The Versatile Master Artist-Chapter 52 - 44: Burman’s Student

Thomas turned to the camera and said—

"All seven paintings created as creative sketches will be printed on the newly launched mugs on my personal shopping website."

"The specific purchase link will be pinned in the comment section below the video. After purchase, they will be shipped randomly. You only need to spend five dollars to have a one in seven chance to get an illustration worth one million dollars, remember to log in..."

As Thomas, as usual, recited lengthy ad copy in front of the camera to promote his personal shopping website.

The insurance agent on the side also opened the portable briefcase, which was secured to his belt with a locked handcuff to prevent it from being snatched.

He took out seven illustrations wrapped in velvet cloth.

Each illustration was not large in size, about the size of a children’s book.

All seven illustrations, regardless of value, were uniformly framed with the finest peach wood frames and thick glass panels.

In addition to uniform framing.

To prevent accidentally revealing information about the illustrator to Anna.

Only a few of the staff present knew the exact value of these illustrations, and even the responsible insurance agent did not know which of the seven paintings was worth one million dollars.

After inserting an ad, Thomas flipped the frames over through the velvet cloth.

He pointed to an area on the back of the frames of the seven paintings that was covered with a sticker, which was where the name of each artist was.

After all seven illustrations have been compared and reviewed, their true prices will be revealed to the audience at the end.

He took several blank cards from the staff, divided them into four groups, kept one for himself, and distributed the rest along with markers to everyone.

The rules are as follows—

Similar to previous one dollar to one million dollar challenge videos selecting favorite water sports, favorite cars, favorite special effects.

Anna, as an art critic, and Thomas, as a collector.

The insurance company’s agent and a randomly selected Black guy from the fans participating in the video represented the perspective of all ordinary viewers.

The four of them will serve as judges to jointly score each piece.

Only Mr. Hibernian knows the true price of each piece.

The maximum score is 10 points, the minimum is 0 points, and the person with the highest combined score from the four judges is the winner.

Thomas was not in a hurry to lift the velvet cloth covering the frames.

Unlike sports cars and yachts.

He knew that many in his audience had little basic understanding of art and didn’t know what kind of paintings were valuable and which were not.

Therefore, he first pointed at the camera and said to Anna.

"Before the review, can you, as a professional, tell our audience what the illustration market is like?"

"In colloquial terms, an illustration is an art form that presents textual content, stories, and ideas in a visual way. Its drawing formats are diverse, it can be pen drawing, colored pencil drawing, marker drawing, or even oil painting, but typically the canvas size is not very large, the colors..."

"How expensive can the world’s most expensive illustration be?"

Thomas knew his audience didn’t come for an art class, so he hastily threw out a more relatable question for ordinary people.

"That’s hard to say. Compared to oil painters, illustrators, in the common perception of ordinary people, are not that ’artistic’. They have more works, lower prices, but the fluctuation in illustration prices is similarly vast. As for the most expensive..."

Anna frowned in thought.

"What do you mean by ’not that artistic’?"

Thomas caught the choice of words.

"How should I put it, it’s like if you’re commissioning a piece about Batman..."

"Batman and my collaboration, to be precise, my personal merchandise, thank you." Thomas interjected.

"Say what you like. What I mean is, it’s hard to imagine artists like Titian, Monet, Van Gogh painting themes related to popular novels of their time, just as Picasso wouldn’t paint Sherlock Holmes themed subjects or portraits of Watson. But illustration is different; illustrations have been connected to popular culture since their inception."

"For example, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, the specific value of these cartoon images is difficult to estimate. Including the IP value, they should exceed ten billion dollars. One of the best-selling children’s literary works in the world, ’The Wind in the Willows’, artist Shepherd’s illustration copyright fees even exceed the copyright fees for the original text by Graham. Even if you happen to own the original publication illustrations of the first edition of the Harry Potter novel, someone would be willing to pay a high price to buy it."

"If we don’t consider the IP, how much can a single illustration sell for? One dollar, ten dollars... all the way up to a million dollars in the art market, what kind of illustrations can you buy?"

"A million dollars is already the price for the industry’s top-quality small-sized illustrations. The content of illustrations that can sell for this price is invariably crafted by top industry artists. Not only is the art style mature, but it also requires a certain historical narrative. For instance, the most famous illustrator in modern times should be Norman Rockwell, the student of the anatomical artist George Burriman. The German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once commented that his illustration art has reached the ’pinnacle of the 20th century’."

