Chapter 906 Famous Family
Song Yuanchao's home.
Lin Yan and Li Xiaoyun sat side by side on the sofa, admiring the Easter egg. This Easter egg was the one that Luo Yang brought back from Ice City and gave to Li Xiaoyun as a gift.
Since Li Xiaoyun got something good, she naturally wanted to show it off and share it with Lin Yan, so she couldn't wait to run to Song Yuanchao the next day and showed the Easter egg to Lin Yan with a little pride.
Women all like beautiful and exquisite things, especially this Easter egg which is inlaid with many sparkling gems.
The two women looked at the Easter eggs in admiration, and even Song Yuanchao, who had just returned home, didn't notice them.
"What are you looking at?" Song Yuanchao thought his wife was upstairs, but when he entered the living room, he saw Lin Yan and Li Xiaoyun sitting on the sofa fiddling with a shiny toy, looking very interested.
"Come and see what this is?" Lin Yan then realized that Song Yuanchao had returned, and quickly called him over to take a look .
Song Yuanchao walked closer and took a curious look, and was immediately shocked: "Fabergé eggs? Where did this thing come from?"
"Hey, you actually know its name?" Li Xiaoyun said in surprise. This name was told to her by Luo Yang, and Lin Yan didn't even know it. Unexpectedly, Song Yuanchao called out its name as soon as he saw it.
"Nonsense, this is the national treasure of Big Brother, the former collection of the Tsar! How could I not know? By the way, I haven't told you yet, where did this thing come from?" Song Yuanchao said solemnly.
"Luo Yang gave it to me!" Li Xiaoyun said proudly.
"Luo Yang? Him? Did this guy go to Big Brother? Or did he rob that museum? There are only 69 of these things in the world, including 52 Easter eggs. There seem to be a dozen in the United States, and most of the others are kept by Big Brother. There are also a few that have been missing for many years..."
Seeing Song Yuanchao's serious expression, Lin Yan couldn't help laughing. She then told Song Yuanchao that the Easter egg was not the real thing, but a replica given to Luo Yang by a friend.
Hearing this, Song Yuanchao was stunned at first, and then he burst into laughter.
He was indeed shocked just now, because Fabergé eggs are so famous. In his previous life, Song Yuanchao had seen several of them in a museum and was deeply impressed by them. This was the main reason why he recognized what it was at a glance.
After taking it and looking at it carefully, I have to say that this imitation Easter egg is very exquisite, and the gold and gems inlaid on it are also real. Although it is not the original, it is also valuable.
"My friend Luo Yang is very generous. If this thing were in Hong Kong, it would be worth a lot of money. It would definitely be a collectible." Song Yuanchao returned the Easter egg to Li Xiaoyun and gave her some advice.
The price of Fabergé eggs is very high because of their great fame and the support of the Tsarist royal family. In 2014, the estimated value of a Fabergé egg reached an astonishing 200 billion pounds.
In 2004, the Forbes family put nine of their treasured Fabergé eggs up for auction due to financial problems. The starting price was $90 million, or $10 million per egg.
Li Xiaoyun's Easter egg is just a replica, although it is very exquisitely made and uses expensive materials such as gold and gemstones. However, a replica is a replica, and its value is of course greatly discounted. But even so, as a work of art, it is worth a lot of money. According to Song Yuanchao's estimate, if it is auctioned in Hong Kong, it will be worth nearly one million Hong Kong dollars.
However, who would be so generous as to give such a thing directly to Luo Yang?
Song Yuanchao couldn't help but ask out of curiosity. Li Xiaoyun said that in fact this friend was not Luo Yang's friend, but Qin Zhengguo's friend. Luo Yang met him when he went to Bingcheng a few days ago. He heard that this friend was doing border trade with Big Brother.
Not only did he give them the Easter egg, he also gave them two oil paintings, furs and other things. However, Luo Yang did not want the furs and just took the Easter egg. The oil painting was forced on him by Qin Zhengguo later.
Hearing Li Xiaoyun say this, Song Yuanchao couldn't help but get interested and asked about the oil painting. Li Xiaoyun said that the oil painting was at home, and they didn't know anything about oil painting. When Qin Zhengguo handed it to him, he said that the painting looked good and asked Luo Yang to hang it in the office to add some artistic atmosphere.
"Let's find someone to authenticate these two paintings. Perhaps they are not simple." Song Yuanchao said.
"Not simple? Do you mean this is a famous painting?" Li Xiaoyun asked curiously.
Song Yuanchao smiled and said, "How can I know if I haven't seen it? Besides, I don't know much about oil paintings. But it's not difficult to identify them. Since the other party can give such an Easter egg as a gift, it is possible that the two paintings have some origins. What do you think?"
Tilting her head, Li Xiaoyun thought for a while and felt that what Song Yuanchao said made sense. Perhaps these two oil paintings were really not simple.
