After leaving Fu Honglang, Fatty seemed a bit excited.
"What's gotten into you?" I asked, glancing at him.
Fatty smiled and said, "Brother Xiang, I didn't expect you knew how to age artworks!"
Hearing his question, I instantly understood his intentions.
"What? You want to learn?" I chuckled.
Fatty rubbed his hands together and pursed his lips, "Would you teach me, Brother Xiang?"
"That depends on your performance."
I dropped that line and quickened my pace. Fatty quickly caught up and said, "Brother Xiang, don't worry, from today onwards, if you tell me to face south, I'll absolutely not face west. If you tell me to go up a mountain, I'll absolutely not go into the sea..."
"Alright, stop being a clown. I'll teach you as long as you don't spout nonsense in the future."
"Really?" Fatty's eyes lit up.
"What do you think?" I shook my head helplessly.
A while back, when I had nothing to do, I took out and studied my ancestral book, the "Seven Star Nine Arts Mysterious Air Secret."
Gradually, I began to understand what the "One Word Art" of restoration meant.
It meant that regardless of authenticity, it could be "restored" using the methods described within.
A genuine piece, after restoration, could be made more perfect. A fake, after restoration, could pass for genuine.
After studying that book for so long, I hadn't had many opportunities for practical application. This time was a good chance to put it to good use.
We arrived at Nanxing Calligraphy and Painting Shop. As soon as we entered, Fatty asked me why we were here. I said, "If you want to learn, speak less and do more."
Fatty nodded like a pecking chicken.
"Brother Xiang, why are you here?" Yuan Jin greeted me with a smile.
I smiled and said, "I'd like to ask Mr. Yuan for a favor."
"Oh? What favor, just say it," Yuan Jin replied with a smile.
"Does Mr. Yuan know any masters of copying ancient paintings?"
Yuan Jin looked at me with a hint of confusion, "Why is Brother Xiang looking for a copier of ancient paintings?"
The so-called "ancient copier" is someone who specializes in imitating paintings.
"I have a friend who likes Tang Yin's artworks, and I want to get one for him," I said with a smile.
"Tang Yin's paintings?" Yuan Jin asked.
I nodded.
"I happen to have one here, but I don't know if it meets Brother Xiang's expectations," Yuan Jin said.
"Oh? Can Mr. Yuan take it out for me to see?"
"Please wait a moment."
After a short while, Yuan Jin brought out a painting titled "Lady in Waiting." I took it and looked at it for a long time, feeling a jolt.
Putting aside the material, just looking at the painting style, it truly had a few traces of Tang Yin's spirit.
Tang Yin's brushwork was very delicate and elegant, which was also his personal style.
Throughout his life, he painted the most women and birds, which were also the two most difficult subjects to paint.
It was easy to capture the form of a bird, but capturing its spirit was difficult.
It was the same with women; if you only painted their appearance without their charm and demeanor, much of the essence would be lost.
"Who painted this?" I asked.
Yuan Jin smiled and said, "What do you think of the painting, Brother Xiang?"
"It's good. To reach this level, the painter's skill must be considerable."
As I said this, I saw a hint of joy in Yuan Jin's eyes, and it dawned on me, "Mr. Yuan, you didn't paint this yourself, did you?"
Yuan Jin smiled and nodded, "Please forgive my presumption, Brother Xiang. This painting is indeed my humble work."
"I didn't expect Mr. Yuan's painting skills to be so formidable."
I wasn't exaggerating with this statement; it was a sincere compliment.
When it came to masters of forgery, none were as formidable as Zhang Daqian.
Two things that were most controversial in his life were, first, his damage to murals while sketching at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and second, his creation of forged paintings.
He was a genius at imitation; everyone imitated him, and he was particularly fond of Tang Yin's paintings. It was said that he once traded a fake painting he had copied for a genuine one from Huang Binhong.
Who was Huang Binhong?
He was a grandmaster of landscape painting, and his painting foundation was beyond doubt. That Zhang Daqian could deceive him showed the extent of his ability to create forgeries.
When I was still studying in my hometown, my father often took me to museums in the city, and I saw many genuine works.
Although I didn't have exceptional painting skills in calligraphy and painting, I had a certain level of appreciation for them.
Looking at Yuan Jin's "Lady in Waiting," purely from the brushwork, it could indeed pass for the real thing.
"Mr. Yuan, you've been imitating Tang Yin's paintings for some time, haven't you?" I asked.
Yuan Jin replied with a wry smile, "Since I was nineteen, I've been continuously imitating Tang Bohu's paintings. It's been almost twenty years now."
"No wonder," I said. "To imitate Tang Bohu's paintings to this extent, there are few people in the entire country who can match it."
"You flatter me, Brother Xiang. This is merely my amateur hobby," Yuan Jin said with a smile.
"How much for this painting? I'll take it." I said.
Yuan Jin asked, "Brother Xiang, do you truly want this painting?"
I nodded.
"Then take it. There's no need for money," Yuan Jin said with a smile.
"How can that be? We should keep things separate. I never like taking things from others for free. Name your price."
"There's really no need," Yuan Jin continued to decline.
Just then, Fatty came over and took the painting, saying, "It's just a painting. Brother Xiang can treat Mr. Yuan to a meal later to express his gratitude, right?"
Yuan Jin's eyes lit up, "Fatty is right. If Brother Xiang insists on thanking me, a meal later will suffice."
I glanced at Fatty, and he raised an eyebrow at me.
In the end, I got a decent "Lady in Waiting" without spending a single penny.
There are many ways to age a painting, but regardless of the method, the most crucial factor is the skill of imitation.
No matter how skilled your aging technique is, if the imitation is poor, it can be seen as a fake at a glance.
If it were an ancient painting aged in ancient times, authenticity would be less important; instead, the age would be valued.
In the antique trade, such forgeries from ancient times were called "old to fill earth."
Take Zhang Daqian, for instance. He imitated many paintings; can you say those paintings he imitated are fake?
Because Zhang Daqian's name was so renowned, even his forged paintings were worth a fortune.
Then there's Zheng Banqiao, a famous painter and calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty, also a representative figure of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou."
He was most skilled at painting bamboo. When he was popular, almost everyone loved his bamboo paintings, and countless people wanted to buy them.
At that time, he couldn't paint enough, so he had his student, Tan Ziyou, paint for him.
The painting techniques were the same, as were the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. After finishing, they would stamp Zheng Banqiao's seal on it.
How could one distinguish such paintings from Zheng Banqiao's genuine works?
It was impossible to tell. Even if the painting was poorly done, many would assume it was Zheng Banqiao painting when he was not in good form.
Then there was Zheng Banqiao's cousin, whose calligraphy was even better than Zheng Banqiao's. His paintings were almost identical to Zheng Banqiao's. To distinguish them as Zheng Banqiao's genuine works, one would practically need Zheng Banqiao to climb out of his grave and identify them himself...