The Versatile Master Artist

However, this makes it even more difficult.

This style of fusion painting, Lin Tao has never tried before.

It’s not that he can’t paint it.

But given Lin Tao’s status, he naturally cannot hold himself to ordinary standards.

Among the artists in the Dongxia art circle, those who have integrated traditional Eastern elements into Western oil painting the best are probably three people.

According to Professor Lin Tao’s self-assessment.

In terms of grasping Eastern aesthetic imagery, he is not as good as Zhao Wuji; in terms of combining ink structures with Western colors, he is not as good as Wu Guanzhong; in terms of the neatness of lines and adaptation of oil painting brushstrokes, he is also not as good as the great painter Zhu Nai Zheng, who has decades of calligraphy experience.

After all, he is the eldest disciple of Elder Cao still living today.

If he can’t do the best or paint something characteristic of his own,

it might just seem like a poor imitation.

The higher the status, the greater the pressure.

”After all, he’s a young lad, unaware of the vastness of the world.”

Lin Tao found it somewhat amusing.

In his view, this painting was overly ambitious.

Just like a child trying to wield two heavy iron hammers, stumbling around, it inevitably brings a smile.

The two different artistic styles of Chinese Painting and Oil Painting collided, leaving the entire picture disjointed.

However, the layout of the painting and the brushwork are quite well-arranged, surprisingly delightful.

At least, Lin Tao thought Gu Weijing’s overall painting skills had improved significantly in this one month.

This news should be shared with the teacher.

He thought about it and instead of privately sending it to Elder Cao, he forwarded the photo to the student group.

”This was painted by a young guy who wants to participate in the art exhibition. What do you think?”

Lin Tao typed.

”The style is quite fragmented, though the flaws don’t overshadow the virtues. The brushwork is well-done, the lines on the figures are very precise, and even the small details are well-handled. If the painter is still a student, the future is promising.”

Third junior sister Wei Yunxian replied first.

”This kind of painting style, and again a young person, is it an early work of Cui Xiaoming, the son of Cui Xuanyou from Xiangjiang Gallery?” Wei Yunxian asked.

”Is he that young painter who had an exhibition at twenty? I saw his painting a few years ago. Purely in terms of brushwork, it wasn’t much better than this painting, but the overall feeling was much more harmonious. Now, one of Xiaocui’s paintings can sell for thirty thousand dollars, right?”

Lin Tao shook his head.

The path of fusion painting is too difficult.

Among all the young new-generation painters of the current era, Lin Tao could only think of Cui Xiaoming as a young talent attempting this route.

To aptly describe this young painter, one might say he is the ”ten-year-older version of Koizumi Katsuko.”

Cui Xiaoming shares many similarities with Koizumi Katsuko.

His father, ”Da Cui,” is the Germany-born Chinese artist Cui Xuanyou, and his mother is a German oil painter known for realism.

This created for him innate conditions superior to most ordinary art students.

It is said that when he was young and couldn’t yet speak, he was already wielding calligraphy brushes dipped in oil paint across painting boards.

Similar to native language education.

A spiritually gifted child purposefully exposed to such a fusion of cultures by his parents, nurtured specifically towards the direction of fusion painting during his growth phase, would more easily blend the two painting techniques without being constrained by boundaries.

Whether you call his parents’ artistic educational strategy shrewd or keen,

the effect is significant.

Today, although Cui Xiaoming’s painting skills may not be overly distinguished among professional painters,

just with his fusion painting technique, his fine works have now reached a level where they sell for thirty thousand dollars.

This figure is already very high.

The profession of a painter is like a steep pyramid, where artists who make big money earn faster than bank robbers, but to ordinary painters, a deal worth one or two thousand US Dollars is considered a big deal.

Many people have no conception of a painter’s professional income.

Take the Hurun Art Rich List as an example, the top ten Dongxia artists on the list each have works that fetch over 500 million RMB annually quite often, almost hitting a billion year after year.

For the top artists, being personal worth over a billion is almost a given.

But at the bottom of the list, there are also those who ”only” manage to sell a bit over a million.

