Seeing Feng Junshan and the two old men walking in, Zhou Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment and then stood up with a smile, "Yo, why are you two here, rare guest, please sit down." ”

"Hmph, we're here to visit the antique shop, not to find you," Old Man Liu snorted and pretended to turn his head back and forth on the counter, but he didn't even look at Zhou Ming, obviously still worried about the incident the day before yesterday.

Zhou Zhou Ming smiled secretly in his heart, but his face was full of pride, "I see, look slowly, hehe, the kid and Boss Liu are very good friends, if you fancy something, you may be able to get a discount." ”

"Hmph-" Old man Liu snorted and stopped answering, he found out, if he wants to play tricks, dozens of him are not Zhou Ming's opponents.

Liu Xiaoya hurriedly took a few teacups and made tea for the three of Feng Junshan.

Feng Junshan took a sip of tea and sighed: "Yes, this tea is also good tea, better than the ones in my teahouse," he said and turned his head to look at Zhou Ming, "Hehe, you can't run away this time," and then said to his teacher, Old Man Li: "Teacher, I caught you, if you have something to say, just say it." ”

Zhou Zhou Ming smiled and looked at Feng Junshan's teacher with a sincere face, "Old man, what are you looking for me?" ”

"Meet first, my name is Li Guizhen," Old Man Li also looked sincere, and stretched out his hand to Zhou Ming while introducing himself.

Zhou Ming was flattered and hurriedly reached out to shake Li Guizhen, "My name is Zhou Ming." ”

Li Guizhen nodded, groaned and asked straight to the point: "Your ink painting is very good, are you interested in becoming a professional painter?" ”

Professional painter? Zhou Ming secretly laughed in his heart, do you need to be a professional painter now? Moreover, once the painter and calligrapher are linked to the word profession, the taste will change. The word painter was originally an honorific title, and it was generally only those who were skilled and accomplished who deserved these two words.

But now? People who have casually painted a few paintings dare to call themselves painters, but later there are more people who rely on this for food, and even evolved into the nondescript term of professional painters. Not only that, but also according to the needs of the market derived a series of related industrial chains.

Although this old man Li has not yet said his purpose, Zhou Zhou Ming has already guessed that he is not far from ten, and he just wants to sign him as a professional painter. Those who are qualified to sign contracts with professional painters are generally more common in galleries, studios and some art agents, and Li Guizhen should be this kind of person.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou Ming looked down on this person a little in his heart, although it is understandable to participate in this industry for survival or economic interests, but now the art market has become full of copper smell, and these people have also contributed a lot.

Take Zhou Zhou Ming as an example, once he signs a contract to become a professional painter, he will hand in how many works per year according to the contract requirements, and then Li Guizhen will operate his works, and he will get a fixed salary and a commission after the sale of the works, and maybe there will be a minimum guarantee and buyout clause.

It seems to be a good thing for the painter to look at it this way, with the guarantee of life, the work is not afraid of not being able to sell, and if it is not good, it can really make a little famous, if the contracted gallery or agent is strong enough, the financial compensation will be much higher.

But this kind of thing that seems to be beneficial to the painter but harmless is actually very harmful to the entire art world, and may even directly lower the overall level of the art world, because the painters after signing the contract are no longer creating, but completing their homework, anyway, as long as the painting is not too bad, the agent will always find a way to sell these works at a high price.

In order to sell the works of their artists at a high price, these agents do everything in the market and use various means to raise the value of artists.

It is kind to use all kinds of means to hype this up, many people simply invest their own money to carry out false trading, obviously a very ordinary work, sell and buy themselves at a very outrageous price, so that the author's fame will be gained, and if you do it a few more times, the painter with very average strength will immediately become a super rookie.

Some agents have strong strength and a strong network, and in addition to their own external recruitment, they will also cooperate with some auction companies or well-known galleries and painters to carry out joint hype.

As soon as these off-market moves came out, the contracted painters and agents made a lot of money, but those wild painters were not very easy to survive, without the help of agents to operate, it was too difficult to stand out in the field of modern art by their own strength, and only a few lucky ones could emerge over the years, and most of the rest disappeared in the sea of people.

But the irony is that most of the painters who have become more famous and recognized by the public in recent years are wild painters, and it is one thing for these people to be lucky, and the strength is indeed strong, and if the strength is not strong, there is no way to emerge under the pressure of so many contracted painters and institutional painters.

