The Versatile Master Artist

The screen of the projector displayed detailed information about ”The Beautiful Lady Féronier,” including the creator, the era of creation, art movement, and the museum in the modern collection.

It was exactly as Gu Weijing had said, without the slightest error.

”There’s nothing more I have to say about this painting, so let’s move on to the next one...”

Sitting at the back of the classroom, Gu Weijing noticed that many people were looking at him with astonished eyes.

They were whispering quietly among themselves.

”Wow, a robot, right? Can remember all this, really?”

”Nerd.”

”You’re just jealous, Professor Walter even said he might get into a top seventy-ranked school.”

”The professor is just being encouraging; if you take it seriously, you’ve already lost. Didn’t you hear the seniors from previous years say that without a sufficiently strong recommendation letter, the top school interviewers won’t even bother looking at your portfolio, it’s a fool’s dream.”

...

Gu Weijing shook his head expressionlessly.

Actually, if Professor Walter asked about another piece, remembering the title, creator, and movement would’ve been quite good already.

He was able to provide such a perfect answer by a stroke of luck.

Seeing that Professor Walter seemed absorbed in the courseware and had no intention of asking questions, Gu Weijing inserted a wireless earphone into his left ear.

He took out his phone, opened the official homepage of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and clicked on the most prominent promotional video.

”Louvre Abu Dhabi—an unprecedented great thirty-year adventure in art history, the largest overseas cultural project in French history, the heart of the Arab world’s dreams.”

The symphonic soundtrack began to play.

The video started playing.

A grand structure woven of steel appeared in view, captured from aerial shots taken by a helicopter over this museum built at the cost of nearly ten billion US dollars.

The museum was designed by the contemporary renowned architect, Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Jean Nouvel, built over the water, inspired by a lagoon island named Sadiyat Dao located at the intersection of ocean and desert.

It visually resembled a combination of Dongxia’s Bird’s Nest and the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre.

After a few seconds of aerial view.

The screen first presented the four-color flag of the United Arab Emirates and the tricolor flag of the French government, as well as the official names of the museum in Arabic and French [Arabic: اللوفرأبوظبي‎, French: Louvre Abou Dabi].

Then a brief black screen.

It was as if an invisible pen moved across the screen, revealing new text in gilded script—[Manac’h Gallery]

”Ma Shi Gallery, pioneer in the modern art gallery industry, cradle of artists.”

”Damon Clarkson, Vedik Brit, Leonard Frank...”

The video played like flipping through a physical art book, turning through pages of portraits of artists and images of their representative works.

The title of the pioneer in the modern gallery industry held a somewhat boastful tone for Ma Shi Gallery.

Yet, it was undeniable that this historic grand gallery once had a very illustrious history.

Among the quickly passing names on the screen, many were prominent artists in modern and contemporary art history. Every art student would bow their head in awe before such a list of stars.

Somewhat regrettably, if someone played it at 0.5x slow motion and took a close look at the times these great painters joined Ma Shi Gallery, they would find a concentration in the 80s and 90s and earlier.

Those were the most glorious days of Ma Shi Gallery.

After the millennium, it only sporadically had a few first or second-tier prominent artist agents.

The scene finally froze on the name [Dike Anren].

”This summer, Abu Dhabi, the inventor of modern art galleries, will redefine modern art for you once again.”

The subtitles scrolled by.

The symphonic beats began to increase in intensity and excitement, while the pianist struck thunderous chords in the lower range, and new text appeared on the screen.

”Louvre Abu Dhabi, Dike Anren’s Solo Art Exhibition.”

”Let modern art set sail again!”

The video soon approached its conclusion and started providing details about ticket booking channels and exhibition times.

”How wonderful!” Gu Weijing marveled inwardly, clenching his fist slightly.

In the past week, he had watched this video countless times, but every playback made Gu Weijing’s blood surge and heart beat like a drum, overwhelming him with excitement.

What if an artist had to candidly, nakedly dissect their deepest dreams?

The answer might sound clichéd.

Artists are also human; it’s no more than making money, winning awards, and hosting art exhibitions.

What about their ultimate dream?

Then, the answer might become—

Make a lot of money, sell their work for one billion dollars;

Win major awards, like the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale;

Host a fantastic art exhibition and have the Louvre hold a solo exhibition for them.

This is the ultimate honor in the art world.

If one can achieve even one or two of these, the British might end up being buried in Westminster Cathedral, and the French, given half a century, might have the government propose a move to the Pantheon.

Being able to hold an art exhibition at the Louvre is no easier than selling an artwork for one billion dollars.