VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 42: Suspicion
TL: Enuma ID
The day after the winners were announced, the articles started coming out.
[National Children's Art Competition, Youngest Grand Prix Ever...A Child Just Five Years Old]
['Preschool Division Grand Prize Takes the Overall Grand Prize?' Art World Abuzz]
[Five-Year-Old Wins Grand Prix With an Oil Painting, Unprecedented Result Sparks Controversy]
Wѐḃ nо̆v̆е l̈ E̊ n̆ û m ӑ
At first they were small articles.
Mostly brief mentions in art-industry outlets and education news.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
A day later, the story climbed to the portal front page.
Another day after that, it was on the TV news.
"A five-year-old child has won the Grand Prix at the National Art Competition.
The child, five years old, is named Lee Jun. It's the first time in the competition's history that the Grand Prix has come out of the preschool division."
E n umа̃_. і̊ d
The news script the anchor read gave only Lee Jun's name and age.
There was no photo of his face. The painting itself hadn't been made public yet.
Which only made people more curious. Comments began piling up.
-A five-year-old, in oils? On canvas?
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
-Didn't the parents just paint it for him?
-The preschool grand prize alone is weird, and now the Grand Prix too?
Wе.b̃ n̊ о v е ľ E n uma
-I heard the person who nominated him is a Hongik professor and a board member of the Korean Art Association. Nice and connected.
-Why not just show us the painting?
-Maybe because they've got something to hide?
Art YouTube channels took up the story too.
A YouTuber called 'Art Studio Uncle' was the first to post a video.
A hundred and twenty thousand subscribers. Among Korean art YouTubers, that was a fairly sizable channel.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Big letters ran across the video thumbnail.
'A Five-Year-Old Grand Prix? Is That Even Possible?'
In the video, the YouTuber shook his head.
"A five-year-old painted in oils? On canvas? And not just the preschool grand prize but the overall Grand Prize? Something's off here."
Photos of past children's art competition winners scrolled across the screen.
Crayon, watercolor, colored pencil. Every one of them drawn on drawing paper.
E nu m̆ а.. ī d̊
"Not once in the history of the preschool division has there been an oil painting. Even in the elementary upper-grade division, an oil painting taking the grand prize is rare.
And a five-year-old did it? Look at the nominators, a Hongik professor and a Korean Art Association board member. Honestly, with backing like that, wouldn't they hand out a prize for anything you submitted?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The comments rushed to agree.
-Grown-ups' greed, using a kid as a front.
-Isn't the Korean Art Association just manufacturing a star?
-Figures. Korea doesn't have a single association that actually works right.
Ẃ e b̈ n̆о̇v́ѐ l Е̊n um̈a
Of course, there were more cautious voices too.
-Shouldn't you have to see the painting in person before judging?
-Don't just tear it down. Look at the painting, then decide.
-Staying neutral on this one.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
A few days later, another channel posted a video.
This time it was an art criticism channel.
Ё nu m ӓ
Thirty thousand subscribers. Small, but influential.
"I heard this directly from someone involved in the judging. They asked to remain anonymous."
Subtitles appeared on screen.
[An Anonymous Source Involved in the Judging]
The technical level of the submitted work far exceeds what a five-year-old is capable of.
Techniques at the level of a professional adult, such as glazing and impasto, were used.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Suspicions of ghost-painting were raised during the judging, but it appears the entry was passed through under pressure from a certain figure.
An anonymous source.
The video's view count climbed.
More articles followed.
[Children's Art Competition 'Five-Year-Old Grand Prix', Ghost-Painting Suspicions Spread]
[Anonymous Source Claims "Passed Under Pressure From a Certain Figure"]
Е nǔ m̆ à
[Korean Art Association "A Legitimate Judging Result" Official Position]
The Korean Art Association released a short press statement.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
'The judging of the 47th National Children's Art Competition was conducted fairly, and any objections to the results should be submitted through the formal process.'
Of course, no one filed a formal objection.
But the suspicions online only kept growing.
*
W̆е b nо v e̊l Е̂ n̈ǔ m̆ ă
One week after the winners were announced.
The exhibition of the winning works opened at the Korean Art Association gallery in Insa-dong.
The award ceremony is held the week after that. By custom, the exhibition always opened before the ceremony.
