Writer uses humor to bring Western art closer to Chinese

Gu Mengjie starts his writing career with an online micro blog. The author has now published three books on Western paintings and art. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Van Gogh's tragic story could have been rewritten if he had known that he would get rich 10 years after his death," the advertisement said.

Gu himself faces a lot of criticism for his writing on European art.

"Some people say I don't respect art, but do we really need to place art on an altar?," asks Gu. "Today, if we can discuss and judge a film, why can't we discuss and judge a painting from hundreds of years ago?"

Then, delving into the issue of what constitutes "authoritative sources" in art history, he says, "As the materials were recorded and edited by people, human bias was likely. ... It is difficult for people to prove the authenticity of materials as nobody today has experienced the past era after all."

But Gu also acknowledges the need to write precisely. He says he will publicly apologize for any errors he makes.

"That's why I hired a team of masters and PhDs in art history to help me double-check what I write," says Gu.

In October, the online TV program directed and presented by Gu, Travel Around Italy with Mr Gu, was released on Iqiyi, a popular streaming site of tech company Baidu.

"I've seen many tourists take photos of artworks in European cities without knowing the stories behind them or without much appreciation for them," Gu says, adding that he aims to change that.

He says if he had the chance to produce another season of the online TV program, he would explore France.

Xu Haoyu contributed to the story