Chapter 2440 Entering the treasure house of art

The dinner at Whitney’s house is simple and hearty. To be simple, it is because they will not make a large table of dishes like we entertain guests, and they can’t finish even if they can’t finish them, or even if they can’t finish them in Chengdu.

But he is rich because he has turkey, cod and lobster that he only has important festivals in the United States. Don’t think that Americans are rich and they will eat these every day. No, usually, Americans’ daily diet is very simple to us. Otherwise, McDonald’s would not have grown so strong in the United States.

Even if it is a state banquet at the White House in the United States, to be honest, many people will not suddenly get much interest when they see that menu. They cannot find out the standard of four dishes and one soup.

This is related to the American food culture and history. For example, in our China, the food and beverages accumulated over thousands of years are as vast as a sea of ​​smoke. In the world, China is probably the nation that cares about the most and knows how to eat, running on the mountains, growing in the soil, swimming in the water, flying in the sky, poisonous and non-toxic. Almost all animals and plants will be studied and matched into delicious food by our chefs.

In the West, French cuisine is the highest-end meal. Even so, if the French see our Manchu and Han banquet, they will drool.

In order to entertain Chen Kangjie, Whitney's mother also took out a bottle of high-quality champagne.

After dinner, Whitney compensated Chen Kangjie to visit his father's private collection museum.

Before going there, Chen Kangjie thought that since it was a private museum, it would probably not be too big, and it should be just a little better and more refined.

However, when they walked through a forest and walked into the white building that looked small, Chen Kangjie was still shocked by the little one.

It’s not that Chen Kangjie has never been to the museum. Whether before or after he was reborn, he has visited some museums, but he is not very famous. However, compared to the environment he has seen, the museums he has visited before are simply nothing.

As soon as the door is opened, countless works of art are placed neatly and densely in the wide hall. When you walk in, you will see different spaces. All artworks are placed in different spaces in different categories. For example, when Chen Kangjie enters the hall, all of them are Western paintings, including works by Chimabue in the thirteenth century, and works by modern masters such as Van Gogh, Repin, and Maitreya. These treasures can become treasures of the museum when put in ordinary museums.

"This work is Kondinsky's work. After France was occupied by the Nazis in 1941, he came to the United States. In the three years in the United States, he only had two works publicly, and this is one of them. This is Corot's "Lake Gad" in the 19th century. The price of this painting had increased from 800 francs to 230,000 francs. This one was his "Sunset"..." Whitney was obviously very intoxicated and was able to accompany Chen Kangjie to introduce him along the way.

"The 19th century was worth so much money. More than a hundred years have passed. How much will it be worth now?" Chen Kangjie asked curiously.

"Who knows, maybe eight million dollars, maybe more, maybe less. I only know that this painting was obtained by my grandfather for a lot of money." Whitney shrugged.

Western oil paintings were released. Whitney's private collection also contains ancient Roman artworks, Persia and ancient Egyptian things, and even Russian easter eggs. Of course, as a cultural power, there are also things from China, including porcelain and ink paintings.

What Chen Kangjie did not expect was that there was a room where there were statues of five hundred Buddhist arhats. They were exquisitely fired pottery figurines, which were lifelikely placed in glass cabinets. From a distance, they were spectacular. As for whether they were ancient or modern imitations, Chen Kangjie, as laymen, could not tell. Even the names of those arhats looked a bit numb. For example, Aruo Chenru, Venerable Fenbauti, Venerable Anafendi, etc.

"Do your father still believe in Buddhism? These should be things that only exist in Buddhism." Chen Kangjie asked Whitney curiously.

"No, my father believed in Christ and did not believe in Buddhism."

"Then why would he... be interested in this thing too?"

"This was given by a Japanese man. When my father went to Japan, he praised this set of terracotta figurines when he saw the exquisite and vivid set of terracotta figurines. Unexpectedly, the Japanese man thought my father liked them, so he gave them to him. Someone had already spoken, but he couldn't refuse, so he accepted them. Although he didn't necessarily like them, there would be someone who cared for them carefully for all the items he collected."

"Oh, so that's it."

"You should be interested in the things in this room next to you. They are all Chinese cultural and artistic works, so I'll take you to see them." Whitney took his left hand and took Chen Kangjie into another spacious room. "These five hundred arhats are placed specifically in this place outside because they are too many and small in size."

