The Versatile Master Artist

”What’s wrong?”

Koizumi Katsuko tilted her head and asked back.

”Van Gogh is a Post-Impressionist artist; Post-Impressionism places more emphasis on the artist’s subjective perception of the painting subject. Van Gogh’s painting style is a result of his tragic and fateful life along with his madness. But the emotional style of this painting is not similar.”

”Emotional style?”

Koizumi Katsuko frowned lightly.

”The two have similar painting styles, but the emotions they contain are different. Van Gogh’s works are characterized by night-time frenzy and hallucination, while the ’Old Church on a Stormy Day’ is grand and passionate during a stormy day.”

”Shengzi, think back to your intuitive feelings towards the works of these two artists. Do you really feel that they have the same emotions?”

Koizumi Katsuko bit her lower lip lightly, falling into thought.

No, they’re not the same.

She was originally very sensitive to the abstract concept of ’beauty,’ and soon had an intuitive answer in her heart.

But why?

Koizumi Katsuko clearly analyzed the pigment and composition of both artists; both depict a dark night sky, both use a style composed of shattered long and short lines and numerous color dots.

Similar formulas and similar brushwork should logically yield similar results.

But why are the emotions of the two paintings different sometimes?

She had been puzzled by this.

Just as Koizumi Katsuko had been very confused, even though when she copied that work ’Old Church,’ her pigment formula was more precise than Gu Weijing’s, and her brushwork was more detailed and restored, she ultimately couldn’t replicate the rainy weather feeling of Gu Weijing’s painting.

”Can you teach me how you appreciate this painting?”

Koizumi Katsuko looked at Gu Weijing with bright eyes, filled with yearning.

It was then that Gu Weijing noticed that Miss Shengzi’s eyes weren’t pure black; due to her mixed heritage, they were like dark paint mixed with a little ultramarine blue, appearing lavender-like when viewed up close.

”It’s hard to explain clearly.”

Gu Weijing looked away, concentrating on thinking.

”If we dissect academically, the difference in perception between the two artists’ works should be due to the sharpness of the pigments and the combination style of the color dots; small differences accumulate to create macro discrepancies. However, I actually think using emotional understanding is better.”

”Emotional understanding.”

Koizumi Katsuko repeated Gu Weijing’s words one by one, sounding like a puzzled cat.

”I don’t quite understand.”

”Empathy — it’s the foundation of emotions, that’s my insight.”

Gu Weijing softly said, ”If an artist wants to reveal their emotions in their works, the foundation to achieve this step is empathy.”

”Empathize with the work, empathize with the subject matter, empathize with the world.”

”Historically, Mr. Van Gogh’s mental state was sometimes good, sometimes bad. When he painted the famous ’Starry Night,’ he was living in the Saint Remi Mental Health Clinic, receiving treatment. Van Gogh once left a famous quote — For art, I took risks with my life; because of it, half of my sanity collapsed.”

Gu Weijing said, ”For this reason, even a tranquil night sky, within Mr. Van Gogh’s understanding of his mental world, is turbulent, rolling, stirred, and restless.”

”But this ’Old Church’ is different. I believe this artist Carol certainly wouldn’t be tormented by life like Van Gogh. In the artist’s understanding, the world is warm, and even a stormy day becomes mild due to her empathy. Warm candlelight provides people with the power to dispel unease...”

Gu Weijing recalled his feelings while painting.

Koizumi Katsuko listened quietly.

While Gu Weijing was surprised by Koizumi Katsuko’s seriousness and effort, Koizumi Katsuko was also amazed at Gu Weijing’s understanding of emotions.

This emotionally intuitive recognition made her feel somewhat ashamed.

”Moreover, I have better evidence to illustrate this point.”

Gu Weijing took his iPad from the backpack he had placed on the cabinet and unfolded the tablet on the table.

”I found the church archives left behind from that time.”

In the 19th century, the Roman Curia issued religious paper products for missionaries to use. Whether it was the ’Bible’ or the registers, they were all printed with high-quality, thick paper mixed with plant fibers from an old paper mill in Florence, Italy.

When the missionaries evacuated due to war, these documents were wrapped in moisture-proof oil paper, stored in sturdy iron boxes, preserved well, with the handwriting still clear.

But after all, they are centuries-old items. To prevent damage from repeated handling, Gu Weijing scanned all the printed products into PDF electronic versions using the scanner for treating paintings and drawings in the gallery after obtaining them from the gatekeeper Ah Lai.

He lit the iPad screen and pulled up the documents.

”Church records.”

Koizumi Katsuko’s eyes brightened: ”Is there any information about Lady Carol?”

”I’ve found three different clues in total within the documents.”

Gu Weijing located the pages he had marked.

”The first appearance of Carol was as an elderly lady from Yangon; after being baptized in church, she chose the Western name Carol.”

”Local elderly lady.”

Koizumi Katsuko sniffed: ”I think the probability is small that it’s her.”

”I think so, too. Moreover, the record shows she was already 59 years old at baptism. It shouldn’t be her.”

”The second Carol was the wife of a British businessman. I only found this name in the preaching lists from July 1865 to last September. There’s no more information... Personally, I feel the likelihood is small for this lady as well. In 1865, although Monet, Degas, and Renoir these Impressionist pioneers had formed their own art style, it was still too early to be transmitted to Myanmar.”