This "Picture of Fish Playing in Water" is an unknown painting.
In other words, it is a superb painting of an unknown fish that is as vivid as life.
Anonymous means nameless.
An anonymous painting does not mean that the painting does not have a name, but it means that the painting does not have the signature and signature of the artist himself.
To put it in the simplest and most direct terms, I don’t know who painted this painting.
Anonymous calligraphy and painting account for a large proportion among the ancient calligraphy and painting works collected by major museums today.
Especially works from the Yuan Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Northern Song Dynasty, most of them are anonymous and unsigned.
Some calligraphy and paintings that have been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years are still unknown to the author.
The reason is simple.
Because before the Song Dynasty, many painters were not interested in fame and fortune, and most of their works were for poor or no money, that is, they did not write their names.
Even if there is a signature, it is not easy for people to find it. It is mostly hidden in the canopy of rocks, trees or corners.
It is difficult to find the inscriptions if they are hidden, and the inscriptions on the edges and corners are easily cut off by the framer unintentionally during mounting. Many calligraphy and paintings that originally had inscriptions may become uninscriptions over time.
After the completion of calligraphy and painting, the practice of sealing and inscribing one's own name gradually became popular after the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
To be precise, it was only popular in the Ming Dynasty.
Paintings signed in the Tang Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty are extremely rare.
There are not many in the Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because many painters wanted to make money by selling their paintings, they had to sign the payment.
There are also many literati who pursue each other. If you draw a picture, I will write a poem for you. If I draw a picture, you will give me a stamp. In this way, there will be more signatures.
At this time, Pei Yuqin leaned into Shen Yu's ear and whispered: "How is it?"
"Have to look again."
In ancient times, fish was surplus.
Having fish every year means having a surplus every year.
This is also people’s expectation for good weather and a prosperous life.
The ancient book "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual", which is a comprehensive collection of painting manuals from the Ming and Qing Dynasties and is known as a painting textbook, mentions a painting trick called "The Secret of Painting Fish".
It goes like this:
"The fish must be lively in the painting, so that it looks like it is swimming, it looks like it is frightened when it sees its shadow, and its intention to look for food is leisurely.
"Among the floating and sinking algae, the clear current is rippling. I enjoy it leisurely and agree with others."
These words are simply made for this painting.
"Good painting, absolutely good painting."
Shen Yu calmed down and gradually calmed down.
After all, he grew up next to his grandfather, and he has seen authentic paintings of the Tang Dynasty. Although an unknown fish and dragon painting is magical, it does not mean that he is completely obsessed with it.
To be honest, this is the first time Shen Yu has seen this kind of painting where the content changes due to lighting problems.
However, it is difficult for people to study and understand the wisdom of the ancients, so it is not surprising that there are more pictures of swimming fish.
If the mood is completely affected by this, then it will be impossible to identify calligraphy and painting.
"Mr. Chen, I wonder how many generations this painting has been passed down in your family?" Pei Yuqin asked softly.
Shen Yu was very interested in how Pei Yuqin identified this "Picture of Fish Playing in the Water".
Because there are so many famous fish painters in ancient times, it is really difficult to identify this painting.
Shen Yu looked at it for so long but still couldn't tell which famous artist's work it was.
It’s even impossible to determine which dynasty it belongs to. Of course, this is without using the special ability of the eyes.
Pei Yuqin asked this question very well.
The most important thing about calligraphy and painting is an orderly spread.
And reputation is the most important thing.
Ordinary people are like this.
Rich businessmen are like this.
Such is the case with great collectors.
The same is true for emperors and famous ministers.
Xiang Yuanbian, a great collector, often arranges his collections of calligraphy and paintings according to fame.
Song Huizong's "Sui'an Picture Scroll" was ranked first in his collection.
That is, the first place in the Thousand-Character Classic, the Tianzi position.
Do you think Song Huizong’s painting function is better than that of Han Huang or Han Qian?
Comparable to Li Gonglin or Mi Fu?
Comparable to Zhao Mengfu or Huang Gongwang?
The same is true for Emperor Qianlong. He likes those who are famous.
A wealthy businessman had a painting hanging in his study. Others asked, which famous artist is this painting?
The wealthy businessman said that Tang Yin's was just for the sake of appearance, but if he said he didn't know who it was, it would be a loss of face.
Since you have spent the money, you must buy something with a good reputation.
Therefore, in order to maximize profits, counterfeiters often add inscriptions, seals, poems, etc. of artists similar to the style of the work and sell them as authentic works.
