If there is anything most famous in Myanmar, it must be the Emerald Plate.

In its heyday, mainland businessmen came to Myanmar every year to purchase jade from the public market, with a transaction volume of tens of billions of dollars, accounting for one-third of the Myanmar government's fiscal revenue, and the jade economy was as high as more than half of the national income.

Correspondingly, here is modeled after the jade public plate, there is a seafood public plate for selling fish, a fruit public plate for selling fruits, and a public plate for calligraphy and painting.

When Gu Weijing's taxi stopped, his uncle and a middle-aged man with shiny hair were already waiting at the door of the warehouse.

The middle-aged man wears a brown coat and has two upturned mustaches at the corners of his mouth, which has a smoky brownish yellow color due to long-term smoking.

"Mingra (hello)."

The mustache was very polite, and he opened the door of the taxi for Gu Weijing in small steps.

"Boss Wu, this is the nephew I told you, and the old man wants him to come to see the world this time." Uncle beckoned to Gu Weijing.

"Happy New Year."

Gu Weijing nodded towards the other party.

This Boss Wu is the second-class dealer who sold them the picture of "Kingfisher Singing Bamboo" before.

Today's calligraphy and painting public market was opened by Boss Wu and a few familiar peers, and a few people control many local calligraphy and painting vendors in Yangon, and it is said that they hold a lot of good paintings in their hands.

Several of the larger local galleries and all the well-known collectors who are interested in antiques and old paintings have received invitations from Boss Wu.

The market opened in the morning.

Gu Weijing saw that many people had gathered in the open door of the warehouse, including his uncle.

The business of Gu's Book Gallery in the acquisition of calligraphy and painting in recent years has always been running by the uncle.

Gu Weijing was originally not interested in this kind of thing, but this time it was a calligraphy and painting public plate that was biased towards the old paintings of the last century.

The works of the Impressionists have had a great influence on the group of painters in the past 100 years.

He wanted to see if there were any works that could meet his requirements in the hands of a second-class dealer like Boss Wu, who had mixed works in his hands, and even if he couldn't buy them, it would be good to go back and copy them on the spot.

So after saying a few words to the old man at noon, Gu Tongxiang sent him over.

Maybe it was the problem that I saw at a glance about the painting "Kingfisher Singing Bamboo" before, and the old man appreciated Gu Weijing's eyesight.

This time, he was given a quota of 2,000 US dollars, including the 500 US dollars returned by Boss Wu, and a total of 2,500 US dollars in an envelope.

The U.S. dollar can't theoretically circulate in Myanmar, but the green Franklin has always been hard currency in any chaotic region.

In private transactions, these merchants can give an exchange rate that is even higher than the official exchange rate.

Their family is a foreigner business, and they usually like to collect US dollars.

Two thousand five, plus Gu Weijing PayPal still has some money, zero zero should have been able to buy a good painting.

This is also the confidence that he wants to try his luck here.

"Mr. Gu, right? It's really a dragon and a phoenix among people, amazing! ”

When the mustachioed Boss Wu saw Gu Weijing, he didn't slack off at all because he was young, but picked on the big brother.

This made Gu Weijing a little strange.

Boss Wu is much older than himself, and the business of Gu's calligraphy and painting shop is certainly important to him, but it can't be said that people point to their house for dinner.

Considering that the other party's transaction was not very authentic before, Boss Wu should be polite, but this attitude is already close to flattery.

Doesn't make sense, right?

"Your nephew is promising, he can be taken by Brother Hao. I heard that Brother Hao is very righteous towards his younger brother, and I think that in a few years, Mr. Xiao Gu will take care of me. ”

Boss Wu handed the uncle a Marlboro and personally lit a cigarette for the other party.

All right

Gu Weijing knew what was going on.

This kind of art dealer is bought and sold in black and white.

Boss Wu's calligraphy and painting public market belongs to the business of Baidao, and the real thing to talk about is Lu Ziye, and it is the art merchants who go to the underground black market to make a lot of money.

Many of the paintings in their hands are not known to have been obtained, and they may even be very likely to steal stolen goods, and the stolen goods that are simply for tax avoidance are considered clean inside.

The news of the robbery and theft of art museums in Europe and the United States, especially some private universities or art museums affiliated with churches that are not well-known but have excellent collections, is eager to come out once a month.

