This number shows that Lu Li may know some clues, but he does not understand everything.
But this makes sense. If he really knew all the secrets of this painting, he should have sold the painting at the auction house before, and there would be no chance for Lin Chen to pick it up later.
Thinking of this, Lin Chen asked: "Mr. Lu, can you first tell me the origin of this painting?"
"Brother Lin, it's just a fake painting, what's the origin?" Fang Han asked strangely.
Su Ningyu slapped him on the forehead: "Don't interrupt, let me talk first."
Although Su Ningyu was 100% sure that this painting must be a fake and could never be the real "Girl with a Pearl Earring", since Lin Chen asked, she felt that he must have his intentions.
The four of them were sitting on the sofa, and the painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" was placed in front of Lu Li.
He stared at the oil painting and recalled: "Lin Sheng, I have taken this painting to many auctions and galleries and had it tasted by experts there, but no one was willing to patiently listen to me tell me about this painting.
Story, you are still the first."
"It's probably our fate to meet you."
With a sigh, Lu Li started to get straight to the point: "To tell you the truth, this painting was actually given to me by my master before he died. My master is a ghost man. When I first met him, he was under the overpass.
Paint portraits of people.”
"My master's identity is very mysterious. He never told me his name, but he has painting skills far beyond ordinary people. The best thing is that no one can see through the fake paintings he painted. When he was still alive,
Although he would go to paint under the overpass every day, at night, he would stay in a star-rated hotel. All the money for staying in the hotel was earned by using his fake paintings."
"I studied with him for ten years. Later, he had an accident and gave me this painting before he died."
"I still remember that when my master was dying, he told me that if I needed money in the future, I could sell this painting. He also told me that this painting was extremely valuable and I must not sell it cheaply.
"
When Fang Han heard this, he couldn't hold it back and said, "Did he become confused before he died? How could a fake painting be so valuable?"
Lu Li nodded: "I have thought so too. Although the painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is exquisite and the brushwork is very close to Vermeer's original work, the whereabouts of the real "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is clear.
No matter how good this painting is, it can only be a fake."
"Although fakes are valuable, they can't be worth a fortune. I contacted many people and they all told me that this painting is only worth a few million at most."
How many millions?
Impossible. Lin Chen shook his head in his mind. He had just roughly calculated that the value of this painting was at least 100 million. How could it be worth only a few million.
However, Lin Chen did not ask, but continued to look at Lu Li, because he did not seem to have finished speaking.
"Actually, I already have a guess in my mind about the value of this painting, but I'm not sure, because if I think wrong, I will destroy this relic left by my master, and I can't afford the loss.
"
Lin Chen asked: "What is your guess?"
"This has something to do with my master." Lu Li explained: "Although my master never told me his name, his skills are so superb that he cannot remain unknown, so I have tested him several times.
Later, I found out that my master may be Dutch, he should be in his seventies, and he has superb counterfeiting skills. These clues finally pointed me to a name: Han van Meegeren..."
"impossible!"
As soon as Lu Li finished speaking, Su Ningyu stood up suddenly.
Seeing her huge reaction, Lin Chen couldn't help but wonder: "Ningyu, what's wrong with you?"
Su Ningyu looked at Lu Lida and said, "Han van Meegeren is a world-class counterfeiter, but he died in 1947. How could he be your master?"
After Su Ningyu's explanation, Lin Chen and the others realized that Han van Meegeren was the top legendary forger in the history of oil painting in the world.
His life is comparable to a Hollywood suspense movie.
This master forger is famous for forging oil paintings. During World War II, in order to protect the Dutch national treasure, the works of master Johannes Vermeer, he forged a large number of Vermeer's paintings and then sold them to the Germans as authentic works, including Sitler.
Because his paintings were so realistic, after the end of World War II, the Dutch authorities thought he had really sold the national treasure to the enemy, so they prosecuted him for treason. It was not until later that this patriot was vindicated.
Lu Li glanced at Su Ningyu and explained: "Miss Su, Han van Meegeren died in 1947. It is indeed impossible for him to be my master, but Han van Meegeren had a little My son, little Miglen, also inherited Miglen’s talent.”
"Xiao Mi Glenn? But he didn't disappear...you mean your master is him?" Su Ningyu said in surprise.
"It should be..." Lu Li nodded and said, "Only in this way can we explain why my master not only has superb painting skills, but is also so good at forgery."
When Lin Chen heard this, he immediately thought about it.
The probability that Lu Li's master is Xiaomi Glenn is...
100%!
Lin Chen sighed in his heart, he never expected that a young man he met by chance on the road would be related to a legendary master of counterfeiting.
He sat up straight and asked, "Lu Li, assuming your master is really Xiaomi Glenn, what does that have to do with this painting?"
Lu Li's face was solemn, because the next words would be the most important part of this conversation.
"If my master is really Xiaomi Glenn, then the origin of this oil painting is worth considering. To be honest, before my master's accident, he always carried this painting with him, even when he was in a car accident. He always threw the painting out before the car hit him. If it was just an ordinary fake, he would not have attached so much importance to this oil painting."
"The oil painting master Vermeer only painted 45 works in his lifetime, but only 35 have been handed down. There is a very important reason for this. That is because Master Miegeren forged a large number of Vermeer's paintings, resulting in the loss of many authentic works. Regarded as a forgery, Girl with a Pearl Earring had been dismissed as a forgery before, and was later identified as an authentic work by Vermeer.”
"After my master died, I once doubted whether there were really only 35 paintings left by Vermeer. If it was Meegeren who had come into contact with Vermeer's original works, would he have others left in his hands? Those ten works? If there are any, then..."