Thinking of this, Li Xiaoyun couldn't sit still anymore. She asked Song Yuanchao directly if he knew anyone who could appraise oil paintings. What's more, Song Yuanchao actually had someone who knew him. Song Yuanchao had been collecting paintings over the years. His collection of calligraphy and paintings was very rich, and his collection was second to none in the country.
Because of this hobby, Song Yuanchao also studied calligraphy and painting. After meeting Ma Dudu, he also learned a lot from Ma Dudu.
Although Chinese calligraphy and painting and Western oil paintings do not belong to the same category, the collecting circle is very small and many collectors are connected with each other. Song Yuanchao is naturally no exception. He knows a teacher who is proficient in Western oil paintings, and the two have a good relationship.
At Li Xiaoyun's urging, Song Yuanchao called the teacher. When he learned that Song Yuanchao had two oil paintings from Big Brother, the teacher immediately became interested and was willing to come over for free to help them identify them and appreciate the two paintings.
Then, Li Xiaoyun went back to get the two oil paintings. When the paintings arrived, the teacher had not come yet. Song Yuanchao helped to unpack the packaging of the paintings, and then he and Lin Yan found two shelves to place the paintings in the living room, and then began to look at the two paintings.
One of the two paintings is a landscape painting with a distinct Russian style, depicting the scenery of the Russian countryside.
There is also a portrait of a person, in which a graceful lady is sitting at home with tea set in front of her, drinking afternoon tea leisurely, looking in the direction of the painter with a faint smile on her lips.
Song Yuanchao did not have a deep understanding of Western oil paintings. To be honest, apart from those famous painters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Picasso, Van Gogh and their masterpieces, he knew very little about other Western oil paintings.
Moreover, the colors of these two paintings are not as bright as the Western oil paintings that Song Yuanchao knew. Instead, they have a somewhat gloomy style.
Song Yuanchao looked for the signature on the painting, but although there was a signature in the corner, it was in Russian and it was an abbreviation. Song Yuanchao didn't understand Russian at all, let alone what this abbreviation stood for. He looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He could only wait for the teacher to come and give him the answer.
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and the teacher came.
"Mr. Song!"
"Hello, Teacher Jiang. I'm sorry to have asked you to come here for a trip." Song Yuanchao shook hands with Teacher Jiang and said apologetically.
"It doesn't matter. It's worth it to see the paintings no matter how far away they are. By the way, where is the painting?" Teacher Jiang shook hands with Song Yuanchao and then asked directly.
Song Yuanchao pointed in the direction of the living room, then walked over with Teacher Jiang.
Teacher Jiang is a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and a student of Mr. Ji Fang. Mr. Ji Fang is well-known in the Chinese painting world. The Art College he founded in Shanghai has left a deep mark in modern Chinese history.
Mr. Ji Fang is now over 90 years old and has long since left the art world and art education he loved, but his students have taken over his responsibility and played a pivotal role in domestic art education. Teacher Jiang is one of them. Teacher Jiang is not only well-versed in traditional Chinese painting, but also has a high level of Western oil painting. Once, by chance, Song Yuanchao met Teacher Jiang through a friend's introduction, and they became friends.
I took Teacher Jiang into the living room and introduced him to Lin Yan and Li Xiaoyun. Teacher Jiang greeted the two briefly and his eyes were quickly attracted by two paintings on the shelf.
When he saw the painting, Teacher Jiang was stunned at first, then he quickly took a few steps forward, staring at the painting motionlessly with a look of surprise and joy.
After a while, Teacher Jiang took out a magnifying glass from his pocket and looked at the painting carefully from about 20 centimeters away. He looked left and right, especially at some details including the signature, and he looked at it for a long time, for more than half an hour.
"Both of these paintings are authentic works of famous artists!" Song Yuanchao and the others stood aside and did not disturb Teacher Jiang. After Teacher Jiang finished looking at the two paintings, he straightened up and turned around to say this. Li Xiaoyun's face immediately showed joy.
"Teacher, you said these two paintings are authentic works of famous artists?"
"Yes! I'm sure of that!" Teacher Jiang nodded confidently, then pointed at the landscape painting and said, "This landscape painting is the work of the realist painter Alexi Savrasov. Savrasov is the founder of the lyrical landscape painting school. He has a famous landscape painting "White-billed Bird Flying Over". This painting is well-known in Big Brother's family. The primary school textbooks specifically introduce this painting. Many children in Big Brother's family have known it since childhood."
"But apart from the painting 'White-billed Bird Flies Here', none of Savrasov's other paintings surpass this one, so his other works are not well-known. But this does not mean that his works are bad, but that the painting is too famous, overshadowing other works."
"Just like the work in front of us, it has a distinct Savrasov style. In terms of brushstrokes and painting ideas, it is one of Savrasov's outstanding works, and the signature on it also confirms this. This is why I concluded that this work was created by Savrasov."
After saying that, Teacher Jiang pointed to another portrait painting and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this painting is a portrait of Valentin Serov. Serov is famous for his portraits. His most famous work is "Girl with Peaches". The structure of this painting is very similar to "Girl with Peaches", and the style is the same. It also has Serov's signature."
