Chapter 722: Competition (2)

A liang of Agarwood costs ten liang of gold.

A small, pure black piece of insect-damaged agarwood, not much larger than a fingernail, takes twenty or thirty years to form. This type of fragrant wood was one of the most precious materials in ancient times.

Unlike the devalued small-leaf camphor wood in modern times.

Authentic antique insect-damaged agarwood from Qiong Dao is sold by the gram, ranging from one thousand to three thousand yuan per gram at auction, with larger pieces fetching millions.

Using this kind of material to prevent insect damage is truly extravagant.

“Isn’t agarwood made by insects? How can it prevent insects from damaging it?” Gu Weijing was puzzled.

“It’s simple. Perhaps the insects are attracted to the wood and eat their fill, so they won’t damage the painting. It’s like those anti-corrosion zinc blocks installed on ocean-going ships at Yangon Port—the seawater corrodes the zinc blocks, preventing damage to the ship’s metal.” Gu Tongxiang glanced at his uninformed grandson and confidently deduced.

In reality, the old man was just bluffing.

He didn’t know the specific use of agarwood, as it’s too high-class. He’s just seen similar information in ancient books, mingling in the art circle for years, having heard of similar stories. The specifics were too distant from his social level, so he could only say something that seemed plausible.

Gu Weijing vaguely felt his grandfather wasn’t very reliable.

He specially consulted Professor Lin Tao and learned they were both like the emperor imagining he would plow the land with a golden hoe.

The small fragrant wood that came with the courier was a gift from Lady Tangning.

It’s not meant to prevent insect damage like the sacrificial anodization method using zinc blocks.

Instead, it’s meant to be burned directly.

In ancient times, when nobles invited literati to a poetry and painting appreciation gathering, they would bathe and burn incense, with beautiful geisha playing the guzheng or pipa beside them.

The aim was to achieve a multi-sensory unity: sight, hearing, and smell.

Only the heat from the flames could bring out the different layers of fragrance in the wood.

When designing this painting, a piece of fragrant wood was burned, creating the illusion of a blooming spectacle that intoxicated all senses.

Even if you are a commoner.

Burning a small piece of gold to view a painting might force one to claim intoxication.

This isn’t burning fragrant wood; it’s burning real Money!

It’s more extravagant than Chow Yun-fat lighting a cigarette with a Franklin US Dollar in “Heroic Bloodshed”!

Literati from Dongxia have pursued elegance to the extreme.

In today’s top art exhibitions, some installation artists design special fragrance systems as part of the exhibition.

Simply put,

this seemingly trendy playstyle was already exhausted by the high and mighty literati during the Wei, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties.

Gu Weijing ultimately never experienced the ancient nobles’ way of appreciating paintings, learning where the small piece of agarwood came from when burned.

Gu Tongxiang pouted, grumbling that it’s too wasteful and showy, then took away the piece of fragrant wood without hesitation.

A thousand US dollars!

Even stringing it into beads seems wasteful of its scraps.

The old man planned to find a chain to secure and hang it on his wrist, showing it off to Old Wu.

His entire antique shop couldn’t find such a fine item, and even money couldn’t buy it.

Hum.

He must make Old Wu salivate with envy!

Before Gu Weijing received the “Hundred Flowers Painting” in the mail, it must have been appreciated by Tangning’s artist friends amid the fragrance.

The rice paper pages had been thoroughly infused with plant smoke.

As the painting slowly unfurled, Gu Weijing could smell the fragrance even without burning any fragrant wood.

The quality of an art piece and the character of its creator are somewhat related, but not entirely. Li Shen, known for extravagant meals and greedy habits in urban legends, still managed to compose the timeless and admirable poem “Pity the Farmer,” praising farmers.

Tang Ning may be narrow-minded in character, but her painting skills are truly excellent.

She created this painting at a similar age as Gu Weijing, and it’s already at Tier One Grandmaster level, earning his admiration whenever unfurled.

