i'm not a detective

Chapter 47 Mountain Whale
Tatsuo Uchii runs an art gallery called Shochikuko.It is called an art museum, but it is actually a private gallery. It mainly resells artworks for profit, and also rents out venues to hold private art exhibitions and auctions. It is quite famous in the Hirano art circle.

When Takeshi Qihara and his group arrived at the Shochikugu Art Museum, it was almost six o'clock, and the sky was already dark. The staff at the entrance of the art museum reminded them that the museum would be closed soon, and the tickets had been sold out. Wait until they find out why they came Then it suddenly dawned on me, and pointed out the location of the side door, and asked them to go in there to find the curator.

Eri Nakano nodded his thanks and went to the side entrance, but Takeshi Qihara looked thoughtfully at the slightly dilapidated posters in front of the venue, and asked, "The works of Noori Ichinose have been rediscovered? Are the authentic works of Nori Ichinose in your art museum?"

The staff smiled and said, "Yes, we are already preparing for the auction, and the time is this weekend."

Takeshi Qihara asked with interest: "How long have you been exhibiting in an art gallery before?"

The staff thought for a while and said, "It will take about three weeks. The public exhibition didn't end until last weekend. You can enjoy it if you come two days earlier."

Qiyuan Wu smiled and asked again: "Is this the original plan?"

The staff was a little puzzled, but still replied with a smile: "Yes, the original plan was to hold a public exhibition for about three weeks to warm up the auction and expand our popularity. Well, there are also some other works on public exhibition at the same time. , is the largest public exhibition of our museum in recent years.”

"Thank you." Qiyuan Takeshi thanked him sincerely, and turned to the side door.

"Who is Ichinose Fan?" Qing Jian Liuli was frantically flipping through her little notepad, she had this name in her memory, but couldn't find it for a while.

Qi Yuanwu said casually: "An unlucky monk."

"What do you mean, tell me in detail." Qing Jian Liuli didn't turn over at all, and asked Qi Yuanwu, the master of everything.

Takeshi Qiyuan took a look at her and saw the white light of Nakano Eri's lens shining with interest, so he gave a brief introduction to two girls, one big and one small, who didn't care about artworks.

Ichinose Fan was born in a downcast samurai family, and he was the second son without inheritance rights. Not long after he was born, he was sent to a temple by his father as a young monk.After he grew up in the temple, because of his delicate features, shy personality like a girl, and talent in painting, he was favored by the local daimyo, and he was selected as a member of the Ami. The diners who amuse themselves are usually talented, for example, Oda Nobunaga has Noh musicians Kanami and Zeami beside him.

Simply understood, Ichinose can be regarded as a "royal painter", and his main job is to draw little pornographic books for the lord to relieve boredom.

After he became a peer, his living conditions changed greatly, and he also came into contact with a wider art world, which laid a good foundation for his future painting art, but the good times did not last long. The daimyo he followed was wiped out, and he was forced to return to the temple. Later, because he could no longer get used to the poor life in the temple, he began to look for a new daimyo and sold himself.

He successively took refuge in many small daimyos, city lords, and even rich families in a certain place. His grades were lower and lower each time, but he couldn't settle down for two days. The main family was either killed or imprisoned, or he also became a monk. Forced to start wandering around, he once made a living by selling paintings to merchants. However, during the war, the Emperor’s family had to rely on selling calligraphy and paintings to subsidize their families. state of hunger,

After more than ten years like this, he has wandered to Kyushu Island, and at least he survived until the monkeys took over the world and the war was a little bit peaceful.

At this time, he was well-known in the art world, and he was recruited by the monkey's heir, Toyotomi Hideji, as a painter. He drove around the world and asked him to draw pictures of the world's scenic spots for viewing. But he just felt that he was very happy, and his life was about to usher in a new stage. Because the monkey gave birth to his own son, he wanted to deprive Toyotomi Hideji of his inheritance rights, and convicted Toyotomi Hideji of treason...

Toyotomi Hideji was ordered to commit suicide, and he also became a member of the criminal party who "conspired to rebel", and fled to Okinoshima in a hurry to live in seclusion.

It may be that as miserable as a person is, so is his artistic level. During his seclusion in Okinoshima, because he had nothing to do, he was very afraid of being decapitated, so he devoted himself to art creation to anesthetize himself. Like other Japanese painters, he tried to integrate the unique lines in the woodblock prints of the south of the Yangtze River in China and the illustrations of the legend novels of the Ming Dynasty that he came into contact with in Kyushu into his own works. points charm.