"Okay." Chen Kangjie answered, but his heart was nervous for no reason.

Chen Kangjie had such a psychological reaction because he didn't know what he would see inside. Although he saw these 500 Arhat pottery figurines outside, it is hard to say whether these things are antique treasures. The Japanese would use them as gifts to give them to others, and perhaps they may not be too precious. Even such religious things are still available in many temples in China, and Buddhism is not our own original creation.

But Chen Kangjie knew that over the past few hundred years, especially in modern times, our country has lost millions and millions of cultural relics. Not to mention anything else, there are tens of thousands of boxes of extremely precious cultural relics missing in Dunhuang, at least 30,000 suicide notes, and countless treasures lost in the Old Summer Palace, and even those beast heads have not been spared.

When Chen Kangjie thought of this, he felt a tingling feeling in his heart.

Cultural relics are the carriers of the history and culture of a country. However, when we are corrupt and backward, these things are robbed by fire and robbed, and thus lost to all parts of the world. It can be said that that history is an indelible pain in the heart of every Chinese.

Judging from the collections I saw before, Chen Kangjie was almost certain that in this room, there must be no artistic treasures lost in China. Unfortunately, these treasures are now in other people's private museums, rather than being allowed to visit them at will in China.

Sure enough, as soon as Whitney entered, Chen Kangjie was dazzled. The first thing that caught his eye was a variety of ancient ceramics, from the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty, and even the tripods from the Spring and Autumn Period could be seen.

There are many ink paintings hanging on the wall, and Chen Kangjie even saw the cow painted by Han Huan in the Tang Dynasty and the horse painted by Wei Yan. If many people are not familiar with these two people, Yan Li should have heard of them, and one of his figure paintings is also included.

On the far wall, there is a row of bookcases. There is no doubt that there should be some books that cannot be seen in China.

"Those are Chinese books?" Chen Kangjie asked, pointing to the row of bookcases.

"Some are books, some are closed scroll paintings. Because I don't understand Chinese, I rarely come here before."

Chen Kangjie strode to the bookcase and looked at the yellowed paper books, feeling extremely excited.

Chen Kangjie is not a historian or an expert in cultural relics, but from the papers of those books, Chen Kangjie can see that they are definitely antiques from many years ago. As for how these books are left here, it is unknown.

"Did your father buy these books?" Chen Kangjie asked Whitney.

"Some of them were collected by my father, and some were brought back by my grandfather from Europe. As for the value of these things, I don't know. My father and my grandfather actually don't understand Chinese. In my impression, they probably didn't move much after they were placed here." Looking at the things on the bookcase, Whitney was a little confused.

"Can I see what I can come down and see?" Chen Kangjie asked politely.

After all, this is someone else's private museum. No matter whether they can understand these things or not, they are all very valuable things. If Chen Kangjie wants to move, he must of course seek the owner's consent. Even if he is Whitney's boss, he must not lose his etiquette.

"Of course, didn't my father say that if you have something you like, do you give you one? Of course you can search carefully. Do you know? My father rarely gives away these things. Some of them know, some of them don't, but for him, they are things that need to be cherished."

Chen Kangjie understood this kind of mood, just like a person who likes to collect cars. Even if a certain car cannot be driven, that kind of person will not easily deal with the car or give it to others.

Collection may have become his greatest hobby and best sustenance for John Whitney. Of course, from a cultural perspective, even if he wants to study these collections, his energy is probably mainly focused on European and North American cultural relics that are closer to culture. After all, a person's energy and knowledge are limited. In contrast, in China, perhaps a book is enough for him to study for his whole life.

Chen Kangjie casually pulled out a book that was not too thick but generous. Before he could open it, Chen Kangjie became interested in it.

It turned out that what he was holding was a cursive book of thousands of characters written by Zhang Ruitu of the Ming Dynasty.

Let’s not forget that Chen Kangjie himself is also a calligraphy enthusiast, and his calligraphy attainments are not low due to the teaching and influence of Chen Qigang.

Chen Kangjie read the copybook with relish, but he was bitter and unsure.

"LONG, what's it written on it? Why do you look weird and weird words? It's so ugly that I can't understand any of them."
Chapter completed!