The Versatile Master Artist

Old Yang brought Gu Weijing’s work.

Not only was there a digital version on the iPad, but also a 16-inch printed photo.

Elder Cao was old, but for someone his age, he was still quite clear-headed and sharp-sighted.

He had a slight case of early-stage cataracts and presbyopia, which is a normal condition for someone over ninety, not yet requiring surgery.

Nevertheless, Assistant Old Yang thoughtfully enlarged Gu Weijing’s painting and printed it with the photo printer in the room, just to make it easier for the old man to see.

Elder Cao took the photo in his hand.

After all, he was a great expert,

and under the light and moonlight, he gave it a casual glance, but his eyes immediately lit up.

"Hey, letting him study Lang Shining has really brought out some essence," Elder Cao smacked his lips, secretly approving in his heart.

"When I received the photo, I thought the painting was quite good," Old Yang nodded like a pecking hen.

People say that frequent incense burning can sometimes dye one with a bit of Zen.

Old Yang, being around a bigwig like Elder Cao every day, was inevitably well-nurtured in art appreciation.

Back at the Great Golden Pagoda, Old Yang was too anxious to pay attention to Gu Weijing’s painting.

Otherwise, with Old Yang’s insight, if he calmed down, he would have seen something in it.

Tonight,

when Gu Weijing’s work first arrived on his phone, Old Yang was a bit amazed.

It truly had a few elements of blending Chinese and Western styles, and what was rarer was that it was intriguing without being odd, not seeming disjointed.

This Gu Weijing truly painted something remarkable!

Old Yang knew that Elder Cao would certainly appreciate seeing the younger generation create such works, so he decided to interrupt Elder Cao during his evening contemplation in the courtyard.

"What do you think? I feel that Xiaocui, who the media praises so highly, doesn’t have the skill at Gu Weijing’s age!"

Old Yang lacked Elder Cao’s magnanimity and tolerance.

He was still dissatisfied with Cui Xuanyou for brushing them off on the phone.

"The lighting here isn’t good, let’s go inside and have a look,"

Elder Cao didn’t answer Old Yang’s question.

After pondering the painting for a moment, he stood up directly from the small chair beside the flowerbed.

The old man rolled up the photo and walked quickly towards the house without a word.

"Ah, slow down, sir, watch the steps." Old Yang hurried to open the door to the house for Mr. Cao.

Entering the study decorated in a traditional style, he turned on all the lights.

Since it was already night, Old Yang didn’t serve tea but instead brought a cup of warm goji berry drink from the kitchen.

Elder Cao placed the photo on the table and stood the iPad screen beside it, slowly appreciating Gu Weijing’s work.

The old man was watching very intently at this time.

With Cao Xuan’s discerning eye, most works, whether good or bad, could be seen through at a glance.

But this time,

Gu Weijing managed to create this piece, slightly exceeding the old man’s expectations.

He therefore deliberately slowed down, wanting to carefully see just how much this youngster had improved over this period.

"I told him to learn line drawing sketching, and he actually listened."

The old man’s gaze swept over the printed photo on the table as he occasionally sipped the goji berry drink, occasionally drawing with his fingers slightly over the photo and the screen.

If Gu Weijing were in the study at this moment, he would be shocked to discover that—the old man’s finger movements were exactly the brushstroke details and techniques he used when working on various details of the canvas.

Things he had painstakingly composed by referencing the "Essence of Lang Shining’s New Style Painting" knowledge card provided by the system.

The painting technique his grandfather, Gu Tongxiang, cherished like a treasure.

Elder Cao, with just a few casual glances, was able to recreate it!

Every stroke,

flowing smoothly,

without any deviation.

This was a demonstration of raw skill.

Elder Cao not only surpassed Gu Weijing but even eclipsed Lang Shining along with him.

Old Yang wasn’t surprised by this at all.

To be honest,

excluding the outsider monk’s skill at chanting, and the academic contributions of blending Dongxia art with oil painting, promoting Western painting techniques on ancient Eastern soil,

judging purely by artistic status,

Mr. Cao Xuan really couldn’t be compared with Lang Shining.

And as for painting skills, haha, comparing with Vice Minister Lang’s technique would be bullying the ancients.

Even in the Kang, Yong, and Qian Three Dynasties, Lang Shining’s technique was only known for being "unusual," not famous for depth.

The misfortune of the country doesn’t affect artists, and the prose reaches perfection when it reflects the vicissitudes.

In both art and literature, many areas have commonalities. In the past, artists like Li Sixun, Zheng Sixiao, and the Eight Great Mountains all went through similar experiences of a ruined country.

Cao Lao, as an artist of this generation, during the time of Western learning flowing into the East and major changes in the nation, was naturally one of the peaks in Dongxia’s art history.

Zhang Daqian once proposed the slogan "fierce battle with the ancients."

And in the past, in "Bright Moon’s Comments," the Republic’s art world evaluation of Xu Beihong’s painted horses was "Even if masters Han Gan and Zhao Mengfu were alive, they’d be no more than this, and Lang Shining would not measure up."

This meant,

Mr. Xu’s painted horses, even when compared to the legendary horse-painting masters Han Gan and Zhao Mengfu, would be no different than this.

Paintings by Lang Shining, a renowned Qing Dynasty horse painter, were still inferior to Xu Beihong’s technique.