"Brother Shen, I wonder which celebrity this picture is from?"
Zheng Congyuan picked up Shen Yu's magnifying glass and looked at it for a while. He really couldn't understand it, so he simply asked again.
He has been particularly obsessed with ancient paintings recently. He felt very uncomfortable when he saw a famous painting in front of him but did not know the name of its author.
Shen Yu shook his head slightly, "It's hard to say, because since the Tang Dynasty, there have been countless paintings based on the Eighteen Bachelors. It has become a classic subject in figure painting and has been painted by many famous artists.
In the Tang Dynasty there were Yan Liben, Cao Yuankuo, Han Huang and Zhou Fang.
There were Zhou Wenju in the Five Dynasties.
In the Song Dynasty, there were Li Gonglin, Song Huizong, Empress Yang, and Liu Songnian.
There was Wang Zhenpeng in the Yuan Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Qiu Ying, and Du Jin.
In the Qing Dynasty there were Sun You, Zhou Kun, Ding Guanpeng, Jin Yanbiao and Du Yuanzhi.
Among these "Illustrations of Eighteen Scholars", the authentic one by Yan Liben is the most famous.
Liu Daochun of the Song Dynasty praised this painting as a masterpiece in the "Records of Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty", "The original version shows the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Dynasty, the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion, etc., which actually reflects the present and the past."
It’s just that Yan Liben’s original work has long since disappeared, which is a pity.”
Zhang Zongbao, who had been silent all this time, seemed to have caught something in Shen Yu's words just now, and asked sharply, "Xiao Shen, you said that Yan Liben's original work has disappeared, which means that the picture of Eighteen Bachelors in front of you is definitely not Is this the original work of Yan Liben?"
Shen Yu nodded, "That's true."
Zhang Zongbao glanced at Lao Wei and asked with a smile: "Where is the basis?"
"There is a poem written on the screen in the painting. Mr. Zhang, you will understand after reading it." Shen Yu clicked on the screen in the painting.
This painting is a huge painting. If you simply scan it a few times, you may not be able to find that there is a screen on the painting.
Zhang Zongbao took the magnifying glass from Zheng Congyuan's hand and took a look at it. He couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh, there really is such a thing. I don't know how old I am, and wealth is like a floating cloud to me.
"I don't know how old I am when I'm young, and wealth is like a floating cloud to me?"
Zhang Zongbao recited it several times and suddenly burst into laughter, "Old Wei, you are so arrogant and holding an ancient painting to compete with me for Xiao Shen's Xuanlu.
"I thought you really got Yan Liben's original work. After a long time of fussing, it turned out to be a copy made by someone unknown? Hahahaha..."
Zhang Zongbao's laughter confused everyone on the stage.
When everyone looks at me and I look at you, they don’t know why the poem on the screen in the painting is not Yan Liben’s original work.
"Xiao Shen, please explain it to everyone."
The speaker this time is Mr. Yu, one of the big merchants in the Antique City. His "Yu Ji Antiques" is a very famous miscellaneous antique store in the Antique City.
Shen Yu is very familiar with Mr. Yu. When his Lantingju first opened, Mr. Yu introduced several customers to Shen Yu.
Yesterday, Shen Yu took Li Huiyun back to the antique city. While waiting for the elevator in the underground garage, he was teased by this man about having a wedding banquet for the two of them. He opened his mouth and Shen Yu naturally couldn't refuse.
"Yu Lao, denying a painting because of a poem may sound a little strange at first, but you can understand it after a little thought.
The famous saying "I don't know how old I am in my painting, but wealth and honor are like floating clouds to me" comes from Du Fu's "The Painting Is Presented to General Cao".
"This poem was written by Du Fu for Cao Ba, a descendant of Cao Cao, General Zuo Wuwei and a great painter of the Tang Dynasty.
"Yan Liben died in 673, and Du Fu was born in 712.