Well, ukiyo-e originated from Jiangnan prints in China, that is, the New Year pictures of a fat doll holding a fish. At that time, a large number of Song and Ming scripts with woodblock illustrations were introduced to Japan, and they were loved and imitated by many painters. The rudiments of Ukiyo-e, and even later when ukiyo-e spread to Europe, Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet and others were all affected. Now many people like Western modernist works, traced back to the source, more or less connected with the big fat doll in the south of the Yangtze River in China.

After living in seclusion in Okinoshima for a period of time, Ichinose Homo finally developed his painting skills and developed his own style. At this time, Japan was also at peace. Tokugawa Ieyasu finally captured the world with the support of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's beloved wife Chacha.

After the Tokugawa shogunate completely stabilized the situation and cleaned up the chaotic parties, two or three years later, the Tokugawa shogunate was ready to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous age, and finally turned its attention to the field of art. It wanted to open institutions such as chess academy and painting academy. He is going to be enlisted as an imperial painter, and he is also going to be given the status of a banner warrior.

Ichinose Fan was naturally very excited when he received the news. He felt that he had survived anyway, and celebrated with a carnival. As a result, he died suddenly after drinking too much. Only his posthumous works were sent to Edo, and finally ended his ill-fated life—some people say He drank too much wine because of excitement and ran wildly, and finally passed out and froze to death in the snow, but that didn't matter, he died anyway.

Takeshi Qihara gave a brief account of Ichinose Fan's life experience, and finally said: "At that time, his posthumous works were not paid much attention, and they were thrown in the warehouse to eat ashes when they were sent to Edo. Some Eighteen Forbidden works were very popular. It was not until the middle and late period of the Shogunate, influenced by the Western trend, that his works began to be sought after again. However, after almost 200 years, there were not many good works he could find. In the Edo turmoil, many were burned and lost, and there are not many left that can be handed down to the present."

"So that's how it is." Qing Jian Liuli felt that she had learned a lot, but she didn't care about the unluckyness of an ancient person, nor did she care about the artistic value. She just asked curiously: "If few of his paintings have been handed down It must be very valuable, right?"

"Vulgar!" Takeshi Qiyuan gave her a disdainful glance, "How can art be measured by money."

"So it's not worth much?"

Takeshi Qihara stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then said: "He is not the kind of painter who can be included in textbooks, although his artistic style is similar to 'meat pen ukiyo-e', but Hishikawa Shinobu is recognized by everyone as the 'meat pen ukiyo-e' The pioneer, the light completely covered him, and he didn't have much fame left. At most, the paintings can be mixed with national treasures to accompany the exhibition. Probably one can be worth 5000 million yen. It depends on when his works are. .

The early erotic pictures and those with a distinctive artistic style in the late period have more collection value and appreciation potential. Collectors and insurance companies who like unique things will like it very much. It is far inferior to the works of famous contemporary masters. "

"Thirty-five million yen is not a lot." Qing Jian Ruri is not very economical, but he also knows that this price can buy a large villa in Hirano, and Matsunai Yuki's river-view house is not worth the price. Without further ado, he murmured and said, "I flipped through my notepad just now, and Yuto Matsuuchi came here two days before he was killed to interview this public exhibition of paintings by famous artists. Is it possible that he discovered the works of Nori Ichinose? It’s a fake, and it needs to be reported, so Tatsuo Uchii didn’t stop doing anything, so he just let him..."

Speaking of this, she lowered her little hands murderously, with a slightly vicious expression on her face, it is enough to be directly arrested as a murderer, and Takeshi Qiyuan did not deny her reasonable guess, rubbed her chin and said: "It is indeed a good murder." Motivation, but as far as I know about Yuto Matsuuchi, he is just dawdling when he is an art columnist. If a fake can fool professional art dealers and appraisers, I don’t think he has the professional level to distinguish it .”

Well, that's right. There's no reason why Matsuuchi Yuto's professional level can surpass that of a professional appraiser. Otherwise, he could just become an art appraiser. He must have a better future than being an art columnist.

Kiyoshi Ruri held her breath, and they were chatting all the way, and they had already arrived at the office area of ​​the Shochikuko Art Museum. Nakano Eri stopped a staff member and asked, and easily found Tatsuo Uchii's office.

…………

Tatsuo Uchii's office is not very big, but the desks, chairs and cabinets are arranged ingeniously and harmoniously, and it looks very comfortable to the eyes. There are three specimens of wild animals with deer heads, wild boar heads and goat heads hanging side by side on the wall, displaying The valor and hunting skill of the owner of the room.

But Tatsuo Uchii doesn't look strong, he is thin and thin, with a weathered look on his face, many wrinkles, and an older appearance, but he is thin and thin, and there is a faint energy in his gestures, making him People dare not take it lightly.

He didn't feel that the police brought a high school student advisor and a JK to the door, and received them with a smile. He didn't have any special reaction to the murder of Matsuuchi Yuto, and he answered the same as when the police came to inquire. basically the same.