Clear-eyed people in the industry know the harm of professional painters to the art world, but because the interests involved are too huge, ordinary people dare not and have no way to fight against this huge chain of interests, and can only occasionally talk about it, or even think about it in their hearts, otherwise it is impossible for any single person to resist the pressure of the entire chain of interests.

Zhou Ming is the same, he understands in his heart that these people are moths in the art world, but if he really wants to be reasonable, he can't say anything, because signing painters and agents and this market are all things that you are willing to do, not only will they not be illegal, but they will create a huge wealth and output value for the society.

So Zhou Zhou Ming was disdainful in his heart, but there was nothing abnormal on his face, but he directly rejected Li Guizhen's mention with a smile, "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in being a professional painter, if I wanted to do it, I would have come out a long time ago, and I wouldn't have waited until now." ”

Li Guizhen himself is a second-level painter, of course he understands how most people think of them in their hearts, and he has seen a lot of people like Zhou Ming, so he feels that he has a way to deal with it, because he explained unhurriedly with a chuckle: "You may have a little misunderstanding about me, I am a second-level painter, and I also specialize in ink painting, I have my own gallery, specializing in ink painting, and I never use those messy off-board tricks." ”

Monday shrugged, "So what?" I just don't want to be a professional painter, that's all. ”

"I can guarantee that the minimum price of each of your works is 500,000 yuan, and you will only be charged 10 percent of the commission," Li Guizhen said proudly.

This is indeed worth boasting about, because when ordinary galleries operate works like Zhou Ming, the guaranteed reserve price is usually only 10,000 yuan or even a few thousand yuan, but he dares to offer Zhou Ming a guaranteed reserve price of 500,000 yuan. The main reason why he dared to make such a bid was that he was confident in his ability to operate, and he was also optimistic about Zhou Ming's development prospects and the level of his paintings.

In Li Guizhen's opinion, if he offered such good conditions, Zhou Ming would definitely be tempted, so he looked at Zhou Ming with confidence, wanting to see his mental activity from Zhou Ming's face.

But Zhou Ming only felt a little funny in his heart at this time, if it was a month ago, he might hesitate in the face of such generous conditions, but for him now, Li Guizhen's conditions are more like a joke.

And Zhou Zhou Ming despised this Li Guizhen even more in his heart, the fact that the other party only operated ink paintings originally won him a little favor, but when he heard that he offered this condition, he didn't want to deal with him directly, because Li Guizhen obviously treated him Zhou Ming as a fool.

The guaranteed reserve price of 500,000 seems not low, but in fact? Zhou Ming's painting is worth so much money? The day before yesterday, he said it himself at Old Man Liu's house, saying that Zhou Ming's paintings had completely reached the level of a first-class painter. But the guaranteed reserve price of a first-class painter's paintings is only 500,000? What's more, the 10% commission is very low?

Compared with the 20% or even higher commissions of other contracted painters, Li Guizhen's only 10% seems to be much lower, but the question is why does he take this 10% commission? My paintings sell for money because I paint well, and the more expensive they sell because my paintings are more popular, why do you have to take 10 percent?

It's as if without you, Li Guizhen, and my paintings wouldn't be sold!

And Zhou Ming also knows that once he signs a contract, he needs to complete a certain number of works every year, but these works will not be sold immediately, only a part of them will be used to enhance his fame and operate the value of these paintings, and most of the rest will be kept by these agents themselves, and they will be bought out at a price of 500,000 yuan, and when his fame increases, they will be sold at a higher price.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou Ming waved his hand impatiently, "Needless to say, I won't be a professional painter, let alone sign any contracts, and you don't mention this topic again," with an attitude of sending guests directly after saying this.

Li Guizhen was stunned for a moment, Zhou Zhou Ming's reaction was a little unexpected by him, but thinking of Zhou Zhou Ming's temper seemed to be very impulsive, he smiled and no longer continued the topic, but talked to Zhou Zhou Ming about the creative skills of ink painting.

I have to say that Li Guizhen does have two brushes professionally, his age is here, his experience is also here, and he has seen countless works, so when discussing this professional knowledge with Zhou Ming, he is not lagging behind at all.

To be assessed as a second-level painter, five conditions must be met: significant achievements in national artistic creation; He has a certain artistic status in the world of calligraphy and painting; His works have a great influence in the country; His works can enter the international auction stage; His works are quite popular in the domestic collection circles.

If you take it literally, a person who can reach the level of a second-level painter is definitely not an ordinary person. However, if you think about it carefully, these so-called standards do not have any specific standards at all, and the loopholes for flexibility and operability are too large.