Almighty painter

Chapter 244 Anna's Big Discovery (Seeking Tickets!)
(Updated, ask for a ticket at the end of the month!)

"The old earl has a very good relationship with this aunt who often took him out to play when he was a child. He watched the other party die beside him under the double torture of spirit and body. That must have had a great emotional impact on him."

The bouquet of white roses in front of Anna swayed slightly in the wind.

Elliot tapped the floor uneasily with his toes.

She is the kind of little girl with a little bit of a wealthy family, and she has liked the romantic nineteenth century since she was a child.

The records in middle school textbooks call this period of history the "golden age", which was the last prosperous time of the good old Europe before the war.

The imagination in her mind is often full of the scene style of Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past".

A handsome young officer in riding boots with a saber and pistol dances to the music of the waltz with a girl in a pleated skirt with a silver brooch pinned to her chest in the salon under the setting sun.

But imagination and reality are always different.

When the heir of the Elena family told the past in Elliott's ear.

The historical smoke and dust with coarse gravel and bloody smell will rush towards the face, covering Miss Secretary as a hood.

She realized it instantly.

When people recall historical figures, they always put on a subjective filter habitually.

In the history books, how many monarchs and lords in the name of benevolence will regard human life as worthless.Those bishops and monks who were canonized by the Vatican also sold the Atonement Scrolls and spread the stakes for burning witches all over the banks of the Rhine.

Even the great and immortal Tolstoy once repented in his memoirs for beating his servants and serfs with a whip like wild dogs at will in his youth.

The feudal era is the feudal era.

Even the Irina family, the most gentle, civilized, and art-loving nobles, have done such cruel and inhuman things.

"That Ms. Carla just died? Nothing left? Not a single painting?"

Anna was silent for a few seconds, shook her head and nodded.

"According to the records, Grandma Carla died of tuberculosis before being imprisoned for a few years. It's hard to say whether it's luck or misfortune."

"If she survived for a few more years, she might be able to kill her brother, or maybe death would be a relief to Grandma Kara at that time."

"When I was a student, I read and saw a group of photos. It was a news photo of an illegal imprisonment case exposed by the French police in the last century. A young lady was imprisoned in the attic by her mother for 16 years. In the photos, she was originally beautiful. She is a fairy-like girl who has been detained and tortured like a ghost."

Anna took off the soft woolen hat on her head, pinching the brim of the hat with her hands.

"I want to say that the Elena family is not some noble saints. My ancestors did a lot of right things, but also did a lot of irreparable wrong things. So the "Paintings" magazine does not have to have a relationship with Elena The name cannot be bound together."

"It's just that this magazine started from the moment it was founded. It is just a container for the artist's soul, not the hands that manipulate the art market. In the eyes of the old earl, the editor of the magazine is not really writing art reviews, but just Acting as a bridge between excellent artworks and audiences, let the paintings tell the beauty of themselves to the world.

At the same time, they will uphold the persistent heart and show outstanding painters from all over the world to collectors all over the world, regardless of rich or poor, high or low, origin or gender.Help out to the next possible painter like Granny Carla.

Without this obsessive quality, Oil Painting magazine would be dead.All that's left is an empty shell.This is why I am here today knowing the outcome of the shareholder meeting. "

"To pay homage to Kara."

Anna took off her hat to the bronze statue, then turned sideways to express her gratitude to the street band not far away who played "The Blue Danube" for her.

The girl turned around and let the wheelchair walk towards the gate of the oil painting magazine.
-
Ten minutes later, the top floor of the magazine office, the large meeting room.

"Mr. Khelaifi, I heard that you successfully persuaded the foundation of the Metropolitan Museum to mobilize 3655 million US dollars of funds to buy Monet's "Haystacks" at the Poly Paris Spring Auction at the beginning of the year? What a masterpiece. The Met already has a "Haystack" and two "Water Lilies," if my memory has not been faulted by old age."

"It's not bad at all, Sir Brown, don't worry, your memory is as accurate as that of a young lad. I have always believed that Impressionism is a stable and valuable gold in the field of art investment, which is much more stable than Pop Art at a similar price. Yes The opportunity to own a Monet is always very precious, not to mention that in 19, another "Haystack" sold for $1.106 million."

"Hey, I heard that the painting "Haystacks" you bought is not in a very good state of preservation, with traces of later restoration?" Another person with an Asian face in a dark blue formal suit asked.

