Everyone, Come Look at This Painting
Three days after the auction, the year-end talent competition began.
"To date, we have received a total of 363 paintings."
Fang Jingye pointed to the paintings displayed in the main teaching building of the Imperial Academy and said to the painting judges, "It's the usual procedure, so I won't say much more. Just give your judgments."
Kang Shilin and the others nodded without saying a word, walked into the classroom, and immediately began their work.
Judging for calligraphy and painting competitions is much simpler than judging for music and chess competitions. In the preliminary and semi-final rounds, participants do not need to draw or write on the spot; they can simply submit their works.
In any case, during the final round, participants will be writing and drawing on the spot; several judges will also evaluate the styles of the three competitions. So there's no need to worry about someone using someone else's work to impersonate another.
Almost every year, the five of them are the judges for the painting competition. They are all very familiar with the process and can look at the paintings without having to write anything down. After looking at the paintings, they tell the servant behind them whether to give them eight points, five points, two points, or three points. Finally, a specialist will tally up these scores, and the top one hundred contestants who can enter the semi-finals will be selected.
To ensure fairness and impartiality, the participants' signatures are covered up, and the judges can only score the paintings by looking at them.
Kang Shilin was engrossed in appraising the painting when he suddenly heard Peng Guoan in front of him exclaim, "Hey, this painting... everyone come and look at this painting!"
Kang Shilin looked up and saw that Peng Guoan's face was flushed and his finger pointing at the painting was trembling, looking very excited.
Peng Guoan was the Imperial Academy of the Imperial Academy. He was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, making him a true all-rounder. Therefore, in the annual talent competitions, he would decide on the spot which category to be judged, in order to supervise and prevent the judges from cheating.
Although Peng Guoan was only in his forties, he was able to become the Imperial Academy. He was not only exceptionally talented, but also extremely calm and composed, and rarely could he be so excited.
Kang Shilin walked over out of curiosity and saw the painting that Peng Guoan was pointing to.
The drawing on the paper depicts a mountain peak, towering thousands of feet high, with countless ravines and cliffs, majestic and magnificent.
Without even looking at the painting technique, just by the overwhelming grandeur, Kang Shilin knew that the painting was by Zhao Ruxi, and he also understood why Peng Guoan was so excited.
An expert can tell a lot just by looking at their work.
Even though the painting Zhao Ruxi auctioned depicted a waterfall, the few jagged rocks on it were only there to accentuate the waterfall's grandeur; moreover, the auctioneers only had a few moments to look at it, not enough time for them to scrutinize it carefully. But these connoisseurs could immediately tell what kind of brushstrokes were used to paint the landscape, and once that style appeared, it was deeply imprinted in their minds.
Sure enough, before Kang Shilin could speak, Liang Song, another painting teacher at the Imperial Academy, ran over, glanced at the painting, and exclaimed excitedly, "It's him! It's that person! The one who painted the painting that the Emperor bought at the last auction!"
Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye examined the painting closely and were shocked to discover that it was painted by Zhao Ruxi. Remembering that Liang Song said it was a painting from an auction, the two of them turned to look at Kang Shilin, their faces showing shock.
Fang Jingye was alright; he knew there were outsiders present. If Kang Shilin had intentionally concealed the truth before, they wouldn't be able to ask now.
Zhou Wenbai's temperament is similar to Kang Shilin's; he is straightforward and even more detached from worldly affairs than Kang Shilin.
He couldn't help but ask, "Was this painted by the same artist who painted the picture that went up in auction?"
He was a renowned scholar, and like Kang Shilin, he held no official position or title; Fang Jingye, though a teacher at the Imperial Academy, was in a similar situation. Neither of them attended the auction.
However, that painting was so strange that everyone talked about it afterwards. They said that an anonymous painting appeared at the auction and was bought by Eunuch Xie. The price was the same as that of Mister Kumu, and even higher than that of Zuo Qiusheng's painting from the previous dynasty. The quality was truly remarkable.
As artists, Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye were naturally very interested in the painting and wanted to see it. Unfortunately, the person who bought the painting was the emperor, and once it was in his hands, none of his ministers who weren't close to him had the chance to see it. Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye were quite disappointed.
They even asked Kang Shilin what he thought of the painting. Kang Shilin only said that the painting was good, and if the artist weren't unknown, the price would be even higher than his own. He wouldn't say another word.
It would have been better if they hadn't asked. After Kang Shilin described it that way, the two of them were even more intrigued, like cats scratching at their hearts.
The shock they felt upon discovering that the painting might have been done by Zhao Ruxi was indescribable.
Zhou Wenbo and Fang Jingye witnessed how Zhao Ruxi learned to paint from Kang Shilin, how she created a new painting style, and how she improved rapidly day by day after creating the new style, painting better and better. They admired Zhao Ruxi very much.
But neither of them expected that she would unknowingly reach a level comparable to Kang Shilin.
The thought that the child was only fourteen years old and had already achieved such success was something they could never reach in their entire lives. Both of them looked somewhat dazed and began to question the meaning of life.
Peng Guoan and Liang Song, standing nearby, were staring intently at the painting, studying its techniques, completely absorbed and oblivious to the commotion between the three men.
Although his young apprentice had come to the competition to prove his identity and gain some fame, Kang Shilin knew that now was not the time to reveal this.
These three or four hundred paintings were all anonymously drawn, precisely for the sake of fairness and impartiality.
By revealing the artist's name now, regardless of the specifics, he's committing cheating. Zhao Ruxi's skill level is far superior to these contestants; she could easily have won first place. Why would he reveal it and invite criticism for himself and his apprentice?
He waved his hand and raised his voice, saying, "This is a competition, and the five of us are the judges. The organizers went to so much trouble to anonymize these paintings precisely to ensure fairness and impartiality. Regardless of whose painting it is, you shouldn't let personal biases get in; just score fairly."
After saying that, he gave Zhou Wenbai and Fang Jingye a warning look.
Now, the two of them understood exactly what was going on.
This painting was done by Zhao Ruxi, Zhao Ruxi paintings fetched the same high price as those by Kang Shilin at the last auction.
However, Zhao Ruxi's painting skills were extremely high, and it was not surprising that she was recognized by everyone and caught the emperor's eye. The two of them quickly accepted the fact.
As the organizer of the painting competition, Fang Jingye was particularly concerned about the fairness of the competition.
He immediately nodded. "Mister Kumu is right. We only need to score fairly; there's no need to say anything else."
Zhou Wenbai also said, "Mister Kumu is right." He then turned his head to look at the painting and stopped dwelling on the matter.