20多年前,一位日本老学者朋友对我说,你们中国人的绘画艺术是东方最有价值的资产,因为这是5000年中国文化的产物,在世界上是无可取代的。假如现在我有1亿港元,我大可把你们近百年的艺术精品收购得七七八八了。老先生的话令我震撼,至今无法忘怀。事实上,从1975年至1980年间,一个日本电冰箱或电视机即可换走一张齐白石或张大千的作品,若是现代名家王明明或沈道鸿的作品,当时更可换走一百张。至1987年,欧洲印象派画家梵高的一幅作品 More than 20 years ago, a Japanese old scholar friend told me that your Chinese painting is the most valuable asset in the East because it is a product of 5,000 years of Chinese culture and is irreplaceable in the world. If I now have 100 million Hong Kong dollars, I can put your nearly 100 years of art boutique acquired seven thousand seven hundred eighty-eight. The words of the old man made me shock, so far unforgettable. In fact, from 1975 to 1980, a Japanese refrigerator or TV set could be substituted with a piece of work written by Qi Baishi or Zhang Daqian, or even a hundred pieces by contemporary Ming and Ming dynasties. By 1987, a work by Van Gogh, a European impressionist painter