Chapter 737 - 337: Rules

"If you want to give me a painting to please me, you have to see if I’ll accept it."

Elder Cao remained silent for a moment, then softly asked, "That Young Gu, doesn’t he know the rules I set before?"

Cao Xuan enjoyed collecting books and art pieces.

Nonsense.

Truly wealthy artists who love art to the core, throughout history, who aren’t partly a collector master?

When Mr. Cao was young, he played with Tai Lake strange stones, collected Ye Zhongsan’s inside-painted snuff bottles, Shao Daheng’s purple clay scent cups. As a youth in Shanghai, he also liked collecting Montblanc platinum pens and various popular snow cream illustration packagings.

These bits and pieces were just to relieve boredom, a refined pastime.

Master Cao’s richest, most serious, and most important collection was certainly paintings.

Mr. Cao loved appreciating and appraising paintings.

He knew their value and was willing to spend money.

He collected art not based on the fame of the artist or the price, only based on whether it suited his taste.

Truly genuine traditional collectors always follow their instincts.

When encountering something they like, even a few strokes by an unknown artist can be worth a fortune.

When encountering something they dislike, even if given a famous artist’s painting worth a fortune, they find it vulgar and annoying to have at home.

Cultural play, cultural play, it’s the "cultural" essence within the painting that matters.

If it turns into a white wax used as firewood, silk paving the path in the auction fight for finery and wealth.

Instead, it falls to inferiority.

Thus, Mr. Cao’s collection list included not only Henri Matisse’s Beauty and Picasso’s Woman Smoking, but also some works that seemed not so "worthy" of collecting.

Since becoming an assistant, Old Yang has seen firsthand.

Elder Cao’s studio constantly displayed two ink paintings.

One was a landscape by the great Chinese painting master Huang Binhong titled Autumn Light, Water Colors, bought in 2007 at Hanhai for 126 million. The other was Heavenly Frost Flying Grass and Trees, obtained by chance from an eighty-six-year-old Daoist in Ba Shu’s Fairy Mountain during a field trip in 1941.

Not counting the mounting, it costs a mere thirteen yuan seventy-five cents.

Two paintings with prices differing by a million times, hang side by side in the studio as neighbors for over a decade, yet both are Cao Xuan’s favorites.

The glorious brushwork of a traditional painting master and the light breezy style of an unknown Daoist are neighbors, which is quite a sight.

What the superior likes, the inferior will surely offer.

Cao Xuan likes collecting art pieces.

Whether from artist friends in the literary circle, various grand gallery agents, or businessmen wanting to establish relations, during festivals, they enjoy painting or buying artworks for Mr. Cao to appraise.

Historically, books and paintings are like beautiful women.

Elder Cao said, even if the painting is stored away and left to gather dust, mold, no matter how good the storage box is, it inevitably has the feeling of "beauty’s youth withering away, the pearl covered in dust harboring sadness."

He’s never simply accepted anyone’s painting carelessly, he only collects what he likes.

If it’s some works painted with utilitarian intentions that look unpleasant, taken home despite holding one’s nose.

Displayed, it bothers him; discarded, it pains the giver.

Rather than be hypocritically stored away never to be unfolded, doing this superficial act.

It’s better to be straightforward; don’t accept it from the beginning, it’s a respect for everyone.

The residence of a grand artist is akin to the high gates and grand halls of the literary world, the mansion of nobility.

Each artwork is like a "selected maiden" from the countryside, whoever enters Elder Cao’s collection list, if it’s a living artist’s work, it represents Cao Xuan’s recognition and brings glory. If it’s a modern deceased famous artist’s book or painting that’s collected and then stamped or inscribed, this story of inheritance is also a kind of added value.

In tales passed mouth to mouth, if an artist’s photo circulates alongside Larry Gagosian, their value rises.

Being caught in media, if someone’s work is praised greatly by Cao Xuan and played with in the living room or study daily, the market price surely increases significantly.

But the fairy mountain Daoist passed away nearly a cycle, his name and background can’t be verified.

Even whether other of his works exist in the world is unknown.

Or Mr. Cao loves him as much as Huang Binhong, hanging a painting by his side that’s passed through a cycle becoming a legend.

With such favor, its value can indeed rival Huang Binhong’s exaggeratedly.

More to say, ten thousand-fold increase isn’t impossible.

The art market loves promoting various concepts.

Unable to buy the grand artist’s work directly, buying works of lesser artists valued by the grand artist that aren’t so "frightening," is also a highly anticipated investment.

Cao Xuan knows he’s a coveted figure; when others gift him paintings, he also increases in value.

After he became famous, he made himself a rule - "Three Not Buy, Five Not Accept."

The so-called three not buy.

When he buys art, he doesn’t buy what panders to the masses, what is inexplicable, or what belongs to lost cultural relics.

The remaining five not accept.

Refers to paintings offered by others for his appraisal and collection.

He won’t accept works with vulgar brushwork, artificial pretentiousness, stale imagery, dreary mood, and those not pleasing to the eye.

Any private collection of Elder Cao is filtered by these principles.

Behind each, lies great depth.

Art pandering to the masses often includes those like various NFTs and star cards as products of hype. Whether they hold investment value is uncertain, but aesthetically, they’re often lacking.

Inexplicable art targets modern avant-garde paintings.

Elder Cao’s view on the entire avant-garde school is mixed, with praise and criticism.