shadow of britain

Chapter 477: Patron of the Arts

Victor and Dumas carried the painting, which was taller than both of them, into the office.

Arthur stood up and looked at the painting, and almost spit the tea in his mouth into Dumas' face.

"Damn it! Mr. Vidocq, Alexander, did you two go to the Louvre to rob? Where did you get this painting?"

The reason why Arthur had such a big reaction was because the painting was so famous and iconic.

The main subject of the picture is a young woman wearing a Phrygian skullcap and half-naked top, with her right hand raised high, holding a red, white and blue tricolor flag. Behind her, there are students, soldiers and workers.

If Arthur remembered correctly, the painting was called "Liberty Leading the People".

Whether in art textbooks or history textbooks, it occupies its own page.

Seeing Arthur's jaw drop, Dumas was also quite surprised and said, "You actually know this painting? Oh... I almost forgot that you seemed to have visited the Louvre a few days ago."

Arthur glared at Dumas and said, "Alexander, Mr. Vidocq, there should be a limit to what you two can do. The Breauc Detective Agency is not so poor as to steal art from museums, right?"

Vidocq laughed and said, "Brother, don't get me wrong. We didn't steal this painting. Originally, this painting depicting the July Revolution was indeed displayed in the Louvre, but a while ago the government was worried that exhibiting this painting might provoke the emotions of the Republicans, so the painting was returned to the painter Mr. Delacroix. It happened that Mr. Delacroix was short of money recently, and he knew that our office often met some wealthy customers, so he asked us to help find a good buyer for this painting."

"Is this painting a depiction of the July Revolution?" Arthur was surprised. "I always thought it was a depiction of the Great Revolution."

Dumas said, "Not all paintings with tricolor flags represent the Revolution. This painting depicts the battle at the Notre Dame Bridge on July 1830, 7. The female soldier holding the tricolor flag is Clara Lessing, and behind her is Allaire who planted the tricolor flag on the bridge. To be honest, I should have a place in this painting, because I was not far from Allaire and fired back at the government troops."

After listening to Dumas' description, Arthur finally understood the origin of the painting.

He stared at this painting, which was comparable to a French national treasure, and hesitated for a while. In the end, he couldn't help but ask, "Who does Mr. Delacroix plan to sell this painting to?"

Vidocq said, "For a famous artist like Mr. Delacroix, his paintings have always been popular. But the problem is that the subject of this painting is too sensitive. In Paris, people who have the money to buy art usually don't consider buying this painting, because it is tantamount to challenging the government and showing their republican tendencies. And those who don't care what the government thinks of them usually can't afford to buy paintings. So... my advice to him is to consider selling this painting to some foreign collectors who have taste, financial resources, and cultivation."

When Sir Arthur Hastings, who was tasteful, wealthy and cultured, heard this, he immediately understood why these two guys had spent so much time laying the groundwork.

He lit the fire and stared at the painting again. "Okay. So, how much would Delacroix want to sell it to me?"

"Not much." Dumas held out his palm mysteriously: "What do you think of this number?"

Arthur saw it and asked quietly: "Five hundred francs?"

"The figures are correct, but since we are selling the paintings to the British, it would be best if we could use pounds sterling."

"Five hundred pounds?" Arthur raised his eyebrows and said, "For Mr. Delacroix's paintings, this price may not be expensive, but considering my personal financial resources... Five hundred pounds, this is a full ten thousand francs."

Dumas also felt that the price seemed a bit high, but he did not intend to lower it.

The fat man always felt that if the painting was sold at a low price, it would be as if his glory in the July Revolution would be dimmed.

"Arthur, think about it carefully. Heinrich was bragging about you in the Constitutional Newspaper and he even dared to ask you for 1000 francs. Isn't a painting of this size by Mr. Delacroix worth more than ten articles by Heinrich? I think you are asking for a bargain. If it weren't for the difficulty in finding a buyer for this painting, everyone would definitely be scrambling for the price of francs. Besides, even if you pay a high price now, these artworks will appreciate very quickly after a few years."