The winning works were shown to the public first, and the ceremony followed a week later.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The first day of that exhibition. There were crowds from the moment it opened.
Normally, only the winners' families or people connected to the competition ever came. Never had a children's art competition exhibition drawn a crowd like this.
E ṅ u m̆â .їd̀
The five-year-old Grand Prix.
Every last one of them had come because they were curious about that painting.
The gallery's first floor.
The winning works from the preschool, elementary lower-grade, and elementary upper-grade divisions hung by category.
In the order of Excellence Award, Best Excellence Award, Grand Prize.
And on the wall at the very back of the gallery.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Under focused lighting, the Grand Prix winner hung alone.
A number-fifteen canvas.
'Sky.'
Lee Jun. Five years old. Oil painting.
People were gathered in front of it.
"This is the one?"
Е̂ n̈ um̆а̀ . i d̃
"A five-year-old did this?"
"......A kid really painted this?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The murmuring never stopped.
People stepping in close to look. People tilting their heads. People taking photos.
Every expression was different.
But they had one thing in common. Not one of them could pull their eyes away from the painting.
Ẽ ǹ uḿа̀
Even those who'd been skeptical online had less to say once they saw the real thing.
There was a power in the actual painting that photographs couldn't carry.
The sky was shining.
The glazing layers, catching the gallery lights, were sending light back out from within.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The impasto of the clouds reflected the light and truly seemed to glow.
"......It's beautiful."
Е̇num̀ а̊ . і̊ḋ
Someone murmured it. The words just came out on their own.
But not everyone was simply admiring it.
"No way that's a five-year-old, no matter how you look at it."
"Is this something a five-year-old can do?"
"Somebody must've walked him through the whole thing, right? An adult laid down the underdrawing and just had him fill in the color."
The whispering went on.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
On one side, admiration; on the other, suspicion.
The gallery staff were worn down by visitors' questions.
"Did a five-year-old really paint this?"
"It just says it's a winning work, so we're not really sure ourselves......"
"Did the judges verify this in person?"
"That's outside our area, I'm afraid."
Еñ ùm̌ ӑ
Photos began appearing on social media.
Pictures of the painting taken at the gallery.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The high-resolution shots were a world apart from the descriptions in the articles.
Even through a screen, you could feel the painting's delicacy.
-Saw it in person, seriously incredible. You have to come see this yourself. Photos don't do it justice.
-The painting itself, I'll give it that. But I still can't believe a five-year-old did it.
Wӗb̈n̈ о v̀ ё ľ Е̂ňu̇ ḿ ӑ
-I've got an art degree and a five-year-old painted this? A passing dog would laugh.
-Compare it to the other preschool paintings hanging beside it...... you just start feeling sorry for the kids. T_T
Public opinion was split.
The majority acknowledged the painting but couldn't believe the age.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
A well-known art YouTuber came to the gallery himself and shot a live video.
He stood in front of the painting for ten minutes. The camera was rolling.
Е̇ n̊uḿ.а
"Everyone watching, I came to see it in person. I'll give it to you straight, no holding back."
The YouTuber let a long pause hang before he spoke.
"The painting is incredible. Truly. There's no denying it. It probably would've drawn attention even in an adult competition."
A brief silence.
"But that this is a five-year-old's painting, I simply can't accept."
The chat window exploded again.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
At the same moment.
Two people stepped through the gallery entrance.
The man was tall. Lean build, long coat.
He carried nothing in his hands. They were shoved into his pockets.
The little girl walked pressed close to his side.
A neatly tied ponytail. A crisp coat. A small bag on her back.
Ӗn u m̀a.i d̄
The painter Byeon Jin-hyeok and his daughter, Yu Ha-na.
"Dad, there are so many people."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ha-na said it, looking around.
She'd come last year too, but there had never been a crowd like this.
"You're right."
Byeon Jin-hyeok answered curtly and walked on inside.
W̆ е b nо̇v е l Еn.u m̌â.
Father and daughter had the same destination.
Not Ha-na's painting, but someone else's.
The painting by the preschool grand prize winner, the Grand Prix winner, Lee Jun, now six years old.
The day they'd seen the results announced.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Lee Jun!"
Ha-na had shouted, staring at the name on her phone.
Е̃n̊ um̆ӓ
It was winter break, the lunch hour at her art academy.