"You get what you pay for, and $3600 is much cheaper than $[-] million. Four Monet paintings, two Degas, one Renoir, two Seurats, one Mademoiselle Marie, three horses Nye. With this painting, the Metropolitan Museum’s current holdings could hold a small Impressionist exhibition.”

Khelaifi, the chief art advisor of the Metropolitan Museum, turned his head and asked: "Speaking of which, Professor Rikiya Sakurai, you are a senior curator and have a lot of research on the artistic style of Impressionism. Your article on "Asian Art" The tone analysis of Pissarro’s works is impressive. If I invite you at this moment. I wonder if Professor Sakurai is interested in organizing this special exhibition.”

"Uh, maybe the time is not suitable. Sorry, I still want to fight for the position of the main curator of the Japanese National Pavilion at the next Venice Biennale. It is difficult to find time..."

With the arrival of Miss Yi Lianna, all the shareholders of the magazine have all attended.

Big names in the art world gathered.

Any ambitious art student who walks into this meeting room may faint with excitement.

An artist's career needs noble people.

And every shareholder present here is such a noble person.

Art professors, art experts, top curators... Some of them also serve as academicians of the French Academy or judges of the Turner Watercolor Prize.

Any one, if you put it outside, is the kind of boss who can make people soar up in place with a flick of a finger, and save ten years of detours.

The composition of the shareholders of "Oil Painting" magazine is very fragmented.

Before Kruger Brothers Bank entered the market, the only major shareholders were the Austrian National Publishing Group, the European Art Association and the Jelena family.

And there are many small shareholders.

Almost all of them are well-known art masters and art critics.

This kind of equity structure is the characteristic of "Oil Painting" magazine in recent years.

A sufficient number of top experts and scholars will hold important positions in normal times.Who has the time to spend so much energy writing for a magazine for no reason?

When Anna's grandfather and aunt ran the institution for the past half century.

In order to hire some scholars with sufficient weight to be the main authors or serve as invited commentators.

Sometimes they give the opportunity to buy a certain share of the magazine at a relatively low price, attracting those world-class experts and scholars to write review articles for "Oil Painting" for a long time.

In addition to maintaining their independence, they have rejected requests from gallerists for capital injections.

That leaves all kinds of high-end artistic people.

The shareholders of "Oil Painting" have almost all of them.

It even includes a senior adviser to the Spanish Ministry of Culture who went from academia to politics.

There are rumors that the other party has a close relationship with a certain prime minister candidate, and he is expected to join the cabinet in the next government and become the head of the cultural department.

If we say that 500 years ago, it was the church that mastered the artistic aesthetics of European society.

300 years ago was the king.

Then in the past century, they were the shareholders of this "Oil Painting" magazine.

If there are terrorists at this time, detonate a bomb in this conference room.

So what this bomb destroys is not only the body, but the abstract concept of "artistic aesthetics".Tomorrow morning will trigger a super earthquake that will affect the global art world.

The management of "Oil Painting" magazine holds the supreme right to appraise the fineness of gold in the art market, a super gold mine with an annual capital inflow of more than [-] billion U.S. dollars, and the amount is still rising.

The profitability of the entire magazine is not high.

Before Kruger Bank considered taking a stake, even the market valuation only stayed at a conservative 7000 million to 1 million euros.

Perhaps this can be ranked among the top ten in the world in the entire magazine media field.

But what the shareholders want is not just some bullshit top ten in the world. With the resources in their hands, they can easily become one of the most valuable magazines.

Compared with "VOGUE" in North America, a leading fashion magazine with a history similar to "Oil Painting" and a century-old history.

But it may not even reach half of the brand valuation given by investment banks on Wall Street.

There is still a lot of room to be tapped for commercial value.

Compared with the outstanding achievements in the field of art, the Elena family is indeed too cautious in financial performance.

The human heart is always greedy.

therefore,

From the moment Anna's wheelchair was pushed into the meeting room by Elliott, the atmosphere in the room was extremely weird.

The meeting room is large in size.

There were red draperies, a thick rug, and an antique walnut bar table in the middle dividing the room in two.

A pair of comfortable armchairs are placed opposite each other on either side of the long table.

Sitting on one side of the long table is a group of old men whose average age is over 55 years old.

In the opposite row sat two young girls whose combined sum was less than 50.

The old men were gray-haired.

The girls are so tender that they can pinch water.

At this time, the scene in the conference room looked incongruous, like dead old trees confronting two bright hyacinths.

The composition is like some kind of religious painting with strange meaning.

These art giants who can influence the trend of contemporary art always look across the table involuntarily while talking to each other in whispers.

