The Versatile Master Artist

And this painting,

though Hanks believes the brushwork is slightly immature, in a place like Singapore, choosing the appropriate painting technique may be more important than the artist’s own skills.

It’s not really impossible for this kid to pick up a small award.

"Not only that, Mr. Cao Xuan’s oldest disciple, Mr. Lin Tao from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, also greatly appreciates Gu Weijing and wants to take him on as a disciple."

"Lin Tao, ranked 43rd on the Hurun Artist Rich List last year, really? Are you sure it’s as a disciple?"

The agent’s astonishment at Gu Weijing’s networking ability was beyond words.

Elder Cao’s youngest student and Uncle Sakai’s potential son-in-law?

He calculated slightly in his mind and couldn’t help but lick his lips.

"Finally, Gu Weijing is co-writing a paper on dark-toned Impressionism with my daughter. I am confident that this paper will be published in top AHCI journals such as ’Asian Art’."

Now is not the time to show modesty as a virtue.

With some ability, one must showcase some ability.

Mrs. Sakai laid out Gu Weijing’s strengths one by one before Hanks.

Even the paper was not overlooked.

"He has not only potential in painting but also academic potential. In the past half-century, intellectual painters capable of pursuing an academic path have become increasingly valuable. These strengths are things your so-called ’famous mid-level artists’ cannot achieve."

Hanks began to fall silent.

He realized that before coming here, he hadn’t done enough background research and may have underestimated this young painter’s potential.

If Gu Weijing can indeed win an award at the art exhibition, along with all this other information.

The price written on the contract by Mrs. Sakai still seemed very high, but it was already starting to be worth considering.

"Is there any insider information? For this year’s Singapore Biennale, does he have a special invitee’s entry channel?"

Hanks thought for a moment.

Now, he did not dare to underestimate Gu Weijing’s networking channels.

"I don’t think there’s a need for that; participating on one’s own merit is the most valuable achievement."

Mrs. Sakai raised an eyebrow, acting as if she disdained to engage in these small tactics.

Such high-sounding rhetoric, Hanks just listened casually; he didn’t believe it.

"Well... the competition at this year’s Lion City Art Exhibition is indeed very intense, and external channels are quite difficult."

He thought about it and still shook his head.

"With the current level of Gu Weijing’s painting, without outside help, I don’t think it’s certain he can even compete in the master group of the main exhibition area."

"He still has several months to improve his work; there’s at least a seventy percent chance he’ll be selected for the master group."

said Mrs. Sakai.

"But the chance of winning is less than thirty percent," Hanks shrugged, "Madam, you’re offering an empty check."

"A thirty percent chance is a profit for you; a seventy percent chance, you don’t lose anything."

Mrs. Sakai lightly crossed her legs, taking control of the conversation, "If your gallery is willing to use its network resources to help Gu Weijing gain higher exposure during the competition, then I believe his chances of winning are far more than thirty percent. Otherwise, why wouldn’t we wait until after the exhibition to set a higher price?"

The biennial is not just a battle between different artists.

A high-end exhibition is also a battle between different galleries regarding publicity and resources.

Many people may have read about professional PR teams lobbying at the Oscars or the Venice Film Festival in gossip tabloids.

In fact, the famous Venice Film Festival is a sub-unit of the Venice Biennale.

In traditional serious painting exhibitions, the operating logic is similar.

Painting art exhibitions are relatively purer than film exhibitions.

Naked monetary transactions rarely occur, but there are far more ways to influence the organizing committee than financial bribery alone.

First of all, during the exhibition, powerful galleries can hire art critics through the internet and traditional print media to write articles to create momentum for their artists.

Many collectors and art enthusiasts subscribe to renowned art newspapers, such as ’Art Expo’, ’Art Review’, and ’Oil Painting’.

These large media outlets push special articles to their paid subscribers daily or weekly.

For example,

even if the small gallery owned by Gu Weijing’s family is just a makeshift grocery store, they still subscribe to the ’Oil Painting’ magazine membership on time, just like a graphic design company subscribing to the Adobe Suite.

Something akin to a staple.

In the 75 Euros monthly membership fee paid by Gu Tongxiang, besides accessing the relevant information in the buyer’s guide section,

the editorial department of ’Oil Painting’ also sends a weekly email news piece to Mr. Gu’s registered email account every Wednesday.

This email contains important art industry news and professional art analysis selected and written by senior editorial columnists, including relevant investment advice and new evaluations of certain noteworthy artists.

The influence of these commentary articles is significant.

The long-standing ’Oil Painting’ magazine, which is financially robust, as a big brother in this industry, aside from the subscription fee, does not accept collaborative advertorials.

Most other art media do accept such collaborations.

Especially free electronic media, earning relies on business cooperation.

If Gu Weijing wants to participate in the Lion City Art Exhibition, and if he had sufficient resources,

he could publish corresponding laudatory articles in media like the ’Lion City Art Observer’, which has a considerable readership in Singapore, to exert external influence on the organizing committee.

This comes with a clear price: fifty thousand Singapore Dollars, approximately 35,000 US Dollars per email news issue.

If you’re willing to spend, mainstream mass politics news print media advert with no special location costs about 50,000–60,000 USD per issue. For 100,000 USD, you can secure a double-page spread at the start of ’Daily News Weekly’.

There’s also a more high-end approach.

A grand gallery like Ma Shi usually hosts ’hospitality receptions’ in high-end hotels or simply rents a castle or Blue Water Courtyard to invite renowned art critics, collectors, and authoritative figures from the industry.

The usual reception standard is over 3,000 USD per person; inviting a hundred people for an evening costs about thirty thousand dollars.

Throwing money at it doesn’t necessarily guarantee an award.

Not spending the money doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get an award.

But the probability of winning between the two scenarios is really not on the same level.

The operational rules of the gallery industry are often ridiculed by the media as — Money can talk.

Galleries use oceans of money to promote their artists, and collectors then use their money to chase after famous great painters, bringing profit to gallery owners.

In everything,

as long as you’re willing to spend to ’lubricate’, there is little you cannot obtain.

Maybe the Venice Biennale, one of the most important exhibitions in art history, can remain aloof in the face of money, but in an emerging exhibition like the Singapore Biennale,

to put it bluntly,

if there’s indeed an artist and his gallery willing to invest tens of millions of dollars to exhibit here.

No matter the quality of the work, just this investment alone, not awarding them a gold prize would make the organizing committee feel embarrassed.

After learning that Gu Weijing wanted to participate in the Singapore Art Exhibition, Mrs. Sakai targeted the publicity channels of the Ma Shi gallery.

Anyway, an international gallery like theirs, with major branches across continents, always has an astronomical public relations budget every year.

Leaders like Gagosian, Lisson, and PACE, have budgets in the tens of millions of Euros.

If they don’t spend these budgets, it’s like wasting them, so why not support Xiaogu in winning a little prize too?

A shared benefit,

Mrs. Sakai believes she is simply a strategist!

While Mrs. Sakai discussed the contract details with Hanks, Gu Weijing didn’t speak up.

He knew that Miss Shengzi’s mother understood the industry far better than he did.

What she said carried more weight than what he could say.

Gu Weijing quietly looked at the copy of the contract Hanks had just given him, focusing intently on the pages regarding ’artist rights and obligations’.

For mid to lower-tier artists, their first contract usually wouldn’t impose too many restrictions.

Artists at this level need to solve the problem of surviving in the most diverse ways.

In fact, within the industry, after signing with a gallery, it’s common for little artists to secretly sell their paintings online to earn extra income.

Galleries usually turn a blind eye to such small earnings.

But Gu Weijing didn’t want to play with fire like that.