The Versatile Master Artist

Engaging in some auxiliary research-related work, the daily tasks are quite relaxed.

Especially since the Taylor Art Gallery is considered a large-scale art museum worldwide.

The income is neither high nor low, making it a fairly decent job, with good prospects and stability.

To secure a position at the Taylor Art Gallery through normal channels, one usually must be a graduate of a top hundred art academy in the world.

For a network illustrator from a Third World country, this offer is indeed quite sincere.

”Thank you for the kind offer, Director, but I would like to continue as a professional painter for the time being.”

Gu Weijing politely declined Curator Tangkis’ kind offer.

Such an invitation during the Spring Festival might have seemed like a pie falling from the sky, but after meeting Elder Cao and Uncle Sakai, his perspective has changed.

An entry-level art assistant is not particularly appealing.

Not to mention,

If he can become a closed-door disciple of Elder Cao, he would already have one foot into the history of modern art, and his status in the art circle might even surpass that of Curator Tangkis himself.

”Hey, Madam, to be honest. An art assistant at the Taylor Art Gallery is far more stable than being a network illustrator, with elegance and decency. I can also help you obtain a UK green card.”

Curator Tangkis, somewhat unwilling to give up, continued to entice.

Gu Weijing continued to politely decline.

”Alright... if you ever become interested, you can contact my assistant.” Curator Tangkis noticed that Lady Detective Cat showed no interest in his offer and shook his head dismally.

”Ahem, Director, I suddenly remembered something that hasn’t been recorded yet.”

Anna interrupted Tangksi’s effort to entice the next ”Van Gogh” in her heart, somewhat abruptly changing the topic.

”Curator Tangkis, as per usual, I ask each podcast guest about their favorite painting style. What is your favorite art style?”

”The Academic School.” The director replied without any hesitation.

”Because of Turner?” Anna didn’t seem surprised at this remark.

”Because of Turner.” Curator Tangkis nodded.

Turner holds a place in the British painting world comparable to Shakespeare in British literature.

Especially when compared to the dazzling masters in the painting history of France, Germany, and Italy.

The list of great painters in British history is relatively thin, with almost only Turner as the prominent name, which is pretty much the standard English answer.

”Lady Detective Cat, how about you?”

”Impressionism.”

Anna’s heart skipped a beat.

Her favorite painter was the Impressionist Renoir, and she didn’t expect Lady Detective Cat to like the same art movement.

”Ah, Impressionism, a very popular choice. Do you prefer Degas or Monet? If you like Impressionism, I personally recommend an article for you—Artwork of...” Curator Tangkis was happy to show off his erudition.

”’The Origin of the Artwork,’ a lecture by philosopher Heidegger on Van Gogh paintings and Impressionist styles. I’ve read it, it’s indeed excellent. After reading this, I gained a lot from Professor Koyama Shigeru’s paper ’Brief Analysis of Impressionist Creative Thinking’ at the Tokyo University of the Arts.”

Gu Weijing naturally knew about this article by Heidegger, the philosophical fanboy of Van Gogh.

These past few days, he had been intensively reading papers with Koizumi Katsuko.

Heidegger’s critical essay on Van Gogh’s post-Impressionist representative painting ”Shoes” was of course among the selected literature by Uncle Sakai.

”Oh? You even know Koyama Shigeru?”

Curator Tangkis was slightly taken aback.

Ordinary young art enthusiasts or philosophy lovers might casually browse Heidegger, and having read ”The Origin of the Artwork” isn’t impossible.

But Koyama Shigeru is more of a niche yet famous figure within the professional field, unlikely to be heard of by ordinary people or even typical non-art scholars.

Only those with deep art literacy would have these articles on their reading list.

”What else have you read?” the director curiously asked.

”Quite a lot, Professor Davis Warner from the Rhode Island School of Design’s ’The Still life as a personal object (Collection of Impressionist Personal Static Life Sketch Thoughts),’ ’Analysis of the Origins of Impressionism and Eastern Art’ published in Asian Art, Professor Hunter Lowry’s...”

Gu Weijing rattled off a bunch of articles like announcing dishes by name.

Reading all these articles in a week is quite a challenge.

But Koizumi Katsuko had already highlighted the key points of the papers they might use.

This greatly relieved his study pressure.

”By the way, Curator Tangkis, I wish to ask you a question.”

With a professional curator around, it was a rare opportunity, so Gu Weijing threw out a dilemma he had when reading papers.

”In the article ’Analysis of the Origins of Impressionism and Eastern Art,’ it mentions that Impressionism likes to use more scientific color principles for painting, making the depiction of dark pigments more lively through color blending... does this concept relate to how Dutch master Mondrian stops dark lines a few millimeters before the edge, creating subtle variations at the intersections of black and other colors through minor white space?”

”Uh... well... well...”

Curator Tangkis was a bit bewildered.

Gu Weijing somewhat overestimated the knowledge base of Curator Tangkis.

Professional curators pursue breadth in art, dabbling in various artistic schools.

But in terms of depth, they can’t compare to scholars dedicated to a specific professional field.

This article ’Analysis of the Origins of Impressionism and Eastern Art,’ Curator Tangkis only has surface knowledge of it.

It’s like everyone knows Proust has a big title In Search of Lost Time, but quoting two famous lines to show off is already the limit for a literary youth.

Even a university professor specializing in French literature may not have read it fully.

Tangkis’ nose was starting to sweat slightly.

Admitting ignorance in this situation is embarrassing, and speaking nonsense is even worse.

Damn,

Lady Detective Cat, recognize your own identity, will you?

Aren’t you a network anime illustrator? Do you need to read papers for online illustration work? Isn’t... this field this competitive now?

”Let me answer this question for Curator Tangkis. You are correct that fine blending and juxtaposing of colors, gradual chiaroscuro brushstrokes, and reserved white spaces are a clever way to transition colors. In the article you mentioned...”

Anna softly interjected to help Director Tons out of the predicament.

Today, Lady Detective Cat’s surprises exceeded Anna’s expectations, making her feel her heart rate subtly accelerate.

Anna found it all somewhat incredible.

She understood the monotony of reading papers,

If not driven by sincere devotion and passion for art, for the majority of this restless society, it’s a form of torture.

She sat before the computer, staring for a long time at Lady Detective Cat’s avatar on the screen, as if gazing at her own reflection in the mirror.

On the other side of the screen, Gu Weijing didn’t notice Curator Tangkis’ embarrassment.

Having touched on art styles, and after Mr. Tree Sloth answered his question, he proceeded to ask: ”You mentioned your favorite classical painting school is the Academic School. What about modern art? For instance, as a curator selecting exhibited works, do you have any good suggestions regarding painting types and style directions?”

This was Gu Weijing’s real concern.

Modern painting styles are diverse, with numerous schools, making it hard to say what the mainstream is.

Actually,

If Gu Weijing were to focus solely on Chinese painting, he wouldn’t need to consider style issues.

In essence, the painting styles of Chinese painting are either meticulous or freehand, so it’s challenging to break out of that circle.

Gu Weijing estimated based on his current progress.

His oil painting techniques and sketching techniques, through copying ’Old Church’ and online illustration assignments, might soon break through to Level 5.

His progress in Chinese painting, without systematic assistance, would be slightly slower, but he should also reach Level 5 before needing to submit works for an art exhibition.

So, he faces two choices,

It’s hard to say which is more formidable, a master-level Chinese painter or a master-level oil painter.

But if it’s at Level 5, at least for participation in Western-style art exhibitions in Singapore, oil painting, from a practical perspective, has a better chance of being selected.

At this point, listening to professional advice becomes very important.