At this point, Dumas encouraged him again: "To be honest, if I hadn't just bought a theater in Paris, I would have bought this painting with my own money."

Upon hearing this, Victor quickly dissuaded him, "Alexander, I advise you to be careful. If you hang this painting in the theater, you may not be able to get your business license."

Arthur couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Alexander, do you think I'm the Count of Monte Cristo in your novel? Edmond Dantès can spend 600 million francs a year in Paris, and he can easily give the agent a 1 franc tip to buy a villa, but I can't be that rich. Two bottles of ordinary French red wine only cost franc, and the high-end dress shirts sold outside the Louvre only cost francs. Although I admit that Mr. Delacroix's paintings are very good, you asked me for bottles of red wine and high-end shirts. This is too much."

Seeing that Arthur was unwilling to give in, Dumas had to use Heine as an example again: "Arthur, I am not the only one who thinks this painting is good. Heinrich even wrote a poem for it and praised it."

"Why didn't Heinrich buy it? Or did he write the poem and send a bill for 1000 francs to Mr. Delacroix, just as he did to Liszt?"

"I don't know." Dumas shrugged and said, "You can ask him in person when he comes back from the boat. However, I think Heinrich's poem for this painting should not be mixed with too many financial considerations."

Arthur frowned and asked, "Heinrich went boating? Did he have an appointment with a lady today? Did he forget to hand in the manuscript of On Romanticism today?"

Dumas was a little disappointed when he heard him say that. He said, "From what I have observed, Heinrich probably hasn't gotten over his obsession with his two cousins ​​yet. The person who went boating with him was not a lady, but a young poet from Denmark. But it doesn't matter. Arthur, are you sure you don't want to buy this painting? Mr. Delacroix's works are not bread that you can buy every morning."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Arthur walked forward and smiled, holding Dumas' shoulder: "Alexander, I just said that I don't have enough money, but that doesn't mean I can't find a good buyer for this painting." "Huh?" Dumas turned his head and asked, "Have you met any rich people these days?"

"It's not someone I met in the past two days, but a prince I have known for several years."

"Your Highness?"

Arthur nodded slightly and said, "Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society of Arts, President of the United Masonic Lodge of Great Britain, and President of the Royal Society. I dare say he would definitely be interested in this painting, and the price he could offer would definitely be much higher than what a second-class secretary like me could offer."

Dumas pondered for a moment: "This...are you planning to write a letter to His Royal Highness?"

"There's no need to go through so much trouble. Your Highness usually entrusts the collection of artworks to other people." Arthur picked up the red teacup and leaned back on the sofa. "When I first met Your Highness, our friend Lionel Rothschild was beside him. At that time, he was introducing to Your Highness the Brazilian turtle specimen that he had worked so hard to obtain. Alexander, do you understand what I mean?"

Upon hearing this, Victor couldn't help but whistled. He smiled and shouted to his men sitting at the front desk of the office: "Tall Man, One-Eyed Dragon, the two of you take a business card of Lord Hastings and go to Rothschild Bank to apply for a large loan. If the bank manager asks about the reason for the loan, you bring him to the office to see the Lord himself."

Dumas understood what Victor meant. He curled his lips and said, "It seems that Mr. Delacroix's paintings will be sold easily now. Lionel spent a lot of money, and he has to thank you for being the middleman."

Arthur picked up the newspaper again and said casually, "The value of money is different for people at different stages. You think Lionel spent a lot of money, but he may not think so. If Rothschild directly gave a few hundred pounds to the Duke of Sussex, it would be an insult to His Royal Highness. But if it was a painting by Mr. Delacroix, it would be an appreciation of art. Alexander, you have to change your old ideas. Many bankers in Paris have not turned this corner in their heads, so everyone calls them nouveau riche, but Rothschild has already touched this threshold, so three people in his family have been ennobled in Austria."

