Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 695: The Master’s Early Practice Works

Afterwards, Chen Yiyang and Liu Qiangxi discussed many details and finalized the basic cooperation framework.

The next day, Chen Yiyang informed Liu Xiaoyue to dispatch a team to the Imperial Capital to officially start negotiations with Jindong.

Since the main direction of cooperation with Liu Qiangxi had already been set, Chen Yiyang temporarily did not need to pay attention to subsequent matters.

He and Zhang Yuling both had some free time these days, so they decided to visit an auction house in the Imperial Capital to check out the recent paintings and calligraphy auctions.

Because it wasn't the auction peak season, the artworks auctioned at the venue were mostly not very valuable paintings.

"The painting currently being auctioned is an early work by Mr. Chen Danqing, with a starting price of ten thousand."

The auctioneer displayed a somewhat immature oil painting, provoking quite a bit of interest in the auction house.

Chen Danqing is a contemporary painter, born in '53, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in '80, and has held exhibitions in various countries.

He is considered a world-class master.

Chen Danqing produces a limited number of paintings, but once a painting is made and put up for auction, the selling price usually reaches the billion mark.

For example, his painting "Shepherd" was auctioned in '21, and in the last few seconds, the final price soared to 1.4 billion, amounting to a total of 1.6 billion RMB after commission.

This is the highest price ever achieved for contemporary oil paintings in Huaxia.

Therefore, when people at the venue heard the auction house was starting to auction an early practice piece by Master Chen Danqing, they immediately became attentive.

Chen Yiyang doesn't understand oil paintings, but with beauty by his side, he realized he hadn't often given gifts to Zhang Yuling.

So he decided to raise his hand and bid on it as a gift for Zhang Yuling.

However, by the time he raised his hand, the price had already reached one hundred thousand.

Chen Yiyang added ten thousand to bid one hundred ten thousand, but was quickly surpassed by others.

Just as Chen Yiyang was about to add another ten thousand, he was stopped by Zhang Yuling at his side.

"What's wrong?" Chen Yiyang looked at Zhang Yuling.

"This painting doesn't seem right."

Since they were inside the auction house, it wasn't convenient for Zhang Yuling to say much, so she merely signaled Chen Yiyang to stop bidding.

Thus, Chen Yiyang had no choice but to refrain from bidding further.

Ultimately, this early practice piece by Master Chen Danqing was auctioned off at a price of one hundred fifty thousand.

Looking at the person's excited demeanor, he seemed to believe he snagged a bargain.

After leaving the auction house, Chen Yiyang asked Zhang Yuling why she stopped him from bidding earlier.

"Artworks claimed to be early practice pieces by masters are heavily targeted for forgery in the field of paintings and calligraphy; ninety-nine out of a hundred are fakes," Zhang Yuling explained the reason for stopping Chen Yiyang.

"That can't be right," Chen Yiyang widened his eyes. "Master Chen Danqing is still alive; if it's fake, couldn't we just have the master himself confirm it?"

"Did you forget how we met?" Zhang Yuling looked at Chen Yiyang.

Instantly, Chen Yiyang realized the reason.

The reason he came to know Zhang Yuling back then was because he purchased an early work by Zhang Yuling's uncle.

Her uncle, wanting to erase these early embarrassments, directly sought out Chen Yiyang to buy the paintings back at a high price.

This means that actually, masters of paintings and calligraphy are quite sensitive about others collecting or knowing their immature early works.

Such practice pieces, whether they are real or fake, are often rejected by the masters themselves for authentication.

The authenticity of these kinds of artworks is generally entrusted to various authentication institutions.

And there are so many avenues for manipulation within them.

This results in countless paintings that claim to be early practice pieces by masters in the field of paintings and calligraphy, even forming a fake production chain.

"If you genuinely wish to collect works by Master Chen Danqing, tomorrow there will be an art exhibition by a master in the field of paintings and calligraphy. Master Chen Danqing will also attend, and I can take you to meet him and buy a painting directly," Zhang Yuling suggested.

"Sounds good." Chen Yiyang wanted to see if he could buy a painting directly from Master Chen Danqing.

The next day, Chen Yiyang and Zhang Yuling attended the exhibition.

Zhang Yuling started her business early on in art exhibitions, later transitioning to become a broker, significantly increasing her network and stature.

Thus, many people greeted her upon her revisit to the exhibition.

Naturally, some recognized Chen Yiyang accompanying Zhang Yuling, and eagerly introduced themselves to him.

After all, artists depend on money for their recognition.

Master Chen Danqing is popular largely because his paintings are valuable.

If Chen Yiyang is willing to spend over a billion on a contemporary artist, that artist's fame might soar. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Unfortunately, Chen Yiyang is not particularly interested in modern artworks; his primary motive was to present a gift to Zhang Yuling.

However, after being at the exhibition for a while, they received news that Master Chen Danqing couldn't come due to a sudden matter.

Chen Yiyang was a bit disappointed but not overly so.

Since it was a gift, buying anyone's painting still meant buying a painting. Chen Yiyang let Zhang Yuling select her favorite painting at the exhibition, planning to purchase it after the exhibition concluded.

"Senior," a rather young man suddenly greeted Zhang Yuling.

"Long time no see," Zhang Yuling responded, then introduced him to Chen Yiyang, "This is my junior from my previous school and also a painter."

"Hello." Chen Yiyang shook hands amicably with the young man.

This young man was quite fun; although he recognized Chen Yiyang, he didn't flatter excessively, sticking to a normal conversation.

"What are you doing for work now?" Zhang Yuling curiously asked him.

"To sustain myself, I'm into art media," the junior said without any reservations. "Mostly making videos to educate the public about a painter's daily life."

"That seems quite meaningful," Zhang Yuling praised.

"Today I originally came with the hope of meeting Mr. Chen Danqing, only to find out he couldn't make it to the exhibition," he said.

"Speaking of which," Chen Yiyang mentioned casually, "We saw someone auctioning an early practice piece by Mr. Chen Danqing yesterday at the auction house. But Yuling said the painting didn't seem right, so we didn't buy it."

"What does the painting look like?" the junior curiously asked.

"I didn't buy it, but I'll see if I can find it," Chen Yiyang took out his phone and entered Douyin.

Attempting to search the name of that auction house.

Such auction houses often post pictures of all items online before the auction.

Somehow, likely due to Douyin catching his conversation, the first recommended video was from Master Chen Danqing's personal account.

Chen Yiyang clicked on it and found in the comments a user saying they'd recently had the fortune of purchasing an early practice piece by Master Chen Danqing and posted the image.