The public exhibition is a grand art event in Hirano. Yuto Matsuuchi specially came to interview him to learn about the information about the public exhibition, the source of the paintings, and other inside stories that readers are interested in. This is a good publicity, and Tatsuo Uchii also received him very warmly After seeing him, the two sides had a good talk, and even took him to a dinner with the art museum staff, and we had a few drinks together.

Qingjian Liuli asked for a while but didn't find any problem. After thinking about it, he stared at Tatsuo Uchii's face closely, and said tentatively: "Uchii-san, the most valuable painting in the public exhibition at that time was Ichinose Homo's painting. Well, Songnai-san must be very concerned about this painting, is it convenient for us to go and see it too?"

She hasn't completely given up on her guess. If Yuuto Matsuuchi can see that it's a fake, then Takeshi Qihara can also see it. Maybe the murderer can be identified directly, but as soon as she finished speaking, Tatsuo Uchii said I got up and took a leaflet back, and said with a smile: "Not one, but four. They are the most proud works of Mr. Ichinose's creative career, so I will make this set of works the main exhibit of the public exhibition."

Takeshi Qiyuan directly reached out to take it, glanced at the color-printed photos above and raised his eyebrows, "So it's these four paintings, no wonder they say they've been seen again, these four paintings have indeed been missing for a long time."

Uchii Tatsuo glanced at him in surprise, sat back to his original place and said with a smile: "Yes, it is the "Okinoshima Four Branches" lost when Edo opened the city. It is really fortunate to see the light of day again."

Takeshi Qihara looked at the photo carefully, nodded lightly and said, "The sudden appearance of Ichinose Homo's painting in Hirano would make sense." Then he raised his head and asked with great interest, "It seems that Uchii-san is I missed it, can you tell me how you picked it up?"

Tatsuo Uchii smiled and said nothing, obviously he didn't want to say anything, but Takeshi Qihara didn't care, and looked down at the photo again.

Qingjian Liuli had watched with him for a few moments just now, and found that these four paintings were in the form of long scrolls, which seemed to depict the four seasons of Okinoshima and the lifestyle of the local residents. The night sky seemed suspicious, but she had learned a lesson in Deji's studio, so she no longer made a fuss, just pointed to one of the scrolls and asked in confusion: "Is this scroll cracked? It seems that a corner of the painting is missing, or... Have you soaked in water?"

The smile on Tatsuo Uchii's face disappeared, and he sighed: "I've been living among the people, and I've been buried in a household's warehouse of sundries. People who are sure of 100% perfect restoration dare not do it easily, so they can only show it like this.”

After a pause, he justified the title of the finale work of his auction, "But even if it is slightly damaged, it will not affect its own artistic value."

Qing Jian Liuli didn't understand any artistic value, looked at the photo and felt it was not clear, and asked hesitantly: "Can't we let us see the original painting? Just look at the photo..."

"I am happy to cooperate with the police. If you think it is necessary, of course you can, but can you do it tomorrow?" Tatsuo Uchii did not refuse, "This painting does not completely belong to the art museum. I have limited ability and paid a huge amount of money for the purchase. The painting has been paid, and now the painting is already in the safe, and it will not be taken out again until the auction. To see the original painting, I need to be present at the same time as the bank representative to prevent unnecessary disputes.”

"Okay." Qing Jian Liuli felt that the request was reasonable, and it was indeed that they came too late.

Tatsuo Uchii glanced at his watch, looked at them and asked, "Any other questions?"

Qingjian Liuli hurriedly said: "I still need to know about your whereabouts that night."

Tatsuo Uchii was really cooperative, got up, picked up the phone, dialed the number and said: "No problem, but I have been busy with the auction recently, and I have an appointment for dinner tonight, and the appointment time is almost here, if you don't Mind, I'll ask Hiradate-kun to talk to you guys, I was with him that night."

He has been very cooperative, without the slightest bit of impatience. Compared with the old pervert Deji, he is simply a representative of the five good people. Naturally, Takeshi Qiyuan and his party cannot have any objections, so they can only leave.

Tatsuo Uchii politely sent them to the door, and said: "I am also very sorry that Matsunaisan was killed. If there is anything else I need to do, please call me anytime."

"Okay, thank you." After communicating for a while, Kiyoshi Ruri and Nakano Eri both had a good impression of him, and thanked him in unison, while Qiyuan Wudu walked out of the door first, then came back and asked with a smile: "I almost forgot Now, Uchi-san, if you were asked to describe Matsunai-san with an animal, what kind of animal do you think he would be?"

Tatsuo Uchii was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's probably a mountain whale, um... yes, Matsunais-san is very serious about his work and very aggressive, just like a mountain whale."

(End of this chapter)