Byeon Jin-hyeok had been curious himself when he heard the result.
A five-year-old who'd taken the Grand Prix over his own daughter, an upper-grade student.
The controversial painting, the one a five-year-old had supposedly made with impasto and glazing.
When he heard the judging result, Byeon Jin-hyeok asked his wife, Director Yu Seo-jin.
"Who was head judge this year?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Kang Ji-won. But apparently Master Painter Seo Jeong-hwan came on as a special judge."
"Seo Jeong-hwan did?"
Seo Jeong-hwan.
Even Byeon Jin-hyeok couldn't hold his head up before that name.
This painting had won the Grand Prix at a competition Seo Jeong-hwan had judged.
Byeon Jin-hyeok's expectations swelled all the higher.
Е ńu mа .іḋ
Father and daughter stepped into the gallery.
They passed the preschool corner. Crayon drawings hung in a row.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Ha-na glanced at them and moved on. Nothing there worth seeing.
Elementary lower-grade division. Kim Min-jun's watercolor hung in the grand prize spot.
'Rainy Playground'. Not bad. But not as good as she'd been last year.
Ha-na just looked and walked past.
W̌ еb̆n̊ о̂ṽ.еl Е̌ṅǔm a
Upper-grade division.
Her own painting hung there.
A playground at sunset. Oil painting.
"Hung nicely."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Byeon Jin-hyeok said it.
Looking at his daughter's painting. Smiling, pleased.
Ӗ ňu̇m̆ а̃ . іd́
Ha-na's feet were soon moving again.
Toward the back of the gallery.
She could see where the crowd had gathered.
The Grand Prix wall. Unlike the other corners, it was packed with visitors.
Ha-na started to push into the crowd.
But before she did, she saw it from a distance.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The canvas on the wall.
The number-fifteen, visible over the heads of the crowd.
A dazzling blue.
"......."
Ha-na's feet stopped.
It was far. Still a good ten meters away.
Е̃ nū_m а. і̀d̊
Only part of it showed between the people.
And yet she could feel it.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
That blue was no ordinary blue.
Under the gallery lights, the canvas was giving off light.
The paint was shining.
Ha-na took her father's hand. Without thinking.
Е nū m̊а̄ . і ď
Byeon Jin-hyeok felt his daughter take his hand.
He was looking at that canvas himself.
Even from a distance, he could tell.
That was no ordinary painting.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The two of them walked forward.
Passing between the visitors, they came to a stop before the canvas.
W е́ḃñ о̊v̀е l̃ E n u̇ m̊а̇
The sky was there.
A deep blue. Beneath the surface, dozens of layers of underpainting had built up.
Light was seeping out from within. It was as if the sky were breathing.
Clouds floated. Thick paint rose up.
Bright above, dark below. The impasto caught the light and glittered.
Big clouds, small clouds. The distant ones faded away into a blur.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
There was a field of grass. Wind combed through it.
And a small silhouette.
A black form. Two white dots.
A being gazing up at the sky stood there.
Ha-na couldn't take her eyes off the canvas.
"What is this."
Е̄n̊ǔ mа̂
The words slipped out on their own.
A shiver ran over her skin. It was a strange feeling.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ha-na had painted in oils too. Months of it, without rest.
Laying down paint, controlling her brushstrokes, learning to mix color from her father.
But this was different.
It was the same oil paint, yet a completely different painting from anything she'd made.
Еn um̃å. і d̆
"Dad."
Ha-na called out in a small voice.
"......."
Byeon Jin-hyeok didn't answer.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Mouth shut, he stood glaring at the canvas.
His eyes started at the surface and traveled inward.
Е n̆ûm ӓ.і̊d
Glazing.
Layer upon layer of transparent film. A structure with light rising from beneath.
What Rothko had done with color fields in oil, this painting was doing in a landscape.
Byeon Jin-hyeok's gaze moved to the clouds.
Impasto.
The thickness of the paint had become the quantity of light.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The brightest places were the thickest.
The two techniques coexisted within a single canvas without colliding.
The sky made depth through glazing, the clouds made light through impasto.
Light shining from within and light shining from without, on one surface.
Byeon Jin-hyeok stepped closer.
He looked at the surface.