None of them spoke to Anna.

The shareholder meeting has not undergone any advance rehearsal.

Seats for all are formed spontaneously.

The atmosphere of these people whispering and talking to each other, and deliberately isolating the two girls across the table is also formed spontaneously.

"Oh... it's a pity."

Someone sighed quietly in their hearts.

Many of them had no personal prejudice against Miss Anna.

Even in the past, there was a good personal friendship with Anna's aunt.

It's just that today, with a strange tacit understanding, they kept a deliberate distance from Elena.

Even when the other party looked at him, he turned his head away actively, completely treating the other party as an invisible ghost.

"Why do you still have to come over to attend and witness that you were kicked out?" Professor Sakurai, who was sitting diagonally across from Anna, showed sympathy and intolerance.

The shareholder meeting has not yet been formally held.

After a while, the results of the voting will be completely clear at a glance.

"It's too much! These old things are too much!"

Sitting across the table, Elliot gritted his teeth.

She saw Anna saying hello to those old guys on the opposite side one by one, but the other side ignored them completely.

The secretary hated not being able to smash the hot teacups on the heads of these old clappers opposite.

Elliott began to regret not convincing Miss Irina to bring a legal team here, even if he doesn't do anything, it's good to have a strong momentum.

perhaps……

In the present scene, it may be a wiser choice to abstain directly from the shareholder meeting.

"By the way, Miss Elena..."

The female secretary couldn't bear the embarrassing calm around them at this moment, so she took off the Apple Pencil attached to the tablet.

Elliot slid a few times on the electronic pocketbook, and called up the file he was looking for.

"You asked me to pay attention to the new agent artist member information of [Saatchi Gallery], [Tokyo Gallery], [New York Lehmann Gallery] and [Mashi Gallery]. I posted these galleries from their official website All the updated contents of the latest list of artists have been picked up. But I can only count all the public information, and I don’t know if this list will satisfy you.”

Elliott handed over the tablet.

She is a full-time private secretary hired by Ms. Yi Lianna. A few weeks ago, the lady specially asked her to pay attention to the list of represented artists in these galleries.

She asked herself to sort out all the new names, and it would be best to write a detailed personal information.

This requirement is very strange.

Elliott didn't know what the lady was doing mysteriously.

She didn't ask much.

She is just a person in charge of doing things, and only needs to care about how to carry out Anna's orders.

The work itself is not complicated.

After the big galleries sign new contracts, they will immediately update the relevant signing news on their official website homepages, and establish their personal webpages for the new agent painters.

A detailed creative resume is often directly attached to the personal homepage to increase collectors' understanding of the artist and facilitate future sales of paintings.

Elliot just needs to be more careful, staring at the webpage every day, copying and pasting any new news.

In the conference room, the scene where my young lady was left alone and no one cared about her was really desolate.

Elliott wanted to change the subject, anything.

At least don't let Anna stay there looking unattended.

"Oh, any news?"

Anna's eyes lit up as calmly as an ice sculpture.

Her slender eyebrows were raised slightly, and a vivid expression of excitement and curiosity flashed across the girl's face.

Eliot captured this scene, feeling strange in his heart.

She vaguely felt...

Compared with the changes involving assets of tens of millions of euros, it seems that this small list is more concerned by Miss Anna.

"Well, except for the list of representatives of the Tokyo Gallery, there has been no change. The remaining three have represented an artist's work this month."

"That's it."

Anna took the tablet.

Only three people?
Do not,
It should be said that there will be three people?

Every artist represented by the top intercontinental gallery has been carefully selected for a long time. Gagosian Gallery can’t wait for the list to remain unchanged for a year or a few years. It catches up with three major galleries that have recently signed new artists. .

It seems that the high-level art market is quite lively this month.

"There is Africa... there are only three in total, let me see for myself."

Anna quickly swipe the documents organized by the secretary on the tablet.

The newcomers to all three galleries are filed separately into a single file, complete with accompanying photographs.

【Gallery: Saatchi Gallery】

【Name: Maruk Johnlevich】

【Age: 35】

[Oil painting buyer rating: two stars]

The first file is that of a middle-aged Caucasian man.

In the photo, he has a big beard with a very artistic temperament. From the outside, it doesn't look close to the information of Big Sister Detective Cat at all.

Anna didn't close the document immediately either.

"THE Detective Cat" is just a screen name.

Personal information registered on Fiverr is not necessarily true.