"Yes!" Dumas sneered, "Those who give money directly are the nouveau riche, while those who bribe with art are the aristocrats."

"Wrong." Victor said, holding his pipe in his mouth: "Alexander, the biggest difference between the two is whether you have connections or not."

"Whatever you cops say."

Dumas sat down next to Arthur. He fumbled in his arms for a long time and took out a few pages of letter paper. "Arthur, take a look at this. Heinrich has discovered a rising star for our "Englishman", the Danish friend who went boating with him."

Arthur put down the newspaper and took the manuscript. He couldn't help but frowned as soon as he took a look at it. "Poetry collection? Although Heinrich has always had good taste, the competition in the poetry column of The Brit is extremely fierce at the moment."

As Arthur said, as the most valuable subject in classical literature, poetry has always been the focus of many literary giants.

Even in a magazine like "The Brit" that focuses on popular literature, the poetry column still has two great writers, Heine and Tennyson, and behind them is Miss Elizabeth Barrett, who is disabled but determined. Most importantly, the anonymous poet Mr. Elder Carter, the "Lionheart", still sends back a few of his impromptu masterpieces from South America every now and then.

Moreover, compared with novels and dramas, whether foreign poetry can be popular in Britain does not depend solely on the level of the poetry to a certain extent. The level of translation also greatly affects its final presentation level.

The reason why "The Liberian" dared to distribute Heine's poetry collection was because Heine had already gained fame in Europe, and many readers had already read the original German version and the French translation of the poetry collection, so there was not much risk in distributing his works.

However, this young poet from Denmark was not only unknown in Britain, but even though his manuscript had been thoughtfully converted from Danish into French, Arthur still found many difficult parts after a cursory reading.

From the perspective of commercial distribution, this is definitely an unqualified work.

Arthur held his forehead and read the manuscript again and again, but no matter how he thought about it, he didn't think there was much sparkle in these poems. The worst thing was that they were not even as pornographic and violent as Elder's collection of poems, which meant they had no topicality.

"Alexander," Arthur said regretfully, "If this manuscript was written in Danish, every line would be a beautiful poem, but after being translated into other languages, it loses its original charm. Of course, I don't distrust Heinrich's vision, but if his friend could come up with some novels, perhaps it would be more in line with the publishing attributes of The Brit."

When Dumas heard Arthur's reply, he seemed to have calculated it all along, and smiled as if he had succeeded in his plot: "Arthur, this is what you said. If he can write stories, then you have to publish it. In fact, he did adapt a short story based on Spanish folklore recently. Heinrich previously helped him submit it to the Constitutional Daily, but they politely rejected the manuscript for various reasons. Of course, this is not because he is not a good writer, but out of some political considerations, just like Mr. Delacroix's paintings."

"Can I see it?"

"Of course." Dumas pulled out the manuscript he had prepared long ago from his arms like a magic trick: "Look at what he wrote."

Arthur took the manuscript and glanced at it briefly. He just felt that there was an indescribable taste in the wording of this Danish boy.

If we comment on "Blackwood" with its usual sarcastic tone, the whole article is full of immaturity and naivety.

But the more Arthur read, the more he felt that the story seemed familiar.

——Once upon a time, there was a king. He loved new clothes. Most of the money in the treasury was spent on his clothes. He didn't care about the army, didn't care about state affairs, and didn't even like taking a walk. He only liked to change new clothes from morning to night, almost every hour...

Dumas leaned against the sofa and recommended vigorously: "These days, you can find a lot of poets, playwrights and novelists in Europe, but good fairy tale writers are not available everywhere. Arthur, Heinrich and I both think that this guy named Hans Andersen is a promising talent. Well... Of course, we admire him not only because this "The Emperor's New Clothes" seems to be a satire on Louis Philippe's government."

(End of this chapter)