"It's a war of words again!"

Wu Tianyuan reluctantly put down the newspaper and sighed: "It is said that the entertainment industry is chaotic, and our collection circle will not stop!" ”

Hu Jianmin said with a smile: "There is no way, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, Guo Qingxiang is also a quick talker, and he unveiled many shady curtains of modern artworks at once." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Because of an article in Wen Wei Po criticizing the phenomenon of "assembly line painting" in the art circle, Guo Qingxiang, a famous collector in Dalian, and Wen Wei Po were sued by Fan Zeng, a well-known domestic painter, for a lawsuit of 5 million yuan for reputation and mental damages. Later, the Beijing Changping District Court ruled against Guo Qingxiang and demanded that Guo Qingxiang apologize to Fan Zeng in writing and compensate him 70,000 yuan for mental damages.

At the press conference on the same day, Guo Qingxiang showed many media reporters the verdict of the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, which affirmed Guo Qingxiang's article calling on "truly qualified artists to devote their main energy to the creation of their works", but believed that "in the name of evaluation, the author's personality should not be derogated or insulted".

Guo Qingxiang took out a photo of Fan Zeng's "assembly line painting" and said to reporters: "On a big white wall, there are 10 large pieces of rice paper hanging at the same time, referring to the first finished product, drawing human heads one by one, and then drawing human bodies and clothes in turn, which I saw with my own eyes, and the photos were also published on the website by Fan Zeng's student Cui Zimo." I didn't criticize by name in that article, because what I described was the impetuous phenomenon in current art creation, which existed objectively and was not right for people. ”

Guo Qingxiang said angrily that the products produced by this assembly line are the painting products that Fan Zeng regarded himself as a "photocopier", and copied and produced in batches according to patterns and standards, which is not artistic creation at all, but a complete "pseudo-art". At the same time, these "industrial assembly line commodity paintings" are packaged as high-priced "works of art", which not only misleads art appreciation in society, but also infringes on the interests of the majority of buyers, which is a kind of deception and foolery.

In contrast to Guo Qingxiang's high-profile controversy, after Fan Zeng's self-assembly line painting photos were disclosed in the media, he was unusually low-key and silent, almost disappearing from public view. The reporter contacted Fan Zeng in many ways, but to no avail.

During the first and second trials, Fan repeatedly expressed his acceptance of court mediation, but Guo Qingxiang refused. In this regard, Guo Qingxiang said: "Even if I lose the lawsuit, I think it is worth it, because I want the public to understand the essence of assembly line painting, improve the public's aesthetics in the process of the whole society's discussion, and realize the bubble in the art market." With my personal loss of more than 70,000 yuan, more people have avoided greater losses, which is worth it. ”

Wu Tianyuan also just heard about this matter, and he is also very interested in this collector, and everyone in this unspoken rule knows it, but no one has exposed it. After all, they all rely on works of art to eat, and Chinese people like to worry about face the most, and people with high status are lazy to say. After all, it's just a few people's behavior.

It is useless for ordinary people to say it, and it will cause trouble, so it has always been a cover-up, and today someone has exposed it.

"This kind of thing happens all over the world, for example, the Indian artist Alexander has become famous in recent years, his works are known for adding imaginative designs to traditional Indian plates, and have been exhibited in museums in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other countries, and the price of a single work is close to $10,000, but these paintings with Gritzky's name are not from him!" ”

"He himself lives in New York, and the paintings were made by seven assistants from as far away as India." I prefer not to draw with my own hands," Gritzky said in a recent interview, adding that it would take him 20 years to catch up with his chief assistant Ryaz. Udin's level, "not being burdened by technical difficulties, gives me relief." ”

Wu Tianyuan was a little surprised, this kind of shameless remarks he heard for the first time, Lao Ren smiled: "The artist who signed the name and the real creator are probably not the same person, and the contemporary art circle has long been surprised by such strange things." Some well-known artists, such as Damien in the United Kingdom and Jeff Koons in the United States, have even openly recruited a large number of assistants to help them complete their paintings and sculptures. According to people familiar with the matter, the rising prices of art and the strong demand for contemporary art are the main reasons for this strange phenomenon. ”

Koons claims that he has 150 people in his studio, but he doesn't have to write it himself. Koons' studio produces an average of 10 paintings and 10 sculptures a year, and in the past four years, six works have been auctioned for between $11 million and $25 million. ”

For others, hiring an assistant is a compromise. Earlier, Pace Gallery, one of New York's leading galleries, rejected a number of sculptures by master sculptor Chamberlain because they had been done by a Belgian creator under the direction of Chamberlain.

The 84-year-old Chamberlain was highly respected in the industry, and his works often fetched more than $1 million. Frustrated, Chamberlain said that the assistant was only working under his direction, and the main ideas were under his control. Eventually, Gagosian Gallery accepted him.

In fact, the practice of employing assistants and apprentices was common in the art world for centuries, and Michelangelo and Rembrandt relied heavily on assistants in their studios. However, with the rise of Impressionism, the practice of hiring assistants gradually became a tool for them to maximize profits, which aroused public resentment.

Traditionally, an artist should have sprinkled his own ideas on the canvas, rather than directing someone to do it. In the mid-20th century, when popular art was all the rage, Andy Warhol's silkscreen prints with the help of workers began to turn public opinion around.

In the opinion of the opposition New York collectors of contemporary art, Mr. and Mrs. Michael, the subtle imperfections between the brushstrokes make the work more precious, and if everything is perfect, the painter is suspected of having someone arrest the knife, and we regard the assistant's participation in the creation as a breach of contract. Once a certain painter invited us to a banquet, and when we accidentally saw that many of his assistants were busy in the studio, we immediately pulled the painter into the collection blacklist.

Adam, an American collector who has a large collection of works by the Swiss installation artist Uss, is not averse to employing assistants in his art, arguing that artists are designing rather than executing works, just as architects design buildings without having to lay them themselves.

Beth, a centrist collector of contemporary American art, for some reason, I like to buy paintings that have been done independently by artists. I know that even young artists use assistants, I understand, but I actually appreciate what comes from artists more. But when she buys art, she never really asks the creator if he has an assistant.

"Tell our people, be original! The quantity can be less, but the quality should be fine! ”

Wu Tianyuan is very disgusted by this, he wants works of art that can really move people's hearts, not handicrafts. Collectors spend a lot of money to collect just to find resonance, although the god-making project is very commercial, but the essence is to recommend really good works to the public to enjoy and collect, this is the fundamental principle. (To be continued.) )