"Norman Rockwell, I think I’ve heard of this name in a middle school class?"

Thomas said.

"You certainly should have heard of it." The girl wasn’t surprised at all.

"Norman Rockwell’s pinnacle of achievement was when, at the request of President Roosevelt during World War II, he painted the Four Freedoms series of illustrations to boost national morale. Some have equated the newspapers that published this series of illustrations with the printing of the Declaration of Independence in the Philadelphia Evening News."

Anna tucked a stray strand of hair behind her head and introduced, "He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Congress, which is the highest honor a citizen of the New Continent can attain in their lifetime."

"One million, that’s for the top-tier artists?"

"The most exquisite brushwork, the most sensational story, and also the market’s adoration. So I’m saying, since you’re not a president, and it’s not World War II now, spending a million dollars for a commissioned illustration is not a good choice."

Anna nodded, graciously made a joke: "Too bad the person in this room who looks most like Roosevelt isn’t you."

She was very beautiful and also very cold, but this smile amazingly melted ice and made flowers bloom.

(Note: Like Anna, President Roosevelt was a famous individual with a leg disability.)

"From one hundred thousand to one million dollars, this range can also acquire works from top-tier artists, although it won’t require much historical event support. For example, Christie’s recently had a Himalayan art auction featuring an Indian artist’s illustration depicting Hindu mythology."

Anna took an iPad from the nurse and opened an illustrated work showing deities and fairies with crown in the jungle.

The information above indicates this exquisite illustration was once used as a template for publications in the 19th century France and United Kingdom about Indian religion.

"The original painting skill of this artwork is quite good."

Anna enlarged the picture and commented.

"The brushwork is very meticulous. Its starting price was eighty thousand dollars, and the estimated sale price ranged from one hundred twenty thousand to two hundred thousand dollars. But the buyer seemed to really like the painting, and the auctioneer’s ability to create a good atmosphere resulted in a final sale price of five hundred eighty-five thousand dollars. This figure exceeded market expectations considerably."

"From ten thousand to one hundred thousand dollars. In this range, you can find very experienced second-tier artists. They might not be top-notch, but each has their own mature artistic style and are common choices for high-end commissions. These artists’ biggest clients in daily life are movie companies. The exquisite art posters you see in cinemas before new movies premiere are mostly the works of artists in this price range."

"Around five thousand dollars, apart from not focusing too much on the artistic components, you can hire very good professional illustrators. This is the usual price for large orders at small art studios."

"Around one thousand dollars, without many demands, but you can still commission artwork that seems acceptable. As for below five hundred dollars, sorry, that’s not my expertise."

Anna’s lips curled into a somewhat sarcastic smile.

"What do you mean, not your expertise?"

"Not absolutely, but typically, it’s unqualified artwork."

Anna pondered a bit but ultimately commented.

Art critics and auction house appraisers are different.

The latter needs to discover as many merits in a artwork as possible, which relates to commissions and unsold fees.

Art critics, on the other hand, are generally more caustic. They need to discover the shortcomings in a painting and identify and denounce those pretentious frauds among the artist community.

Don’t be fooled by Anna’s cold demeanor in her wheelchair. Her contributions to art magazines are known for their sharpness and ruthlessness, and old artists, hair and beard all white, have not escaped being reduced to tears by her criticism.

She is a maverick, otherwise, she wouldn’t willingly accept Thomas’s invitation.

Anna isn’t hurting for money; art is just her spiritual solace.

She doesn’t think highly of low-priced online freelance artists. She hopes to expose their flawed works to the public.

In the art realm,

she always believes—if you, as an artist, don’t even have confidence in yourself, how can you expect others to have confidence in you? And how can you expect the market to have confidence in you?

Anna knows that this price range usually doesn’t comprise genuine art.

The vast majority are visual arts students doing online gigs or amateur painting enthusiasts, and being able to sell a commissioned illustration is a happy occasion for them, possibly earning a tidy sum of pocket money for the month by selling a piece.

Otherwise, her evaluation wouldn’t be as polite as saying "unqualified." In line with her character, it’s good enough she doesn’t outright call them trash.

"Alright, let’s start with the first painting." Anna uncovered the canvas on a painting.