The Versatile Master Artist

”Back off, back off. This is a painting from our family, worth several thousand US Dollars. What if you damage it?”

The uncle saw a turning point and immediately drove the crowd back a few steps.

He walked over to Gu Weijing,

hesitated for a long time,

and only then picked up a small brush and varnish, with a complex expression, helped his nephew clean the stains on the painting.

To be honest,

if Gu Weijing wasn’t his own nephew, even he would have suspected whether that female translator was hired by him to perform a double act.

This dirty painting, no matter how he looked at it, didn’t seem valuable.

”Hmm... this painting is quite interesting; it’s an impressionist hand-painted oil painting... indeed it’s different from the other two paintings.”

Someone in the crowd suddenly let out a light sound of surprise, and gradually, more people began to see the significance of this painting.

Those who attended this calligraphy and painting public sale were basically people within the painting industry.

They may not have a high level of appreciation, but distinguishing whether a painting is hand-painted or printed is not difficult for them.

”But this color tone, this subject... this dark theme and the church subject are really rare.”

”If it’s not a rare masterpiece, then it’s just rubbish following the trend.”

Someone gave a sharp and concise evaluation.

Then the warehouse fell into a brief silence again.

An oil painting that can be so fiercely contested, even those who don’t understand paintings know whether it’s a treasure or trash.

Not to mention that a good artwork has a kind of universal appeal.

As Gu Weijing used a small brush to clean off the dust on the canvas, the intense yet subtle changes of light and shadow during stormy weather, the leaping candlelight casting hazy and uncertain diffused colors on the glass, revived with new vitality as the dust cleared away.

Everyone immediately felt intuitively that this painting was at least beautiful and harmonious.

Boss Wu’s face turned green at this moment.

Merchants are profit-driven. Seeing a masterpiece oil painting right by his side, only to treat it as trash, was heartbreaking beyond monetary loss.

”Young man, you are remarkable!”

The old man with a thermos cup stared at the painting for a long time, ”This painting is truly beautiful, though I actually... still can’t quite understand how this painting expresses its qualities; it’s clearly stormy weather, but it has a warm feeling.”

He lifted his head, looked directly into Gu Weijing’s eyes, and held out three fingers.

”A painting I can’t understand already means the piece’s value. I’ll offer thirty thousand dollars; the painting will be mine. How about it?”

Boom...

The crowd suddenly erupted.

In just a few minutes, the price jumped ten times from two thousand five hundred dollars.

Thirty thousand dollars, this price directly exceeded the auction’s top price today. This amount could buy some mid-to-low-end Picassos.

Picasso painted tens of thousands of works in his lifetime, with a huge circulation in the market; many works aren’t as expensive as people think.

Monet’s worst paintings generally fetch at least a million US Dollars, while Picassos might be bought for thirty thousand dollars.

The moment the old man with the thermos cup quoted this price, everyone knew that the young man representing Gu’s Painting and Calligraphy Gallery had discovered a treasure today.

Such stories are always the most envied in the gallery industry, enough to circulate for several years.

But envy is useless; who told them they didn’t have the same vision?

”Old Gu’s grandson, really capable!”

The crowd burst into waves of exclamations. Just a few minutes earlier, they’d called Gu Weijing a clueless kid and a spendthrift.

Such is the reality of people’s attitudes.

Boss Wu’s face twisted; the more valuable the painting was, the more it stabbed at his already bleeding heart.

”Sorry, I’m not selling it.”

What surprised people even more was that Gu Weijing remained indifferent.

He certainly wasn’t willing to sell,

If he sold the painting, what would he imitate, and Gu Weijing didn’t think the painting was worth only thirty thousand dollars.

The uncle’s lips trembled slightly, but in the end, he said nothing.

”Alright, whenever you decide to sell the painting, you can come to me.”

The old man handed the painting back with both hands.

Thirty thousand dollars is not a small amount.

After all, there are too many 20th-century Impressionist paintings; purely buying on painting skill, thirty thousand isn’t high and isn’t low.

If this painting wasn’t signed, the old man might even be willing to add some money to take a gamble. If it could be traced back to a work by a name family, then it’d be a huge profit.

But unfortunately, this is a painting by a female artist.

He also handed over a business card. ”Thirty thousand dollars, I’ll put this offer here; whenever you say the word, I’ll buy it.”