Since I can change my voice to a middle-aged uncle on the Internet, Detective Cat may not be a Russian.

However, the girl shook her head in disappointment after reading two pages of Maluk's personal information.

"The temperament doesn't match, this guy has been in the art gallery for many years."

This guy graduated from the Repin Academy of Fine Arts, specializing in watercolor painting, and had already signed a contract with a medium-sized gallery in Eastern Europe. This year, he was recruited by Saatchi Gallery.

Maluk's situation is normal, and Intercontinental Gallery has a high vision.

Unless there is a reliable recommender or a supernova who has become a blockbuster at the Biennale.

They rarely sign amateurs from the underlying art market.

Most of them poach some middle-level painters who have already established a certain reputation from small galleries and medium-sized galleries with joint agency agreements.

On the contrary, Ms. Detective Cat is a minority.

No matter from the information in the words or the feelings brought to Anna by the words.

She thought in her heart that this big sister was more like a young newcomer who had never signed with a serious gallery.

Miss Elena moved on to the next file.

The "new" painter of Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York is also in the same situation as Maliuk, a 41-year-old French female painter.

Age and gender are correct.

Algeria was once the most important French colony in Africa.

It stands to reason that she is the most likely detective cat.

Miss Yi Lianna just drew for a few seconds and scanned the file, then simply closed it.

This is an avant-garde artist whose representative work is not even a painting, but a sailfish specimen soaked in formalin in an aquarium.

Anna didn't believe that the other party could possess outstanding skills like a detective cat.

more importantly.

Before he joined Leh Maupin Gallery in New York this month, he was a three-star painter in the "Oil Painting" magazine buyer's guide. After joining, he was directly adjusted to three-and-a-half stars.

The sailfish specimen alone was bought by a Lebanese businessman for 17 euros.

This kind of artist can't go to the Internet to draw illustrations for ten dollars.

"There's only one left."

Anna opened the last file with trepidation.

Then a bald old face with a smile like a meat bun came into the girl's eyes.

【Gallery: Mashi Gallery】

【Name: Gu Tongxiang】

【Age: 68】

[Oil painting buyer rating: one star]

"Gu Tongxiang?"

Anna pondered this strange name.

The girl browsed through the old man's personal information.

Its creative resume is very thin, and it seems that Ma Shi Gallery has racked its brains to make up the background information of this elderly agent artist to bluff people.

Regrettably,

Although Mr. Gu Tongxiang is more than 20 years older than the first two on the list, his creative background is poor and pitiful.

There are no significant works or awards, and he has never been signed by a serious gallery before.

Didn't even go to college.

He is a rare painter of the wild fox Zen type in modern times.

The background information introduced that he lives in Yangon, Myanmar, living in this piece of land that was once recognized by the United Nations as the poorest land in the world.

"...has been engaged in painting and art management in the market for many years, has more experience than young painters, and has his own profound and unique insights into Asian art trends..."

Looking at the resume materials that Ma Shi Gallery has painstakingly compiled for Mr. Gu.

Anna wanted to laugh a little.

This is signing a painter and not signing a broker. When can years of experience in the field of art management be considered an advantage in creative style?
In the second half of the sentence, with a low EQ expression, it is clearly saying that although the old man I signed is an unknown "little" guy, he is old!
A person who is almost 70 years old certainly has more experience than a 30-year-old painter.

Miss Jelena knows how these galleries work.

This is obviously because the old gentleman's past information is really nothing to put on the table, so he has to write this kind of empty-headed copy.

Anna also noticed.

This Gu Tongxiang’s recommendation page in the buyer’s guide of the magazine “Oil Painting” is all new. There is only the news of “Ma Shi Gallery’s agent artist”, and the transaction price of the purchased painting is also 0.

This means that even the editorial department of "Oil Painting" has never known or paid attention to this old man before.

It has not been three days since the evaluation of a one-star painter.

The star selection of the Buyer's Guide of "Oil Painting" magazine adopts the dual scoring system of "market objective + editorial subjectivity".

Those who can be signed by Ma Shi Gallery have the century-old reputation endorsement of the super gallery, and the minimum starting point is one star.If it can be signed by Gagosian, it will even start with three and a half stars.

Gu Tongxiang was paid attention to by "Oil Painting" purely because of Ma Shi's reputation.

"It's really not easy for this old gentleman to be selected by Ma Shi in the backcountry. I don't know what is so special about him."

Anna pulls down the page.

A peony picture jumped into her eyes, and she couldn't help blinking again.

(End of this chapter)