The flower fragrance and wood fragrance are merely embellishment, easily imitated; the elegance and opulence are effortlessly copied.

Yet this brushwork is truly exquisite.

In the depiction of plant branches and leaves, the brushwork is rounded, thick, warm, strong, and expansive, consistently maintaining a straight and upright main line, achieving a rounded yet vigorous artistic effect, vividly demonstrating the vigorous vitality of this impossible-to-exist flower tree.

It’s likely that Lady Tangning had knowledge of calligraphy from a young age.

This forceful and strong brushwork, akin to a monk chiseling monuments with sparks flying, is rarely seen in female artists, let alone a twenty-year-old young woman.

Even someone like Gu Weijing, if he attempted painting, would be unable to capture such an experienced essence.

While the flowers on the tree exhibit a delicate elegance akin to the waterways and bridges of Jiangnan, the brush strokes switch to convey subtle beauty, graceful movement, and refined lines, creating a grand scene.

The Tier One Grandmaster brush techniques are no less than those given in the system’s Master Knowledge Card of Lang Shining himself.

In terms of brushwork, they are still two significant levels ahead of Gu Weijing.

Cao Xuan’s greatest hope for Gu Weijing is merely to earn a minor award at the Singapore Art Exhibition, like Best Newcomer Award, or Best Art Creativity Award.

After the millennium, international biennials have established more awards.

After going through the trouble of participating, minor awards with just three or four available are pointless. Instead, there could be twenty or thirty awards, focusing on participation, sharing the wealth.

However, the awards at the Singapore Art Exhibition are absolutely prestigious.

Even with shared prosperity, only the top dozen leaves at the crown of a flourishing tree would be coated, still presenting a significant challenge for Gu Weijing.

Tangning directly won the gold crown at the prestigious Shanghai Art Exhibition amidst a cloud of renowned artists, overshadowing numerous elder painters in their fifties and sixties.

This wasn’t just achieved through adding pungent spices to the scroll or leveraging her teacher Cao Xuan.

It’s genuinely that her painting skills were superb.

Lady Tangning generously sent her work for Gu Weijing to copy face-to-face, demonstrating her grand demeanor.

Burning Qiong Dao Agarwood worth over a thousand yuan per gram didn’t matter to top-tier artists; it was financially equivalent to an ordinary person lighting a mosquito coil.

Yet, the original painting was truly valuable.

Previously, Gu Weijing considered it worth the price of a Porsche 911 sports car. However, given Tangning’s skyrocketing reputation this month at the Xiangjiang auction.

Considering the “Hundred Flowers Painting”‘s commemorative value.

The Porsche 911 sports car has turned into a duplex apartment at London Financial Street.

This precious painting, when heard that Gu Weijing intended to copy it, was lightly sent directly to Gu’s Calligraphy and Painting Shop.

On a darker note, perhaps the female painter expected Gu Weijing to mishandle and damage the painting, incurring an insurmountable debt, becoming a loyal puppet to her whims.

The most likely answer is that she simply doesn’t care.

It was to send the “Hundred Flowers Painting” to you, and explicitly tell you.

A person like you, even if you copied it, still couldn’t achieve its essence.

Gu Weijing carefully hung the scroll along the dangling reflection line in the corner of the wall, studying it momentarily under the light.

He unfolded a roll of rice paper on the table.

Arranged various Chinese painting pigments at hand.

In the past, however hard Gu Weijing tried, he couldn’t replicate the full substance and essence of “Hundred Flowers Painting”.

Tonight, after returning from the botanical garden, he specifically went to Good Fortune Orphanage only because he felt ready to try again.

The height of artistic work is upheld by the triangle of knowledge, technique, and emotion.

The knowledge of painting flowers had been taught thoroughly by Professor Lin Tao.

Their skill gap was vast.

But in the remaining aspect, Gu Weijing isn’t as unattainable, even perhaps…

He now has the confidence to paint even better than Tangning.