W̊ eb n̈ ôv е̊l̈ Е̃n u m а̀
The sky held no brushmarks. That was because the layers had been overlaid dozens of times.
In the clouds, the brushmarks were alive. Deliberately kept.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
That boundary.
The meeting point of glazing and impasto.
It was soft. The clouds weren't stuck into the sky; they floated.
Byeon Jin-hyeok's mouth pressed tight.
Е n u.m̊ а̇ . їd
'A five-year-old did this?'
Byeon Jin-hyeok. A man who had painted his whole life.
Winner of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Artist of the Year Award.
Glazing was a technique he used himself. Impasto too, of course.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
But combining the two on a single surface like this was no easy thing.
Each one, he can do.
Ẅ е̄ b̌ nо v ěl E ṅū m̃a
The trouble is that using them together fractures the surface.
When a smooth surface and a rough surface sit on one canvas, the sense of unity easily breaks.
Yet this painting hadn't broken.
And he could see why it hadn't.
This black silhouette.
The small black form at the bottom was holding the whole surface together.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
No matter how different the sky and the clouds were, the eye was drawn to the single point that silhouette gazed up at.
The contrast between the vast sky and the tiny being was making the surface one.
Is this a genius's instinct?
Or the thorough calculation of a craftsman honed over years?
At the same time, Byeon Jin-hyeok saw something else.
The unevenness in the brushwork of the grass.
W̊ ӗb̂n õ v̄è l Е̊nu m а
The front was precise, but it grew looser toward the back.
The underside of one cloud had collapsed slightly.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The control of thickness on the dark face wasn't as exact as on the upper side.
The grass around the silhouette was a little smudged.
Traces of a small hand running out of strength while handling the fine details.
A number-fifteen canvas might have been large for a five-year-old.
Ё n̄u m a
Whether the arm couldn't reach, or the concentration flagged, or holding the arm up grew too hard.
If an adult had painted this in his place, no parts like these would remain.
Clumsiness like this could only come from a five-year-old's hand.
Overwhelming technique and unmistakable inexperience coexisted on one canvas.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
'Genius, not yet fully refined.'
That was the conclusion Byeon Jin-hyeok reached.
Е̇nu m̌ а̃
"Dad? Well?"
Ha-na looked up. She wanted to know her father's verdict.
Only after a long while did Byeon Jin-hyeok open his mouth.
"It's remarkable."
It was short.
But his daughter knew the weight packed into those few words.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
For her father to look at someone else's painting and call it 'remarkable' was almost unheard of.
Even looking at a fellow painter's work, he rarely offered praise.
"Is it really a five-year-old?"
Ha-na asked again.
Byeon Jin-hyeok looked at the canvas once more.
"It probably is."
Е́n̄um̃ а
"How can you tell?"
"If an adult had painted it, they wouldn't have painted it like this."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ha-na looked where her father was pointing.
The slightly collapsed underside of the cloud. The loose brushwork behind the grass.
"Here? This is proof a kid painted it?"
"An adult doesn't make mistakes like that. If an adult had ghost-painted it, they'd have finished those parts off cleanly too. Those traces come from the arm losing its strength. The canvas is big, so holding the arm up for a long time would've been hard."
Ẁѐb̂ ǹ о v̀ё ĺ Еnǔmа
Ha-na looked at those parts.
Then she looked at the rest.
Now that her father had said it, she could faintly see the imperfect spots.
But all the rest of it was close to perfect.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
That contrast was, if anything, frightening.
The perfect parts were truly perfect.
Ẇ еb nо̀ v̇ ê l Е̃nu m̊ а̌
The weaker parts were truly five years old.
And that had come from the same hand.
"......Dad. It's so frustrating."
Ha-na said.
She was biting her lip.
Byeon Jin-hyeok looked down at his daughter.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ha-na's voice was trembling.
"A five-year-old paints better than me."
Byeon Jin-hyeok said nothing.
Because his daughter wasn't wrong.
On technique alone, this painting stood above Ha-na's. And by a long way.
Of course, Ha-na is only ten. It hasn't even been a few months since she started oils.
Wӗ b̌n о̌ v̆ el Е̃nu m̈а
She wasn't to be judged by that output.
But...... this child is five.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
The excuse of a lack of experience doesn't hold.
They're on a different level.