"In other words, it is impossible for Yan Liben to write Du Fu's poems on the painting, because Du Fu was not born yet at that time, so the painting must not be Yan Liben's original work."
"Oh, that's it!" Shen Yu explained, and Mr. Yu immediately understood.
Everyone was also amazed. Appraisal of calligraphy and paintings is indeed different from others. It is really difficult to do it without some historical knowledge.
"Then which dynasty, which generation and which famous artist did this painting come from?" someone else in the crowd asked.
Shen Yu was drinking water, and Fatty Li looked around and volunteered to answer, "The drawings of the Eighteen Bachelors are all different, and they are roughly divided into three types.
"The first type is the portrait, which is a copy of Yan Liben's original work, but the original work has long since disappeared. Everyone has also seen the poem inscribed on the screen. It is from Du Fu, so it is definitely not the original work.
The second type is a sightseeing tour. At the foot of a mountain with excellent scenery, a group of literati sit or stand admiring the scenery in the mountains. Obviously, this painting is not in the right scene.
The third type is to record the life of the eighteen bachelors in the bachelor's house into several paintings, some discussing important matters, some playing chess and drinking tea, some writing vigorously, some splashing ink on paintings, etc.
From this point of view, this painting must be of the third type. The clothes of the characters and the furnishings of the utensils are very similar to an unknown Song Dynasty painting. Of course, it is also possible that it was from the Ming Dynasty, and it is also possible that it was from the Qing Dynasty."
"Lao Li, didn't you talk nonsense?"
"Yes, your Duobao Building has many authentic paintings by famous people. How come you can't even tell who a painting belongs to?"
Fatty Li was not anxious or annoyed. He chuckled and said, "Famous calligraphers and painters of all dynasties have done a lot of painting of the Eighteen Scholars. This painting is anonymous, so how do I know who it belongs to?
"And when Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty opened the Yuan Dynasty, in the Shixiang Pavilion of Shangyang Palace, Zhang Shuo, Xu Jian, He Zhizhang, Zhao Dongxi, Feng Chaoyin, and Kang Ziyuan.
"Li Zizhao, Dongfang Hao, Lu Qutai, Yu Qin, Sun Jiliang and others are the eighteen bachelors.
"Later, there were many paintings of the Eighteen Scholars from the Xuanzong era of the Tang Dynasty. How could I identify so many paintings?
"Perhaps only the authentic works signed by Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, as well as the Eighteen Bachelors' Pictures with Chen's inscriptions painted by Sun Hu, Zhou Kun, and Ding Guanpeng in the Qing Dynasty under the orders of Qianlong, can still be identified.
"But we can analyze it, look..."
Although what Fatty Li said is a bit far-fetched, it still has merit.
Shen Yu asked Lao Wei before if this was an ancient painting of the Eighteen Scholars, instead of asking if this was an authentic painting by a certain famous artist?
The reason is that there are so many calligraphy and paintings on this theme painted by famous calligraphers and painters in ancient times, making it very difficult for people today to identify them.
The more famous ones that exist in the world are the four giant scrolls of paintings by Liu Songnian, one of the four masters of the Southern Song Dynasty, which are hidden in the TB Palace Museum. Specifically, it is not, because it is an unknown painting, and it is hard to say without a signature.
While everyone was listening to Fatty Li's nonsense, Shen Yu silently recited a treasure appraisal.
A ball of dazzling golden light emerged from the unknown "Picture of Eighteen Bachelors", first the size of a dumpling, and then continued to condense into the size of a walnut.
What made Shen Yu slightly surprised was that the treasure light was not finished until it reached the size of a walnut, and finally turned into a ball of treasure light the size of a pebble.
"It's really a painting from the Song Dynasty, or from the Northern Song Dynasty. Looking at the size of the treasure, this painting must have been painted by a famous artist. His reputation is not lower than that of Liu Cailai, the first fish painter in the Northern Song Dynasty."
