The West had oil paintings, while the East had ink paintings.
Because of the economic and national status of the times, the West had surpassed China in terms of cultural influence. They were the first to complete the leap from the West to the East.
From the time the missionaries arrived to the time the overseas students returned, there were hundreds of years of history. During this period, oil paintings at the southern trading ports of the Qing Dynasty were flourishing. Hence, oil painters appeared in the South during the Qing Dynasty.
In the earliest era, the most famous oil painting master was Spoilum.
There was not much information about him on the internet, so Li Du did not know much about him. However, Logan Stanley knew that there was still a lot of information about this artist.
"Spoilum could be said to be the pioneer of the oil painting market in China. He was the one who introduced this art to the people and made it so successful that it could be associated with money. According to my research yesterday, one painting of Spoilum cost ten dollars. "
Li Du nodded. Ten US dollars during the Qing Dynasty. Based on inflation, it could be converted into 100,000 US dollars.
"Spoilum's artistic attainments were very high. His ability to paint portraits was even more outstanding. His business was very prosperous. Even the mayor of Saillon City brought his wife to visit the trading port of China and asked him to paint a portrait of her."
This was understandable. In the art market, reputation meant business, and business would promote the development of art. There would be more fans and more people who would come because of his reputation.
"But what was more impressive about him was his style of painting. He had developed his own style of painting very early on. Look at these paintings, the contrast between light and dark is not strong, but he paid attention to the anatomical structure of the face.
"There is something special about his paintings. He likes to use brownish-gray or bluish-gray to represent the background. Look at this painting, did you notice? The background behind the back of the portrait is lighter than the dark side of the face … "
When Logan Stanley introduced Spoilum, he also helped them to identify the authenticity of the paintings.
After listening to his introduction, Hans asked, "These paintings are all real. They were all painted by this prolific master, Spoilum, right?"
Logan Stanley laughed and said, "Next, I will introduce this point. It is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. It is easy to identify the age of the paintings, but it is more difficult to identify if they were all painted by Spoilum.
"Like I said earlier, Spoilum's greatest talent was that he had shaped the style of oil paintings in the trading ports of southern China. Starting from the 1770s, and for the next half a century, the oil painters there would learn from him."
"They were too successful in learning and imitating too well. Hence, most of the paintings are now under Spoilum's name or called Spoilum's style. Hence, it is not easy to identify.
Li Du said, "My paintings have signatures and dates at the back. Look at this one, the signature is on the front. Spoilum is Spoilum. Spoilum. Spoilum is Spoilum. Spoilum Spoilum.
Logan Stanley shook his head and said, "Spoilum Spoilum Spoilum. Captain Ross. Captain. Spoilum Spoilum.
"If we can't be sure that it's Spoilin's work, will its value drop?" Hans asked with concern.
Logan nodded. "Yes, Stanley's paintings were more valuable. The artists at that time all praised him. For example, John Meares once said, 'Spoilum is an outstanding China artist. He might be the only one in this field in this huge empire.'"
He continued his introduction. It was difficult to appraise Spoilum's paintings, and it required the cooperation of many experts who had studied oil paintings of that era.
In particular, Spoilum's painting style was ever-changing. It could be roughly divided into two stages around the 1890s.
"His early portraits were related to his glass portraiture. The brushstrokes were very flat, and the effect of the facial structure was not obvious. The clothing and the background were basically made up of different shades of colors. There was a strong sense of decoration, and the colors lacked the harmony and harmony of the environment. The painting was more rigid …
"From about 1786 onwards, due to the improvement of painting techniques on cloth, the colors in the clothes began to change subtly, and the tone of the painting became soft and unified. The facial structure and the contrast of light and dark also appeared, and the background also changed in depth. The size and the sense of space of the characters were strengthened, and their expressions and temperament were revealed. The style of the portraits had already become neoclassical …"
"In his later years, his works had already broken away from the Oriental style of using lines to create portraits. It had reached a level comparable to the works of Western painters. It was hard to tell the difference …"
From a professional point of view, Logan introduced a lot of things. Li Du had a hard time listening to him. He had not received any systematic training in oil painting, so he did not know much about it.
Logan was unable to give an accurate appraisal. However, from his professional point of view, these paintings were very reliable. They should be the work of Spoilum.
Spoilum's paintings were popular in China, and China had a deep and profound antique culture. Hence, they were not very valuable. Logan said that Spoilum's paintings would at most fetch a million dollars at an auction. Li Du was very satisfied with the price.
Even if all the paintings were sold for a million dollars, he would still have made a lot of money.
This time, he had picked up a big bargain. Liu Shan Yang was very smart, but he did not know much about the internet. He did not know how to use the internet to investigate the identity of these paintings.
Or maybe he had checked on the internet, but he could not find anything.
In addition, one's foresight determined one's value. Liu Shan Yang was used to wandering around the streets, scamming ten or a hundred dollars at a time. He could not imagine that an oil painting from China could be sold for a few million dollars.
After all, in the eyes of the public, valuable oil paintings were all made by Western painters.
Moreover, Liu Shan Yang only knew that these paintings were old. He did not know that they had been around for more than two hundred years. He guessed that these paintings had been buried in the ground during a special period a few decades ago.
Li Du paid the appraisal fee. Logan signed his name on the appraisal certificate. All that was left was how to deal with the paintings.
Logan had made it very clear that these paintings were for a niche audience. If they wanted to sell them for a high price, they could only sell them to people who liked to collect oil paintings from China from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Li Du asked Hans helplessly, "Do you know these people?"
Hans shook his head.
Li Du said, "Then contact the auction house and see if there are any who are interested in them. Or you can put them up on Face Book or something to advertise them."
Hans thought about it and said, "Actually, there are other ways. I have a good idea. Come and listen."
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