.

Although the podcast has been online for just over half a day, the number of comments places it among the top in Mr. Tree Sloth’s past programs, now reaching nearly a thousand.

Gu Weijing saw the most liked comment in the comment section, which was a reply from someone claiming to be the author of "White Lake Baikal." This comment had already received more than 2,000 likes.

"Amazing, deducing the environment of the paintings solely from the final effect of the oil paintings—such ability is possessed by only a few masters that I know."

Koizumi Katsuko looked at this comment, sniffled, "My dad might be able to do that, but I’m still far behind, so envious."

Gu Weijing let out a slow breath.

The firsthand recognition of the painter himself appearing in the comment section was an unexpected surprise for him.

"Simply magical!"

"OMG!"

"Unbelievable, does such judgment ability truly exist?"

Underneath the painter’s statement, many fans commented in astonishment, with some even mentioning Van Doorn.

"Now, it’s embarrassing for Van Doorn, the so-called African monkey illustrator, who may not paint as well as others, yet acts like a clown, refusing to admit it. Van Doorn’s fans, keep insulting! Is this the insight your proudly proclaimed art master has?"

This time, under Mr. Tree Sloth’s podcast, no one spoke up for Van Doorn.

All the previous doubts and attacks on Detective Cat’s aesthetic cultivation before the podcast’s release have now transferred over to Van Doorn.

This is one advantage of professional art podcasts: the audience generally has a good art foundation and can easily distinguish between real talent.

"At this time, they’re silent. If I were Van Doorn, the best approach is to stay calm and act like this never happened. Wait for the storm to pass and people to forget, and he remains the art master he is."

"Waiting for the storm to pass may not be so easy; go check Curator Tangkis’s latest tweet."

Koizumi Katsuko also noticed this message.

She didn’t need Gu Weijing’s reminder; she clicked on the link below and entered Curator Tangkis’s verified account, certified by the blue checkmark of Twitter as the curator of the Taylor National Art Gallery.

"Great artistic insight, refreshing, I like it."—This was tweeted by Tangkis just two hours ago.

Someone posted related photos in the comments section below.

The Taylor National Art Gallery is one of the landmark buildings in London, transformed from a giant old power plant along the Thames River, comprising eleven floors, including sculpture halls, modern art halls, Dalí-Picasso dedicated halls, and over a hundred large and small exhibition rooms.

The annual number of visitors ranges from five million to eight million.

In front of each independent exhibition hall is a silver plaque introducing the specific collection inside, accompanied by a promotional slogan.

The slogans include famous quotes from artists, sayings from successive gallery directors, and, for some modernist exhibition halls, even quirky jokes or cryptic symbols, a distinctive feature of the gallery.

Many tourists or travel bloggers make it a point to pose in front of these plaques.

Koizumi Katsuko has been to the Taylor Art Gallery, and she remembers that the plaque outside the Impressionism-themed exhibition hall used to carry a slogan tinged with dark humor.

"Enter with caution; this trash is a denial of beauty and truth, leaving only a crude impression."

The signature was An idiot reporter (an idiot/jerk reporter).

This was a snarky attack by a mainstream art journalist on Monet’s painting technique when Impressionism had just emerged.

The term "Impression" in Impressionism actually derives from the title of this news article.

Koizumi Katsuko has a deep impression of it and even took a photo with this plaque.

However,

Now, that visitor plaque has been replaced. In the photo, it has been changed to a newly made plaque.

"We do not depict gods; we only record sunlight and air. We do not follow dogma, for beautiful things will remain, while pain will eventually pass—Detective Cat"

"Curator Tangkis was not just joking; he really replaced the check-in plaque at Taylor Art Gallery."

Koizumi Katsuko looked at the photo below with eyes full of longing.

"In some sense, Lady Detective Cat has been enshrined by the Taylor Art Gallery, one of the largest private galleries in the world."

As a painter, one of the highest pursuits is for one’s name to enter a gallery, treasured by people.

This means you have successfully conquered death and time, leaving your name in art history.

The initials of your name in a gallery represent the highest honor for a painter in their lifetime.

Even in this way, being able to leave a trace before millions of visitors is something to be proud of.

Among the hundreds of thousands of followers of Curator Tangkis’s Twitter account, many have reposted this news, including several famous professional painters.

Koizumi Katsuko casually clicked on a few tweets to check them out before intending to exit.

Wait,

Her hand suddenly paused for a moment, her gaze fixed on a retweeted message, unmoving.

"Congratulations to Lady Detective Cat for leaving her name at the Taylor National Art Gallery. Well-deserved, truly a talented illustrator. Interested in collaborating with us? We have a fascinating project within the group, and the art department has already contacted your email, please check. @Detective Cat"—Scholastic Publishing Group.

"Scholastic? Scholastic Group actually interacted with Detective Cat!"

Koizumi Katsuko was extremely surprised.

"What’s Scholastic? What’s so surprising about it?"

Gu Weijing looked at the tweet.

"Scholastic is the second largest publishing group in North America and the sixth largest in the world, practically unmatched in children’s literature-related fields."

Koizumi Katsuko slowly let out a breath.

She checked Scholastic Publishing Group’s account and confirmed it was indeed the official account of Scholastic, not a high-quality fake account hoax.

"Such a publishing group would collaborate with countless illustrators each year, right?"

Gu Weijing wasn’t overly excited.

Mr. Hephaestus’s video was just released, especially since he was recently rated as a two-and-a-half-star illustrator by Oil Painting magazine, at the peak of his exposure.

Those top-tier art commissions, aside from movie posters, also included several publishing house collaboration invitations.

But at the time, he felt incapable of completing these orders, so he declined them all.

After he was delisted by Oil Painting, those orders basically disappeared.

"You still don’t understand; this is a completely different concept."

Koizumi Katsuko shook her head and explained, "Because Scholastic is a leader in the publishing industry, it rarely collaborates with external illustrators. Its art department has nearly a thousand professional painters and designers, several to a hundred times the size of most large illustration studios."

"Typically, they only collaborate with external illustrators on very few top projects. Receiving such a project invitation is equivalent to being recognized by Scholastic as a top-notch illustrator—a dream opportunity for any illustrator."

"Is it that impressive?"

Gu Weijing was also somewhat surprised.

"Yes, take a look at the artists Scholastic Group’s official Twitter has interacted with, and you’ll understand."

Koizumi Katsuko pulled Scholastic’s Twitter records to the historical messages section, inputting the keyword ’illustrator,’ showing them to Gu Weijing.

"The previous two messages were a tribute to collaborating artists on Andy Warhol’s death anniversary in February and the tenth anniversary of Jean Arnou’s illustrations for Scholastic’s Greenfield Miracle series. A large publishing group’s official account is generally very aloof; even top artists would find it challenging to get interaction from it."

Koizumi Katsuko pondered.

If Detective Cat can perform well in response to such an invitation,

In a sense, this provides a more prominent opportunity for an illustrator to make a name than being rated as a two-and-a-half-star artist by Oil Painting magazine.

However...

Though this episode was indeed brilliant, having such prominent attention from a giant like Scholastic just half a day after its release is somewhat exaggerated.

Could it be due to Curator Tangkis’s influence?

Or perhaps Detective Cat has some extraordinary connections within the art circle?