In many cases, it can be said that it is difficult to tell the authenticity from the fake, and it has also caught the attention of many big collectors.
Whether an unknown painting is circulated in an orderly manner is extremely important to its value.
It can even be said to be the most important point.
Because only what is treasured is valuable. If the ancients did not collect this painting, the unknown painting would not be sold at a high price.
Pei Yuqin is the vice president of Gaogu Auction and the general manager of Xingting Antiques, so he is naturally clear about this.
So I directly ask about the inheritance of this painting.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Chen slowly closed his eyes as if he suddenly fell into memories.
After a while, he sighed, "Judging from the letters at home and the notes recording important events, my great-grandfather bought this from a shabby home when he went to the capital to discuss business.
"That family had a prominent ancestor, but they had a prodigal son, just like my family. The descendants sell their ancestors' paintings..."
Thinking of the sad things, Mr. Chen sighed again.
"At that time, my great ancestor spent a full one hundred taels of silver to buy this painting.
After acquiring this painting, Emperor Gaozu loved it very much and regarded it as a treasure.
"I also spent a lot of money to have many famous appraisers look at it. At that time, most palm-eye masters said it was a Song Dynasty painting, but they couldn't tell who painted it specifically."
When Mr. Chen said this, Pei Yuqin's face flashed with joy.
After all, Song paintings are priceless treasures nowadays. If they can be confirmed to be Song paintings, then there will be no less than 5 million at auction.
But Shen Yu felt tight in his heart.
There were many famous fish painters in the Song Dynasty, including Xu You, Xu Bai, Xu Gao, Yuan Yi, and Seng Chuangu.
Zhao Kekui, Zhao Shunuo, Dong Yu, Yang Hui, Song Yongxi.
Liu Cai, Hou Zonggu, Chen Kejiu, Zhou Dongqing and other famous painters.
"Xuanhe Painting Book" of the Northern Song Dynasty lists "dragon and fish" painting as one of the ten painting categories.
They were even arranged before paintings of landscapes, animals, and flowers and birds, which shows how much people in the Song Dynasty loved dragon fish.
However, the chances of Song paintings being preserved to this day are too small. If Chen Laozhen insists that these are Song paintings, then the price aside, the authenticity will be questionable.
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After all, even the end of the Southern Song Dynasty was nearly 700 years ago. If the paper has a thousand-year life, it would need to be framed many times to be preserved. The chance of an unknown painting from the Song Dynasty being passed down is very small.
But Mr. Chen’s words immediately dispelled Shen Yu’s doubts.
"Later, my great-grandfather, grandfather, including my father and I asked many famous experts to look at it, but no one could tell who painted this painting. Even the age of the painting is highly controversial.
"Some people have spoken about Song paintings, Yuan paintings, Ming paintings, and Qing paintings, and what they say is reasonable and well-founded.
"What's interesting is that in modern times, famous painters such as Wu Changshuo, Baishi Laoren, and Zhang Daqian have also been regarded as the authors of this painting."
Shen Yu and Pei Yuqin both laughed when they heard this.
Mr. Chen is satirizing some masters in the current appraisal market who don’t know how to pretend to be masters.
Since it was the painting bought by Emperor Chen, it must be at least from the Jiaqing or Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty.
In any case, it cannot be the work of modern masters.
"Some people say that the paintings of the Song Dynasty are authentic paintings by Yuan Yi, others say they are authentic paintings by Dong Yu and Xu Bai, and the most common ones say they are from Zhou Dongqing, a famous fish painter in the late Song Dynasty.
"Those who talk about Yuan paintings always say that this painting is the work of Lai An, a famous monk painter in the Yuan Dynasty.
"The most common appraisal result is that this painting is from the Qing Dynasty, and it is Yun Shouping and Lang Shining, two famous Qing Dynasty artists, who imitated the work of Zhao Shunuo from the Song Dynasty.
"I am also confused and don't know who it is, but one thing is that this painting cannot be later than the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty.
"Okay, I'm a little tired. Since it's the unfilial son Chen Dashan who uses the money, let him talk about it. I'm sorry." Mr. Chen picked up his crutch and walked towards the bedroom. After entering the bedroom, he closed the bedroom door tightly. Closed.
Obviously, Mr. Chen felt very uncomfortable about selling the calligraphy and paintings left by his ancestors.
But my son couldn’t help but sell it for money, so he just came here and kept it out of sight.
"Shen Yu, what do you think?"
At this moment, only Pei Yuqin and Shen Yu were left in the room. Pei Yuqin glanced at Shen Yu, who was concentrating on the painting, and asked softly.