There was no other way to put it.
He couldn't find any words to comfort his daughter, either.
W̄ е̇_bn.о̀ vе̊ ĺ Ё ń umа̊
"Dad."
Instead of her father's hand, Ha-na gripped the hem of his coat.
Her fist was clenched tight.
"Can I paint even better too?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Byeon Jin-hyeok stroked his daughter's head once.
"Of course you can."
Ẃ_е b̆ň óv̈ѐ ľ E n.ú m̄ ã
Ha-na nodded. Her eyes had gone red.
"Excuse me, aren't you the painter Byeon Jin-hyeok?"
A voice came from behind.
Byeon Jin-hyeok turned around.
It was a young man. He held a camera in one hand.
Beside him stood an assistant carrying a tripod.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
It was the person who'd been shooting the video off to the side a moment ago.
An art YouTube channel. Byeon Jin-hyeok had no interest in that world, but he'd seen the face before.
"That's me."
He answered shortly.
"Hello. My name is Jeong Hae-jin, and I run the 'Art Studio Uncle' channel. Would it be all right if I asked you a couple of quick questions?"
Byeon Jin-hyeok glanced at Ha-na. She was still gazing up at the painting.
Е̄.ṅ u m̃ ӑ . і̌d̊
"......Keep it short, please."
"Thank you. So, this painting, the Grand Prix winner. How did you read it? Do you believe a five-year-old painted it?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Byeon Jin-hyeok let a moment pass before he opened his mouth.
"Yes. A five-year-old painted it."
Perhaps it wasn't the answer the man had expected. The YouTuber's eyes widened.
"Is there something you're basing that certainty on?"
Е̌n̊umа .іd̊
"The brushwork behind the grass is loose. The control of thickness on the underside of the clouds isn't as precise as up top, either. And the grass around the silhouette is smudged."
The YouTuber tilted his head.
"But aren't those the parts that were done poorly?"
"That's the whole point. A number-fifteen canvas is too big for a five-year-old. He wouldn't have had the strength to paint every part of it evenly. If an adult had ghost-painted this, they'd have finished those parts off without a seam. Clumsiness like that only comes from a small hand."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Conscious of his camera, the YouTuber nodded and then said,
"But couldn't someone leave that kind of clumsiness in on purpose? What if they deliberately made those gaps to make it look like a five-year-old painted it?"
Е̃ n̂ŭ m а̄ . ї ḋ
Byeon Jin-hyeok's eyes changed.
The temperature dropped.
"......What did you say?"
"Ah, what I mean is, they could fake even that on purpose, couldn't they? If an adult finished it clumsily on purpose to disguise it as a child's work──"
"Faked it?"
Byeon Jin-hyeok cut him off. His voice was quiet.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"They faked it to create that clumsiness. Is that what you're saying, right now, in front of that camera? With no basis at all?"
The YouTuber flinched.
Byeon Jin-hyeok's gaze grazed the man's camera. Then it returned to his eyes.
"The sky in that painting is dozens of layers of glazing. That means every day one layer was laid down and left to dry. It would have taken months. The impasto of the clouds is deliberately controlled for thickness, and the handling of the boundary between sky and clouds avoids the collision of the two techniques."
Byeon Jin-hyeok spoke with his hands still in his pockets.
"Faked it by leaving clumsiness in on purpose? This 'faker' can do glazing and impasto both, and can combine the two techniques at will, and you're telling me someone like that would go to the trouble of faking it just to borrow a five-year-old's name? Instead of submitting it under his own?"
W̊ ëb̈n̂о̄ vẽ.l̀. Е nuḿ а̄
The YouTuber opened his mouth, then closed it.
Byeon Jin-hyeok didn't wait any longer.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"If you have eyes, judge from the painting, not from guesswork. If you don't have eyes, then hold your tongue."
He turned away.
Ha-na followed, holding the hem of her father's coat.
The YouTuber stood there, camera in hand.
Е̄n̈_ũ ḿ á
"......Hyeong, should I cut the livestream?"
The assistant's whisper could be heard.
****
TL Note: Sorry for the delay. I fell sick and wasn't able to translate.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
*****
Е̃n úm а
Konten Bab Belum Tersedia
Bab ini belum memiliki konten teks atau sedang dalam proses penyuntingan.
