Chapter 733 - 335: Taking Sides (2)

International students are the most important foreign exchange business for Western universities, and also one of the very important sources of income for the entire educational system.

The ideal profile for recruiting international students across all EU member states is the wealthy elite’s princes and princesses.

The belief on the Eastern internet that international student groups are generally wealthy is not a stereotype; the university admissions department’s selection results are biased towards such students.

The university hopes their international students are as wealthy as possible.

They prefer them to immediately buy luxury apartments, drive supercars, and spend high for a few years on campus, boosting the local economy, and then quickly leave after graduation.

The German government certainly does not want the students they recruit to hold German Ministry of Finance scholarships, study at German universities, enjoy local social benefits and educational resources, and then compete for job opportunities with local Germans...

Does the university really think they are doing charity?

Even if it were charity, why would it be for foreigners?

These seemingly advantageous points are actually demerits during background checks.

Of course, such specific scoring standards will definitely not be made public, and not many people know about these things.

Old Yang is one of them.

Moreover, it seems Gu Weijing’s father himself holds permanent residence in France.

In the eyes of the interviewers, students like this have an extremely high tendency to immigrate.

They might end up staying in the country after a few years of university.

There’s no need for Old Yang to make special calls.

With a normal family background score, it’s not easy for Gu Weijing to apply to German universities.

The human heart is as sinister as a ghost realm.

Harming such children without backgrounds is too easy.

With just a bit of manipulation, Gu Weijing would be pouring out gratitude to his Old Yang, while inexplicably getting passed over by interviewers year after year.

Ensuring even Mr. Cao Xuan couldn’t tell it was his doing.

Gu Weijing can certainly study abroad in other countries, go to France, Japan, or Dongxia to attend the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

He just can’t think of studying at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts where Elder Cao resides.

Good schools are plentiful.

But relationships are cultivated, and the bonds between master and disciple can only be nurtured day by day, face to face, with big hand holding small hand.

He cannot study in front of Master Cao.

Even if initially this kid had the good fortune to gain Mr. Cao Xuan’s favor.

Over time, separated by thousands of miles, how can this relationship compare to those old disciples, or be more intimate than Tang Ning who was personally raised by Cao Xuan?

The so-called strategy of keeping those who shouldn’t be here far away is indeed such an open scheme.

"All are smart people, what good calculations."

Old Yang sighed in his heart.

When he hung up that call, he clearly realized that Elder Cao might "possibly" take on a new disciple.

To what extent did this cause a sense of crisis in the current second-ranked female artist in all of Asia?

Even the distant Yangon-based Gu Weijing child might not fathom it.

To keep him away from Elder Cao.

Tang Ning was even willing to promise Old Yang benefits like "gallery co-founder."

A top art critic, a top art creator, a top art market promoter, who can become these three identities in one, is, without exaggeration, the art "God" living in the world.

The unrivaled trinity that makes any major collector kneel and humbly kiss their feet.

Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Turner, Monet had too low a social status.

Merely artists serving the Medici family or the European Royal Court, they lacked the power to steer the aesthetic trends of the upper class throughout the era.

Strictly speaking, in human history, perhaps Song Huizong Zhao Ji came the closest to this goal.

Louis XIV also had a chance to approach this assessment.

He managed to influence the artistic fashion trends across Europe, but his artistic creation skills weren’t impressive, so he can only count as half.

The Shiquan Elder Emperor Qianlong had the same issue.

Song Huizong and the Sun King, both representative disgraceful figures who flaunted their art and lost their realms, likely wouldn’t feel proud of this honor even if aware in the afterlife.

Nevertheless, it also indicates that, in the feudal era where artists served the nobility, only a true imperial ruler could touch such influence.

In modern society, the social status of artists is ever higher, almost becoming part of the elite themselves.

But the entire art market sees vassals rising everywhere; nobody wants such an "art God" to step on everyone’s head. Under such resistance, let alone the trinity, it’s already impressive if there’s anyone who embodies both top art creators and top art market promoters.

Andy Warhol was the flagship crafted by Gagosian, the Pop Art Godfather, yet he couldn’t stay out of the galleries’ influence.

Picasso and Mr. Cao Xuan, having no fixed galleries, made their own way, yet due to this, their financial influence on the art market was somewhat thin.

Damien Hirst came closest to success, ambitiously attempting to break free from Gagosian in 2008, trying to form his own art brand with his team, only to fall amid the isolation by many galleries and criticism by the "Oil Painting" magazine, with his sales prices plummeting.

Collectors who bought his works lost more than they gained.

So, these four top painters can only count as "half-men"; they surpassed the profession of being an artist but didn’t completely merge into one.