It is strange that a famous painting of millions of dollars or tens of millions of euros is not robbed ten or eight times a year.

Interpol estimates that the black market for art is a genuine $10 billion market every year.

The bald boss is the tycoon who engages in this underground black market and fake and stolen works of art.

Otherwise, he would not be very arrogant and said to Gu Weijing, only to work for him, he can afford to buy a Ferrari within a year, and live in a villa within two years.

Boss Wu obviously didn't know where he heard the news, and mistakenly thought that he was Brother Hao's subordinate, which was a little fearful.

"You are mistaken, Brother Hao did look for me, but I refused. I just want to be a painter in a down-to-earth manner, and I don't have the ability to eat that rich meal, no matter what news Boss Wu hears, it's not true. ”

Gu Weijing said expressionlessly.

"Uh...... This one? ”

The mustachioed Boss Wu's expression was obviously stunned.

There is no way for a person like him to get on the road with Brother Hao, and he can't imagine that anyone will refuse the opportunity to make a fortune with Brother Hao.

The uncle, who was waving a cigarette and spitting out the clouds, was also a little embarrassed.

Myanmar is chaotic.

The more chaotic the place, the greater the influence of this underworld tycoon.

Since the news of his nephew being favored by Brother Hao came out, the uncle will obviously be looked down upon when he is doing business, and he actually enjoys this feeling in his heart.

In his opinion, even if he doesn't want to get too close to Brother Hao, it's good not to refuse or agree, there is no need to be so cold and not to give others the steps.

"I'll go, my nephew will refuse Brother Hao's invitation?"

Boss Wu's tone was full of surprise, as if he was looking at a fool.

"Uh...... Our family is more strict. ”

Under Gu Weijing's stern gaze, the uncle finally answered honestly.

The smile on Boss Wu's face immediately turned cold at a speed visible to the naked eye, shook his head, muttered something in his mouth, and walked away.

"Be tactful! The world is not black and white. Uncle persuaded him.

"Uncle, don't stick too close to Brother Hao, it's best not to have any signs at all, white is white, black is black. Mix a drop of black ink in white paint and you'll never get it clean. ”

Gu Weijing disagreed with the uncle's opinion, he shook his head, he didn't want to continue the topic, and was about to walk towards the warehouse in front of him, but he was stopped by the uncle again.

"How much does my dad give you?"

Bo Bo grabbed Gu Weijing's hand.

He actually has no bad feelings for this nephew, and he doesn't have as much opinion about the old man's desire to pass on the family business to his nephew in the future, as much as his wife.

His daughter Gu Lin has a few catties and taels, and he has a sense of proportion.

Obviously, she is neither a material for painting nor a material for business, and in the future, she will be sent to a university abroad to be gilded, and then she can find a good son-in-law.

The uncle is also surnamed Gu, and he knows that the family business passed down by his ancestors will eventually be inherited by someone.

This nephew of his own is obviously the type with some talent for painting.

In the future, if he can become famous and start a family, his uncle will be happy for him.

However, when he saw the thick envelope in Gu Weijing's hand, he was a little uneasy, he felt that this kind of large investment in calligraphy and painting had to come by himself.

"What painting do you want to buy, I'll help you with the staff?" Uncle licked his lips, he had already taken the money in his nephew's envelope as his own.

"It's not much, it's all Kyat."

Gu Weijing came with a mission, and he looked at the envelope in his hand very closely.

He knew that he nodded, and the money in the envelope had nothing to do with him, so he immediately refused coldly, and then stopped talking to Bobodo, and walked towards the warehouse where the public market was located.

Although the public auction of calligraphy and painting sounds mysterious, it is actually nothing more than a public bidding auction.

The whole warehouse is about a few hundred square meters, there are many booths, and the booths are full of calligraphy and paintings and painting tubes, and the origin and introduction of this painting are placed next to it, and everyone has a small number plate when they enter.

If you like this painting, then put your intention price and amount in the small mailbox next to this painting, and the last price is the higher.

Gu Weijing walked into the warehouse and casually took a turn.

He was not interested in other oil paintings and watercolors.

The gaze is focused only on the works of the Impressionist style.

After all, Impressionism is one of the most influential painting schools in modern times, and there are indeed many paintings with Impressionism or Impressionist techniques.

