"No, it's better than that, and it's far more precious than that. You'll get a show that will make viewers reacquaint themselves with you from head to toe. A person who will regret, a person who has desires, is far more affectionate than the name that sits on the throne of the glittering leaderboard. Not every artist has this opportunity. They can only fall in love with you if they get close to you. ”

"At the same time, you will gain my respect."

Anna said calmly.

She looked directly into Cao Xuan's eyes.

"I won't write a check, but I'll reward you with a genuine smile, if you do well enough."

Miss Elena smiled softly.

The tip of the tooth is slightly exposed.

Scratch the surface.

It's fleeting.

Anna herself is very cold in everyday life, and she rarely laughs.

It's rare to smile like that.

A feudal society is a feudal society.

In terms of gender relations.

There is no distinction between a "civilized" feudal society and a "rude" feudal society.

Both East and West.

Feudalism is all based on oppression.

The so-called enlightened European upper class society has not necessarily less restraint on women's manners than the evil old society in the East.

Just like the whalebone girdle does not hurt a girl's body less than wrapping her feet with strips of cloth.

A lot of the physical constraints are gone.

The remnants that have not yet died remain to this day.

Especially girls from Catholic families.

At all times, including when sneezing, showing teeth is considered "out of control", "rude", "frivolous", "uneducated" and "sexually seductive" and debauched.

In principle, you'd better never laugh, that's fine.

Anna teaches Detective Cat that the essence of pretending to be aristocratic is to always be "tired" on his face, the kind of poker face that seems uninterested in everything.

A true lady is insulated from a rich facial expression.

The kind of backward and backward laughter of North American Hollywood actresses on variety shows is absolutely not allowed.

In doing so, it's almost like sticking "the old lady is a fluffy gorilla" on his face.

This is true even in oil paintings.

Old European theorists have long had a very strange, incomprehensible brain circuit.

They are perfectly acceptable to the female models in the work being naked.

The Duke was able to display the boudoir of Apollo and the Nymph in the most conspicuous position in the drawing-room, and to spend the night exploring it with the king who had come to his house.

Think of it as "artistic".

But a smile is not good, and a tooth-baring painting is even worse, it is too out of place and too "debauched".

To borrow a quote from the French edition of The Virtues of Women, published by the Church in 1705, "The whole reason why nature gives women lips is that they cover their teeth gracefully, and if they show their teeth, then what do they want their lips for?" ”

Madame Lebrun, the creator of Mr. Kruger's birthday present to Anna, caused a stir in the world of Parisian art criticism for her unprecedented smile of a woman of status.

In the history of art, it is called the "Smile Revolution".

Before the late 18th century, all the oil portraits of the nobility that could be found were all of them, all of them were poker faces, without exception.

Ceremoniously speaking, Miss Elena did a gaffe.

Visually speaking, when she laughs, the spring flowers bloom, like ice crystals baked by the fireplace, bright and gorgeous.

Lao Yang thinks it's just amazing!

"One more time."

Lao Yang said in his heart.

His head stretched out like a kindergarten child, looking at the teacher's aunt holding a red apple in her hand for the most obedient child.

This is indeed a more precious gift than a check.

A smile that's so beautiful that it's worth a thousand dollars.

Even if this smile was put together with a check for a million euros, he would ...... Well, he's supposed to pick a check.

Hey, Brother Yang, our main focus is an unpretentious layman.

But if it is put together with a check for 10,000 euros, Lao Yang is still willing to hesitate very seriously.

At the moment when Kataha's auspicious smile disappeared from her face, Lao Yang actually felt a sense of anxiety.

In order to be able to continue to see such a smile.

Lao Yang can tell all the past things about wetting the bed in the kindergarten before.

Cao Xuan didn't seem to expect to hear this answer at all.

The old gentleman looked at Anna with sparkling eyes, and said with a sincere emotion: "What a tough opening statement, and it is also quite a confident opening statement." ”

"Miss Anna, unlike what I've heard before, is so aggressive in interviews. It seems that you don't have any room for a poor old fellow like me to refuse? ”

He said with a smile.

