The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 96 - 82: Calligraphy and Painting Auction, Part 3

Even the top art auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s enjoy using size comparisons to determine prices, not to mention non-professionals who treat art as financial speculation.

For instance, Monet’s "Water Lilies" series sums up the simple truth that bigger is better, more lotus leaves mean it’s pricier.

If a "Water Lilies" piece sold at the neighboring auction house for twenty million dollars, and my "Water Lilies" is larger, then it’s more impressive and should be sold for twenty-five million dollars!

This "Mountain in the Snow" was once owned by a collector who was somewhat famous in Japan and had participated in art exhibitions and was insured, making it the star of this public auction.

The Myanmar National Art Gallery, though not a renowned gallery, is not one of those used to deceive people with hyped exhibitions.

Many people were gathered around that painting discussing fervently; Gu Weijing estimated that even if its final selling price didn’t reach the thirty thousand dollar mark, it wouldn’t be far off.

For him, what captured his attention was actually a ten-inch small Impressionist style piece in the corner.

Because this painting didn’t have much of a story to tell, being an obscure work by a minor French artist, it attracted much less attention.

The painting had shadows of Impressionism, with the artist’s brushwork showing some elements of aestheticism, likely a transitional work of the artist.

Even though the starting bid for this painting was only $1700, which is a tenth of "Mountain in the Snow," its oil painting technique almost reached the Tier Three Career Level 6 standard.

Still, it was unfortunate that it was just short of the master rating, failing to meet the minimum task requirement.

Gu Weijing arrived here around 11 a.m., wandered around the warehouse for about three hours until 2 p.m., and viewed hundreds of works.

Apart from those two paintings, none of the other works was worth initiating the Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill; most were crude and shoddy.

"It’s a pity, after all, it’s just a public auction held by a few calligraphy and painting dealers. Maybe I should go to a few galleries in the diplomatic area in the afternoon to see if there are any fine works... But even if there are, would they let me bring a drawing easel over for copying?"

Gu Weijing felt a bit unsure in his heart.

This is the drawback of a country like Myanmar, where the art environment and economic conditions are relatively ordinary.

If it were in Dongxia, Japan, or Europe, even in second-tier cities’ galleries, while master-level works might not be everywhere, finding one or two suitable works for copying wouldn’t be difficult.

Gu Weijing even wandered around the miscellany area.

The paintings and calligraphy works in the miscellany area were even less noteworthy, many being works by local students, and naturally, the items here wouldn’t be too expensive.

"Hmm?"

Gu Weijing noticed a woman who didn’t look like a collector, dressed as an office lady, pacing back and forth like a pendulum in front of a sparsely populated exhibit for quite some time.

Her gaze inadvertently kept falling on the objects on the exhibit, clutching a lady’s handbag tightly, appearing somewhat nervous.

"Are you looking at the paintings too?" Gu Weijing asked curiously, politely greeting.

"Uh... no."

The office lady’s shoulders twitched unnaturally.

She herself wasn’t a collector, but just a translator for the Yangon Tourism Bureau, as the Yangon Government recently had a big project.

Many international artists have flown to Yangon.

During the process of accompanying a master in the painting world to browse a calligraphy and painting night market, that famous artist inadvertently spotted a very nice piece at a stall,

The master did not linger at the stall at the time, simply promising her she could get it for within five thousand dollars, and any extra money would be her reward as a translator.

The master had his reasons for not buying directly.

The master is a figurehead in the painting world and quite distinctive in appearance, with quite a few people at the night market able to recognize him.

If he showed interest in a particular painting, the price hike was very likely, a few hundred dollars could easily become five thousand dollars even when bought by the master himself.

The master enjoys the fun of discerning hidden gems with keen eyes.

Otherwise, what famous paintings couldn’t be found at auction houses?

Sure enough, when the translator found the small vendor later, the vendor only asked for $200. The translator didn’t rush into the deal, believing she could haggle a bit more.

Given her understanding of these local vendors, she was confident she could bargain down to one hundred dollars. Though she was a bit greedy, a hundred dollars is what an ordinary person in Myanmar would earn in a month.

As a result, a few days later, when she returned to the stall, the item was gone.

The vendor said, "The owner took everything on the stall for a calligraphy and painting public auction."

The translator spent the entire morning in the warehouse before finding her target again.

Fortunately, people with the keen artistic vision of a master are always very few indeed.

Especially since the item was placed in the miscellany area, unattended all morning, and the few who saw the painting just shook their heads and walked away.

Seeing someone asking questions, the office lady immediately got nervous.

Seeing that it was a young face, she felt relieved, but still showed little interest in talking, letting out a snort before turning away.

Seeing the nervous demeanor of the office lady,

Gu Weijing found it even stranger.

He glanced at the exhibit the office lady had been staring at.

The tabletop was cluttered with all sorts of things, looking like a heap of junk.

There was a sketch tube, a tablecloth, several pens, two candlesticks, a rusty faucet, and a few... Coca-Cola bottles?

The label read—[Great Scholar Hotel renovation, three pens used by Maum for writing, several brass candlesticks, three twentieth-century fine oil paintings, two antique Coca-Cola bottles, bundled sale, starting price one hundred fifty dollars.]

Seeing this label, Gu Weijing found it amusing.

There was a reason nobody was interested in this exhibit.

There is an old colonial-era British hotel in the local area,

Since Maum and George Orwell had stayed at this hotel, people in Yangon habitually call it the Great Scholar Hotel, attracting many Western literary youth who come to stay each year.

With increasing guest numbers, the hotel has been modernized while maintaining its original architectural structure over the years, resulting in a lot of construction waste.

Although Maum and Orwell did stay at this hotel, claiming a few pens were used by famous writers for writing is akin to every old brand in Dongxia having to weave a story about Emperor Qianlong dining there.

It’s just fooling foreign tourists.

The most valuable items on the tabletop were probably the early twentieth-century Coca-Cola bottles; some Americans indeed buy these as antiques, possibly fetching some money.

However, after purchasing them, you might not find such a gullible buyer even in a year or two, costing time as money too.

These bits and pieces of junk naturally wouldn’t have anything worthy of the office lady’s attention.

Something strange is definitely afoot.

Something strange must be happening.

With this thought, Gu Weijing picked up a sketch tube beside him and gently unscrewed the lid.