One of the most eye-catching is an oil painting called "Mountains in the Snow", which is a painting from Myanmar brought by a Japanese collector during the Taisho era.

This is also the bid king of this calligraphy and painting public market, and the reserve price of the bid alone is 12,000 US dollars.

From the Meiji period to the Taisho era, a large number of Japanese painters were influenced by the new trend of fine arts, turning from classicism to impressionism, and many collectors of Toei were keen to collect Impressionist works.

In 1921 alone, the collector Kojiro Matsukata personally visited Monet and purchased nearly 20 Impressionist paintings from the other party.

Unfortunately, although Japanese collectors have a large number of impressionist superworks in their hands, the one in front of Gu Weijing is not included.

Gu Weijing seems that the level of this painting should be similar to the master group works of the Singapore Art Exhibition that he browsed before.

Not up to the level of a master.

He unleashed a calligraphy and painting appraisal technique.

Sure enough, there was hardly any too strong mental stimulation.

[Title: "Mountain in the Snow"]

[Sketch Technique: Lv.4 Class 1st Order (4102/5000)]

[Oil Painting Technique: Lv.5 Rank 2]

The real value of the painting is that it was exhibited at the National Gallery of Myanmar as part of a private exhibition the year before, and the insurance policy next to the painting stated that the insurance standard at that time was $30,000.

The artistic value and technical skills of a painting, let alone ordinary people, many collectors can't understand it.

But the more stories a painting can tell, the higher the price it can sell.

How much a collector is willing to spend on a painting depends first on the author, and then on the calendar.

As for the painting itself, sometimes the size of the painting is not as important in the minds of art speculative buyers as the size of the painting.

For example, many of the seals next to ancient Chinese paintings were stamped by later collectors, and if they were famous collectors or royal collections in history, they would appreciate in value. On the other hand, if a modern ordinary person stamps his own seal, it will depreciate, not to mention the value, and if it is not good, he will be arrested for destroying cultural relics.

Not to mention the non-professionals who regard art as financial speculation, even the top art auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's like to use the size ratio to determine the price in the purchase brochures sent to collectors.

For example, Monet's "Water Lilies" series is a symbol of simple truth that the size is good, and the number of lotus leaves is expensive.

The price of a "Water Lily" at the Brothers auction house next door is $20 million, and my "Water Lily" is bigger than yours, so it is better than yours, and it will sell for $25 million!

This "Mountain in the Snow" became the king of this public auction because the collector who once held it was well-known in Japan back then, and had participated in art exhibitions and exhibitions and had insurance records.

The National Gallery of Myanmar, although not a well-known art museum, is not one of those pheasant exhibitions used to fool people into hype.

Many people were talking about the painting, and Gu Weijing estimated that the final transaction price of the painting would not be far off, even if it did not reach the standard of $30,000.

For him, what caught his attention even more was a small, ten-inch impressionist work in the corner.

Because that painting does not have so many stories to tell, it is just an unknown work of a small French painter, so it has received much less attention.

There is a shadow of impressionism in the painting, and there is still a bit of aesthetic style in the painter's brushwork, which should be the work of the painter in the transition period.

Although the reserve price for this painting was only $1,700, which was one-tenth of the price of "Mountains in the Snow", the oil painting technique itself even reached the level of the third level of the Lv.6 profession.

But it's still a pity that it's only a little short of the master's rating, but it still doesn't meet the minimum requirements of the mission.

Gu Weijing came here at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon, and spent about three hours in the warehouse until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, looking at hundreds of works.

Except for those two paintings, there are no works in these works that are even worthy of his calligraphy and painting appraisal skills, and most of them are shoddy.

"It's a pity, after all, it's just a public sale run by a few calligraphy and painting sellers, maybe I should go to the galleries in the diplomatic area in the afternoon to see if there are any fine works...... But even if there is, can people let themselves move an easel to copy? ”

Gu Weijing was a little unsure in his heart.

This is the disadvantage of a country like Myanmar, where the artistic environment and economic conditions are relatively average.

If you are in the art museums of Eastern Xia, Japan or Europe, even in second-tier cities, not to mention the masterpieces everywhere, it is still easy to find one or two suitable works to copy.

Gu Weijing even went around the miscellaneous area.

