Chapter 11 Section 5

The next day, two FedEx trucks arrived and took away the fifty paintings that had already been crated. In the afternoon, in the conference room of the S Art Museum, a museum management meeting was held to summarize the art exhibition. Big mistake, especially the Japan Industrial Co., Ltd. that bought Mr. M's works has a joint venture in Pudong, and it went there to advertise, and it was very safe. The S Art Museum lost at least 100,000 yuan. Overall, the results are gratifying.The number of viewers exceeded expectations, and the media also actively cooperated, with numerous reports suggesting that the S Art Museum should hold more such master-level exhibitions in the future to raise the flag for the revitalization of Shanghai-style culture.

The meeting was nearing the end before the painting of Anonymous was mentioned. The curator's assistant gave a general account of the situation, then opened the protective envelope and showed the painting to everyone. Everyone looked at it for a long time, and there was not much surprise, just wonder and doubt. First of all, it is certain that this painting of Anonymous is not the work of Mr. M, nor is it part of the exhibits of this exhibition, but why it is put in a special protective envelope specially made by the museum for this exhibition, and it is printed with a number, it is difficult to explain .

Secondly, it is ruled out that it is an exhibit of the museum's perennial exhibition. The reason is very simple. How can the dignified National Museum of Art exhibit a painting by an anonymous artist? Someone asked, could it be a work that was forgotten in the warehouse?Due to the negligence of the staff, it was mistakenly put into the protective envelope of this exhibition, and hanged out in the C exhibition area on the second floor by accident. However, after checking all the computer records in the warehouse, there was no such work, and the warehouse manager said categorically that he had never seen such a painting.

In fact, it is superfluous to check the warehouse, and the reason is still the same - the S Art Museum will not collect a painting by Anonymous. Therefore, it can be basically ruled out that this painting is an item in the collection, that is to say, it is foreign. The first possibility is that it was brought in by the audience, and they quietly hung it in the C exhibition area on the second floor when they were not prepared. As an audience, it is allowed to carry a bag with you. If you carry such an oil painting that is one meter long and eighty centimeters wide, you will definitely be stopped by the security guards. Has anyone ever seen an audience carrying an oil painting to an art exhibition?

If it was a nimble thief who sneaked into the art gallery under the dark moon and the wind was high, and hung up this painting, it would be possible. However, I only heard of thieves stealing paintings, but never heard of thieves hanging paintings. The second possibility is that the insiders of the art museum took advantage of their positions to bring the paintings into the art museum. The paintings can be placed in the back seat of the car, and the paintings can be carried from the underground garage to the second floor by elevator. Feel free to hang it up. But what is the purpose of doing this?

Even if it is "committing a crime", there must be a motive for committing the crime, right? After much deliberation, only the following motivation is more convincing—— A little-known painter tried to hitch a ride through this influential solo exhibition of Mr. M, attracting everyone's attention to his works, and quickly became famous, so he bribed a staff member in the art gallery to put this painting The painting was brought in secretly and hung up. In order to get away with it, the protective envelope was imitated, and the number 051 was added in a pretentious manner. It was really well-intentioned.

Someone put forward such a more logical reasoning, but it was immediately refuted, and it was fatal—— How could this guy who was eager to become famous forget the most important thing, he should sign the painting!If the audience mistakenly thinks it is an unsigned work by Mr. M, doesn't that mean buying a firecracker and showing it off? Unknowingly, the library affairs meeting was extended for more than half an hour. Although everyone had different opinions, there was one point that was agreed by everyone. In terms of portrayal, they are all remarkable. It can be seen that the author has considerable skill, and he is by no means a fledgling unknown junior.

Except for that mask.