hollywood billionaire

Chapter 285 Sotheby’s and Christie’s

"Who were you Facetime with just now? I called several times and couldn't get in."

Walking at the intersection of New Bond Street and Brook Street in Mayfair, Han Yi's mobile phone rang again.

This time it was Barbara Pavin who sent the video chat request.

Coincidentally, on the right side of Han Yi is a Victoria's Secret store.

"Look." Without answering Barbara's question directly, Han Yi tilted his phone and showed the Hungarian supermodel the store window, "I've been looking for a long time, but I didn't see you."

"How can you see me? All the things hanging outside are angel shapes with wings." Noticing the pedestrians behind Han Yi who were walking in a hurry and casting curious glances from time to time, Barbara subconsciously closed her bathrobe.She didn't reveal any sensitive parts, but being scrutinized in public still made her feel a little uncomfortable. "Why do you hang out on the street every time you Facetime me?"

"On the contrary, every time I Facetime you, you always rest in your room." Han Yi rolled his eyes and joked, "This gives me a deeper understanding of your work intensity."

"The photography team's flight is delayed, what can I do?" Barbara is not worried. After all, her and Han Yi's daily life is to undermine each other. "Don't change the subject... Who were you Facetime with just now? Let me gossip." .”

"The third."

"The third...oh."

Barbara was stunned, but soon recalled the secret code name that only they two understood.

"Still unwilling to reveal your real name to me?"

"Unless you step over my corpse." Han Yi raised his neck, looking like he was ready to die generously at any time.Although he talks to Barbara about everything, he has always been tight-lipped about the identities of Xu Yiru, Zhao Youzhen, and especially Madison Beale.

The fact that his contracted artists are chasing after him must not be known to a third person.

"I will find out one day." Barbara gestured with a pistol in her right hand and pointed at the screen.

"Why does it have to be discovered?"

"For theoretical research purposes." Although she said so, Barbara actually had no idea of ​​going into details.

Because she likes chatting with Han Yi very much, but every time she thinks of this man, there are three...

Barbara wanted to poke her head out of the screen and bite him to death.

The most abominable modern Don Juan.

"What kind of research?" Han Yi winced, "You look like you're ready to slice me into slices."

"Oh you have no idea."

"What?"

"fine."

Barbara took a deep breath and stopped looking at Han Yi on the screen.she asked nonchalantly while flipping her hair in the bathroom mirror.

"So...what are you going to do now?"

"Going to the Frieze Art Show... No, to be exact, I'm not going to the Frieze Art Show."

"What do you mean?" Barbara frowned and turned her gaze back to the phone, a little confused.

“I won’t go to the exhibition because there is nothing good worth my attention there.” Han Yi shrugged, “But I will take this opportunity to visit Sotheby’s and Christie’s headquarters in London.”

"Is there an auction?"

"Yes, but that's not where I want to go."

Han Yichang smiled at Barbara on the other side of the screen.

"I want to experience an... activity that I only knew existed in the past two days."

"what activity?"

"In-app purchase."

In-app purchase, Private Sales, as the name suggests, means that the seller directly reaches a purchase agreement with the buyer through the auction house without disclosing the item information.Private tours, closed sales, anonymous purchases, and in-app purchases may be the most mysterious and interesting of all the services an auction house can provide.

Art collection is a primitive and important way for humans to accumulate wealth.Its history can be traced back to ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient India and ancient China.Rulers or religious leaders kept objects of artistic value in temples, palaces, tombs, and other lofty places to demonstrate the owner's power, status, and glory.

In Western society, from the death of Alexander in Babylon to the conquest of the Peloponnese Peninsula in 146 BC by the Roman Republic, this 177 years, later known as the Hellenistic period, witnessed the real rise of the art collection industry.During this period, countries along the eastern Mediterranean coast were obsessed with ancient Greek art.A large group of wealthy and avid collectors entrust adventurers to help them bring back various rare works of art from Greece - or in many cases, copies of them.At the same time, nobles living in Alexandria, Rhodes, Pergamum, Antioch, and Rome also began to decorate their homes and gardens with luxury items such as exquisite bronze statues, stone carvings, and pottery.

After the establishment of the Roman Empire, art markets sprung up in major cities, pushing the art collection industry to a new level. All the people were enthusiastic, discussed, and collected. This phenomenon was promoted by Augustus and Harder. This was especially evident during Liang's reign.

After Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Roman Empire, was deposed in AD 476, art collections fell into silence for 800 years with the advent of the Middle Ages.It was not until Dante, Petrarch and Giotto came to the world and the Renaissance began that the collecting industry became active again.During this period, modern museums appeared in northern Italy, and art collections became theoretical and systematic. The act of commissioning artworks or purchasing a large collection of antiques also began to be related to the aesthetic taste, knowledge and social status of the perpetrator. contact directly.

The Medici of Florence, the Gonzaga of Mantua, the Montefelteros of Urbino, the Estes of Ferrara and, of course, the Lucini of Como, He became a wealthy collector talked about by the world.Through the excavation of ancient relics by archaeologists, the processing and restoration of antique fragments by craftsmen, and the commissioning of artists to copy Hellenistic cultural relics, these families have not only become the inheritors of ancient art, but also the pioneers of new literature and art. By.

The Godfathers of the Renaissance.

Godfather of the Renaissance.

This historical evaluation given to the Medici family by the world has greatly inspired and stimulated the desire of later generations to collect.In the 14th century, private studios, family museums, and commercial galleries became common, specializing in serving the richest and most powerful people in Europe.In the seventeenth century, throughout Europe, from the Iberian Union in the west to the Principality of Muscovy in the east, there were no monarchs, nobles, or wealthy businessmen who were indifferent to art collections.Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance during the Louis XIV period, Richelieu and Mazarin, the most famous cardinals and prime ministers in France, Leopold William of Austria, Philip of the Kingdom of Spain Kings III and IV, George Villiers, the [-]st Duke of Buckingham, Thomas Howard, the [-]th Earl of Arundel, King Charles I of England, and Queen Christina of Sweden, these great political figures, They all spent huge sums of money on art sponsorship and collection collection, not only to show their wealth and strength in the current world, but also to let future generations remember their reputation forever through these treasures that will not fade.

When a high-end consumption behavior becomes popular to this extent, it will inevitably trigger a trickle-down effect - a trickle-down effect that has nothing to do with money.First, kings and nobles were keen, then bankers and businessmen followed suit, and then new wealthy people who wanted to join the upper class followed suit. By the [-]th century, there were so many people who wanted to buy art that it was impossible for sellers to do it one-on-one. Serve.

Consumers must get together and compete to bid, hoping that the wealth they earn can defeat other eager opponents.People soon discovered that not only buying art can bring physical and mental pleasure, but the bidding itself can also provide the winner with sufficient attention, and the ensuing topicality, exposure and sense of honor.

It can even be said that this is a "gentleman's sport" that strips away all pretense and determines the outcome only with money.

Thus, the auction house was born.

"Sotheby's, founded in 1744, is the oldest and largest international art auction house in the world."

Sitting in a corner office on the second floor of Sotheby's New Bond Street headquarters, Ottilie Windsor, senior director of the internal purchasing department, was introducing the auction house to Han Yi.This elegant and generous blonde has a surname that has special significance in the UK.It was impossible for Han Yi to directly ask about the family origins of the other party, but judging from the direction of her nose, the thinness of her lips, and the dullness of her eyebrows, she should be related to the family in Buckingham Palace, or at least distant relatives. relation.

Art collection is an industry that emphasizes qualifications, ability, and more importantly, origin and inheritance. It is not surprising that there are one or two Windsors sitting in Sotheby's London office.

"We operate in 85 countries around the world, operate 80 offices, and hundreds of art showrooms, and sell 52 categories of art and luxury properties. Last year, our total auction transaction volume reached an astonishing 51 billion Dollar."

"Ours at Christie's is $74 billion."

About three hours later, at Christie's London headquarters at 8 King Street next to St. James's Square, Joshua Glazer calmly fired back at Ottilie Windsor from afar.The New York University art history professor is one of several private sales executives in Christie's in-house buying department.

Christie's divides the works of art into the following categories according to their categories: Impressionist and modern art, post-war and contemporary art, American art, 19th-century European art, European furniture and art, Chinese ceramics and art, ancient art and Antiques, Books & Manuscripts, Watches & Watches, Jewelry, and “Old Masters” each category will have a sales director who oversees the world.

Joshua Glazer is the sales executive mainly responsible for the “Old Masters” category of artworks.

"Old Masters" literally means old master.In the history of art, "Old Masters" refers to any painter who became famous in Europe in the [-]th century and their works.

In other words, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bellini, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt are all considered to be members of the "Old Masters".

And this happens to be the category that Han Yi is most interested in.

"Yes, Sotheby's was founded in 1744 and Christie's was founded in 1766. They appeared 22 years before us. However, in a time scale of two to three hundred years, how much impact can a gap of only twenty years have? What? There was no electricity in 300 and there was no electricity in 1744. There was no Wifi in 1766 and there was no electricity in 1744."