The paintings and calligraphy in the miscellaneous section are even less interesting, many of them are the work of local students, and of course the things here are not too expensive.

"Huh?"

Gu Weijing noticed that a woman who didn't look like a collector's workplace OL had been wandering back and forth in front of a sparsely populated booth like a pendulum for a long time.

Her eyes were always casually looking at the objects on the booth, and she was holding a lady's bag tightly in her hand, and her expression seemed to be a little nervous.

"You're looking at a painting too?" Gu Weijing was a little curious, and politely said hello.

"Uh...... No. ”

The female ol's shoulders immediately shook unnaturally.

She is not a collector herself, but a translator for the Yangon Department of Tourism, which has recently had a big project with the government.

Many international artists have flown to Yangon.

In the process of accompanying a master of painting to visit the night market of calligraphy and painting, the well-known artist accidentally saw a very good work on a stall.

The master did not stop at the stall at that time, but only promised her that she could take it within 5,000 dollars, and that the more money would be regarded as a reward for the translator.

There was also a reason why the master didn't buy it directly.

The master is the leading figure in the painting world, and he is very distinctive, and there are many people who can recognize the identity of the other party in the calligraphy and painting night market.

If the other party shows that he is interested in a certain painting, then it is very likely that the price of sitting on the ground will only be a few hundred dollars, and the master may not be able to take it for 5,000 dollars himself.

It is this kind of discerning pleasure that other masters enjoy.

Otherwise, what kind of famous paintings do not go to the auction house.

Sure enough, when the translator found the vendor, she only offered $200. Miss Translator was not in a hurry to close the deal at that time, she felt that she could grind it again.

With her knowledge of these local vendors, she was confident that she would be able to cut the price down to $100. Although she is a little greedy, a hundred dollars, ordinary people in Myanmar earn so much in a month.

As a result, a few days later, when she went to the stall again, there was nothing left.

The worker who watched the stall said that everything on the stall was taken by his boss to open a calligraphy and painting market.

The translator searched in this warehouse all morning, and then found her purpose again.

Fortunately, those who have the master's artistic vision and insight will always be a minority of the minority.

In particular, the objects were still placed in the miscellaneous area, and no one cared about them all morning, and the few people who saw the painting also shook their heads and left.

At this time, when she saw someone asking, the female OL immediately became nervous.

She was relieved when she saw the face of a minor, but she didn't have any interest in saying anything to the other party, so she snorted, turned around, and left to the side.

Seeing the other party's nervous appearance,

Gu Weijing felt even more strange.

He glanced at the booth that the female ol had been staring at.

There is a lot of miscellaneous everything on the countertop, and it is placed like a garbage heap.

There was a painting tube, a tablecloth, a couple of pens, two candlesticks, a rusty faucet, and a couple of ...... Coca-Cola bottles?

The label on it reads - [The decoration of the Great Writer's Hotel, three fountain pens used by Maugham to write books, a number of brass candlesticks, three fine oil paintings of the twentieth century, two antique Coke bottles, packaged for sale, with a reserve price of one hundred and fifty dollars. 】

Gu Weijing looked at this label and felt a little funny.

There's a reason why this booth goes unattended.

There is an old colonial-era English hotel in the local area.

Because both Maugham and George Orville have lived in this hotel. The people of Yangon are accustomed to calling it the Great Writer's Hotel, and many Western literary and artistic youths come to stay here every year.

With the increasing passenger flow, the hotel has been modernized on the basis of maintaining the original building structure in recent years, and a large amount of construction waste has flowed out.

Although Maugham and Orwell did stay at this hotel, you can claim that a few fountain pens are used by famous writers to write, just like the story of the Qianlong Emperor who came to dinner whenever he was a time-honored brand in the Eastern Xia.

It also deceives foreign tourists.

Probably the most valuable on the table are the early 20th-century Coca-Cola bottles, which some Yankees do buy as antiques, and may actually sell for some money.

However, if you buy it home, you may not be able to encounter such a big injustice in a year and a half, and the time cost is also money.

With these broken copper and iron, naturally there will be nothing worthy of such attention from that female ol.

There are quirks.

There must be quirkiness.

Thinking of this, Gu Weijing picked up the painting tube on the side and gently unscrewed the lid.

Eat, get up in the afternoon and continue writing. Strive for 10,000 today!

(End of chapter)