"If you feel offended, I apologize to you and can cancel this interview and turn away. Outside of work, maybe you and I can be friends in another way. But sorry, that's not here. At work, that's my professional attitude. ”

Anna looked the old man straight in the eye and raised her glass.

She leaned forward.

"Although you are old, it is the greatest disrespect to treat you as an old man who needs to be pitied. You are Cao Xuan, the great Cao Xuan, the brilliant Cao Xuan. I didn't run 200 kilometers overnight to have mercy on you. I'm here to do my best to get you to dig out the most untold stories. ”

Anna pinched the base of the crystal cup with her thumb and forefinger, stretched her arm forward, and stopped in mid-air.

"If you're okay with that, we'll have a glass of wine. Salute to the tears that will be shed in telling these stories! ”

"Offensive, no, of course not."

Cao Xuan pondered for a moment.

"It's just Miss Elena, I don't know if that's appropriate, but I have to say that you're more ...... than I imagined."

"Hate?"

"No, it's cuter."

"Mr. Cao Xuan, you too."

Anna blinked.

Maybe because this answer was so cute, Cao Lao finally couldn't help it.

The gloomy mood of a night of conversation with Downing was swept away.

The old gentleman suddenly laughed.

Laughing presumptuously and innocently.

"Salute to the smile you will see, I am an artist, and what better reward than something truly beautiful."

Cao Xuan is a person who pays great attention to health.

He told Gu Weijing not to touch wine, sex, wealth, and anger, and at any banquet, there was no one who could make him have to drink.

The goblet in his hand is often just a gesture and a sip twice.

But this time.

But he clinked glasses and drank them all with pleasure.

"Then let's get started. Miss Anna, how should I get started? What do you want me to talk about first? Want to introduce yourself? ”

"Anything is fine, as long as it touches you enough to keep you up and down, you don't have to introduce yourself. Those who pay to listen to this episode of the show will not know who Cao Xuan is. If you need me to provide an introduction. So let's start with your wonderful speech at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting a week ago. ”

Anna said: "The young man who defeated the artist's curse? I'm quite interested in this topic, and I'm sure that thousands of people who watched the opening ceremony were also interested in this topic as I was. How do you see so many things in a painting? Have you ever felt like you're under a similar curse? ”

Anna remembered what she was chatting with the detective cat on the eve of the annual meeting.

Two completely different paintings are different.

Two kinds of life perceptions from the south and the north of the world, which can't be hit with eight poles.

But the part about the self in it sounds similar to the part in Cao Lao's speech.

"Success or failure, he's himself. Is this a declaration of courage shared by all great painters? I'm very interested in this part of the content. ”

"Well, that's a bit of a long story."

Cao Xuan thought for a moment, put the empty wine glass in his hand on the coffee table on the side, and said softly: "Miss Anna, when you first entered the door, you told me a story about music. Then I will also tell you a story about the 'Oriental Opera' Peking Opera as an opening. ”

"This is the story that runs through my entire artistic career, and it happened in 1935 at the Chen Ji Grand Theatre in Shanghai. Come to think of it, it was almost a hundred years ago—"

Anna sat up straight.

The old man's voice was hoarse and long amid the sound of the piano and the beeping of firewood from the fireplace.

History is coming.

——

Burst.

The last small piece of firewood, encased in smoke, tumbled in flames, and after struggling for a while, consumed all the heat.

The open flame in the fireplace dimmed and gradually went out, except for the charred wood underneath, which still took on a slow-burning red.

Beech has a very light taste when burned, and the disadvantage is that it is far less resistant to burning than oak.

Add wood once and usually only burn for 80 to 100 minutes in a home fireplace.

More than an hour and a half have passed since the interview began.

That's far more than the expected 60-minute interview.

Lao Yang was a little worried, whether Cao Lao's spirit was still enough if it went on like this.

But neither Miss Elena nor Old Man Cao Xuan had any intention of stopping the conversation when they had time to complete the interview task.

The two of them really seemed to have forgotten the interview, just like a pair of speculative old and young looking forward to the New Year's friendship, chatting about the moonlight outside the window.

"—Finally, the awards. I have already won all the international awards. However, I have only won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale twice, not the Golden Lion. ”

Cao Xuan's voice was muffled.