"That's a comparison made by... no one ever."

Han Yi was amused by the exaggerated comparison between Joshua and Glazer.Like Sotheby's Ottilie Windsor, Han Yi also had a rough guess about the identity of this American auction house executive who was based in New York and only came to London on business during the Frieze Art Exhibition.

Windsor and Glazer are indeed familiar faces in the private world of art collection.

"Yeah, no one would make that comparison. I personally respect Mr. Samuel Baker, but his history of selling books about Napoleon to St. Helena to curious British aristocrats doesn't help you choose what you want. collection...and." Joshua Glazer raised his index finger and emphasized, "If you have to compare the background, Christie's is the auction house that best knows how to help ultra-high-net-worth clients complete confidential transactions."

“In 1779, our founder, Mr. James Christie, through a series of wise and patient negotiations, helped Catherine the Great purchase a large collection of Walpole, the first Earl of Orford.”

"So, Mr. Han..."

"We are the largest in-app purchase dealer in the art trading industry."

Ottilie Windsor, who had anticipated that Han Yi would visit Christie's again and compared the services, commission ratios and collection quality of the two companies, took the lead and hung the title of "largest in-app purchase dealer" on Sotheby's head.

“In 2013, the in-app purchase sector witnessed an unprecedented boom. Both auction houses’ private sales totaled more than $10 billion, Christie’s $11.9 billion and us $11.8 billion, but please note that they sold more lots than we did. A full 24% is offered. This can well reflect Sotheby's agency and sales strategy, Mr. Han - we only sell heirlooms."

"To be honest, there are fewer and fewer people who trust another institution across the city." Joshua Glazer tapped the north side with his thumb, clicked his tongue, and retorted from the distance, "This is the case in the public auction field, and internal auctions are like this. The same is true in the field of buying and selling. Their private sales last year were US$6.73 million, while Christie's was US$8.512 million. How good the quality and service are depends on the market."

"After visiting our place, you can go to...the Stafford Hotel and see the Christie's auction house, no problem." Ottilie Windsor's attack was more subtle, "But you It can be difficult to see the work I want to buy in person... because I don’t know if their showroom is finished.”

"Christie's showroom isn't finished yet?" Han Yi was slightly startled.

"Yes, their private gallery in Mayfair was closed before. I wonder if the King Street side is open now." Ottilie Windsor took a sip of water calmly, "Oh, yes, I remember Come on, the previous gallery, called Haunch of Venison, is just two streets away from our Sotheby's S2 gallery... You live at the Claridge's Hotel, right? The original location is on the left of the street where you live. You can take a detour to take a look when you go back tonight, there should be some debris that you haven't had time to move away."

"That's a complete lie, Mr. Han. Oh, my God, I didn't expect Ottilie to be so desperate." Joshua Glazer sneered and shook his head helplessly, "Mei After the lease of Fair's store expired, we opened a larger and newer showroom on King Street. In addition, we also have a showroom in South Kensington, which was held on the 8th last month. A public auction of nineteenth-century European paintings.”

"Got it, so it's fake news."

"Fake news." Joshua looked determined, although he knew in his heart that the attacks from competitors had actually hit Christie's where it hurts - either the lease of Christie's Mayfair Gallery was expiring, or the in-app sales situation in London Not meeting expectations, the group closed down the showroom.The current private exhibition hall is a temporarily designated area in this office building.

But how could he give up on such a matter and hand it over to Sotheby's, a major client?
"In fact, Mr. Han..."

Before Han Yi asked more questions from his own mouth, but it was actually the knife handed over by Ottilie Windsor from Sotheby's, Joshua Glazer decided to take the lead and turn the conversation back to the issues that the buyer and seller really cared about.

"My colleagues have arranged for you some of our most collectible and investment potential master-class works of art in our private display room..."

"If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to move to the first floor and let me show you around... I don't know how to describe these treasures, but if I had to describe them, I would call them 'Christie's 2016 Absolutes'" highlight'."

"Absolute highlights...sounds like fun."

"Believe me, Mr. Han, they are more interesting and shocking in reality than the ones I described... a thousand times, ten thousand times."

Walking in front of Han Yi and Antoine Gachet, who were getting up with him, Joshua Glazer got very close to them, and stopped at a distance where they were almost rubbing shoulders with each other.

Christie's "Old Master" sales manager raised his palms flat and placed them between him and Han Yi.The distance between the two of them was just big enough to accommodate the large spread hands.

"I wonder if you have ever stood at such a close distance... and seen an authentic work by Rembrandt with your own eyes?"

(End of this chapter)