During some years when the art market is quite cool, even selling around eight or nine hundred thousand RMB for all working pieces that year might get you into the list.

And this is one of the largest art markets globally, comprising the top 100 practitioners worldwide across art and painting.

Considering Xiaocui is only in his twenties.

The market generally perceives that as long as he continues down the path of fusion painting for a few more years, surpassing his father Da Cui in market value is just a matter of time,

his prospects are boundless.

”It’s not him? Which other student dares to challenge meticulous oil painting without realizing how formidable it is?”

Wei Yunxian’s words carried a hint of meaning: ””Should I say he doesn’t know his limits, or commend him for his courage? This path is tough to walk.” ”

”Who painted it?”

Junior sister Tang Ning succinctly asked.

”@Tang Ning. Next month there’s your spring auction solo exhibition in Xiangjiang, right? Let’s set a time to meet then. Here’s wishing Junior Sister Ning’s solo exhibition a transaction volume exceeding two hundred million Hong Kong Dollars.”

Seeing the rather busy junior sister pop up, Wei Yunxian tagged her.

”Sure, let’s arrange it then. Also, wishing Senior Sister great success at the Paris solo exhibition in Kleerze Gallery this year.”

Junior sister Tang Ning brought the conversation back to Gu Weijing’s painting.

”@Lin Tao, who painted it?”

She seemed particularly interested in this question.

”An excellent student from Brother Lin’s studio, right? The kid should focus on painting Oil Painting or Chinese Painting solidly. With this level, it’s not difficult to participate in the student group of the Capital City Art Exhibition. This style isn’t something he can master now.”

Wei Yunxian speculated.

”The student group isn’t enough; Elder Cao has expectations for him to win an award on the master level at the Singapore Biennale.”

The group was silent for more than a dozen seconds.

”@Lin Tao, is it that... kid from Myanmar?”

Wei Yunxian inquired.

The bet between Elder Cao and Gu Weijing was only known within a small circle, but naturally, these few students knew.

”Yes, it’s Gu Weijing’s painting.”

”It looks somewhat interesting, but only outstanding in the ordinary sense. Far from Xiaoning’s age level, Xiaoning, what do you think?”

Since the news that Elder Cao might be adopting another disciple, Wei Yunxian had been curious about how her junior sister, coming from a Jiangnan calligraphy and painting family, felt about it.

Rarity is precious.

Being Elder Cao’s personal disciple is almost the most prestigious gold-lettered signboard in the Asian art circle.

Naturally, the fewer, the more valuable.

Facing the possible sudden appearance of a junior brother,

disciples like Lin Tao and Wei Yunxian, who are a bit older, felt a bit strange but could accept it.

The one facing the biggest ”loss” would be the junior sister Tang Ning.

The meaning between ”close-door disciple” and ordinary disciple is forever different.

Even in modern Western student-teacher relationships, the youngest student of a star professor in a lab often garners special prestige.

In a more intimate Eastern disciple system, a close-door disciple is often the Most favored by the teacher.

Elder Cao’s eldest disciple has already passed away, and who the close-door disciple is almost becomes the de facto successor of Elder Cao.

If anticipated correctly,

also the heir of artistic legacy.

Like it or not, objectively, speculative collectors prefer hyping up various concepts and stories with art pieces.

The identity of a close-door disciple might not double the market price of Junior Sister Tang Ning’s works, but a base price increase of ten to fifteen percent is very real.

Upon learning of Elder Cao’s decision, Junior Sister Tang Ning’s inner feelings must be quite complex and hard to express.

”Overreaching, wanting to run without learning to walk first. Just mastering Elder Cao’s Chinese Painting can take a lifetime.”

True to expectation,

Tang Ning’s tone carried slight displeasure.

”But I don’t see it that way. If you want to be a painter, without the courage to innovate, you might as well become a paint worker. If he can only mimic me and Cao Xuan his whole life, it would be disappointing instead. This kid suits my taste much better. In this, you all don’t measure up to him.”

No one rebutted this sentence,

because the speaker was Cao Xuan himself.