He talked to Anna about many, many things, about his failures in life, about his teachers, about the conversations he had with Picasso several times back then.

These are things that have never been reported in the media before.

When talking about the past of his teacher.

The old man couldn't help but have red circles in his eyes again, but when he mentioned being counted by many media, he thought it was the biggest unsatisfactory in Cao Xuan's career.

Cao Xuan calmed down instead.

There was a sense of relief in his voice.

"Are you going to ask me if I'm sorry...... Probably not. After all, it's not a perfect artistic career. However, Oriental people worship shortcomings, and many times, I am not actually the brightest name of my time. I am a person who has the honor to witness the masters of Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong's generation, in terms of artistic attainments, I dare not say that I have surpassed my predecessors and my teachers, I just live longer than many people. ”

Anna said that if the conversation was good enough.

She will reward the other person with a smile.

Needless to say, it was an extremely good interview.

If sitting outside in the co-pilot's seat of a Rolls-Royce, the impatient deputy, who was already waiting, heard the content of the conversation between the two people next to her.

It is estimated that she will be surprised to cover her chest and faint with laughter.

The interview that was originally flat and formulaic, the interview where the answer to every question was scrutinized and reviewed by the other party's assistant and agent, the interview that Sir Brown playfully waited for Anna to start.

was able to talk about so much bombshell inside information.

This episode will sweep through the art media of the English-speaking world like a hurricane on the seaside.

She would even suggest canceling the podcast.

It's not a stumbling block for Anna, nor does it have anything to do with the high-level struggle within Oil Painting.

Simply because the information content of this episode is too dense.

It's not cost-effective to put it in a secondary project in a magazine, such as an audio podcast.

Want to buy these awesome content for 5 euros?

Hum.

If it is split into a text script, it is enough to publish three or four main issue columns, and it must be at least.

Don't say anything else.

It's just that in Cao Xuan's heart, he still hasn't found the ideal successor who best meets his expectations, not the news that Tang Ning has already set up a successor.

It deserves a cover and front page of "Oil Painting".

However, Anna lost her words.

Since Elder Cao began to talk about the past, Miss Elena has not smiled again.

She couldn't smile in such a solemn and solemn atmosphere, nor could she smile at an old man who had just shed tears.

Anna did not cry with each other for the sake of the effect of the show, either sincerely or pretendly, like many hosts.

She just sat quietly closer.

Slowly stretched out a hand and held Cao Xuan's hand, or rather, was held by the old man's dead wood-like hands.

The best thing about Miss Elena is not her angelic appearance.

It's a girl who is so cold, as long as she wants, she can release the warmth of an angel.

It is more heat-rich than a burning fireplace.

She just sat next to her so seriously, watching and listening quietly, but she could soothe the sadness of the waves in a person's heart.

It's because of this warmth that exists.

Even the regret in my heart is the most painful and undesirable topic for many art masters.

Anna didn't offend the other party.

On the contrary, another sense of friendship that seems to be in essence flows in the air.

"You're really a humble person."

"I still think that I didn't win the Golden Lion Award not because my painting was not good enough, but because of the aesthetic appreciation concept of the organizing committee. This sentence probably doesn't sound so humble, right? ”

"But I would like to point out that the philosophy of art in the Eastern Xia is not a shackle to winning awards. Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee, they both won the Golden Lion Award, haven't they? ”

"Miss Anna, appreciating static art paintings requires more aesthetic accumulation and brewing than appreciating story-based films." Cao Lao shook his head.

"I don't deny it."

Anna nodded.

Questioning the impartiality of the Venice Organizing Committee is a self-defeating or ridiculous thing for 99.99% of the painters in the world.

But whether it's "Oil Painting" or Cao Xuan.

None of them were in the 99.99% range, and Anna didn't care if it sounded offended the judges.

Damian Hirst also complains every day that he can't win the award, which is a mistake and a huge loss for the Venice Biennale.

That sounds like a lot.

"So the last question, the interesting young man you mentioned repeatedly at the annual meeting and in our interviews, can you give me a name for him?"

Anna asked expectantly.

(End of chapter)