"What?"
Mrs. Sakai tilted her head.
"It's the advanced class. I was in the student work exhibition corridor of Dulwich College before and saw the works of an older sister. Her paintings... I thought she was quite serious. Mom, could you recruit her?"
Sakai Katsuko considered her tone.
"Katsuko?"
Mrs. Sakai sat up from the recliner and narrowed her eyes.
The lies in Shengzi’s mouth,
The lady did not believe a word of it.
There is no better way to know a daughter than a mother.
Some female high school students lie as much as they eat and drink, but her daughter Katsuko is obviously the type of good child who doesn't know how to lie.
His head was lowered shyly, his eyes were wandering under the thin bangs on his forehead, his fingertips were pinched together, and an unnatural red appeared on his face.
I almost had the words "Mom, what I told a lie" written on my face.
Moreover……
Are you painting very seriously?
What nonsense is this.
What art requires is not seriousness, or in other words, more than seriousness.
Art requires talent, excellence, and a shining point that makes people's hearts move.
The master painters of the decoration company also painted the walls very seriously and worked hard.
Unfortunately, there is a high probability that they will not become artists.
This may sound a little arrogant, but in Mrs. Sakai's world view, engaging in art has always been the privilege of a few talented people.
According to Mrs. Sakai's standards, seriousness can only be regarded as the bottom line for learning painting, not even the most basic passing line.
This reason is really ridiculous.
"Who is it? The new friend you made in school? She asked you to do this."
Mrs. Sakai asked patiently.
She was a little angry.
Mrs. Sakai is not angry with her daughter, but with the scheming bitch who instigated Katsuko to do this.
The art world pays attention to connections.
Various exchanges of interests are unavoidable.
Especially in a human society like Japan, Mrs. Sakai saw a lot of things like using connections to find ways to get her to take on a student.
Even in the studio of her husband, Professor Kazunari Sakai, there will occasionally be a few political Chinese or nephews and juniors of Nagoya's local big businessmen who are sent to be gilded.
But a daughter is always her mother's treasure.
Katsuko is a relatively pure and clean child, and Mrs. Sakai is a little worried that her daughter will be taken advantage of.
"No, I have nothing to do with her. Her name is Mona Sandnu."
Mona?
Mrs. Sakai was stunned for two seconds.
She stepped down from the recliner and put her hands on Katsuko's shoulders to prevent her from avoiding her eyes.
"Shengzi, tell the truth to your mother, it was that bastard boy Gu Weijing who asked you to do this? Right." Mrs. Sakai looked directly into her daughter's eyes and asked coldly.
Sakai Katsuko’s lies about failure were exposed.
Under her mother's gaze, she could only nod in panic.
"Are you angry? Please, Mom."
The girl carefully looked at Mrs. Sakai's uncertain expression and made a pitiful request.
"well enough."
It was beyond Sakai Katsuko's expectation.
Her mother didn't seem to have any intention of losing her temper. The lady just sneered twice.
"He is really a person who misses old friendships."
Mrs. Sakai's tone contained sarcasm.
She felt unhappy, but she wasn't that angry either.
Mrs. Sakai looks further than her daughter Katsuko, who has not yet entered society.
Different people have different values,
In the eyes of Mrs. Sakai, Gu Weijing, a poor student in Yangon, was not even worthy of carrying Taro Komatsu's shoes.
But who does her daughter like?
Mrs. Sakai's eyes fell on the picture frame on the side.
Not only is her husband so optimistic about him, but after a long period of contact with him, even she has to admit that this is a young man with great potential to become a great painter.
The mother-in-law likes her son-in-law more and more the more she looks at him.
But Mrs. Sakai pinched her nose and recognized a little. Although this boy was not as good as the resources that Xiaosong could bring to her daughter, he was not completely unworthy of her daughter.
At this time, she had more thoughts.
Mrs. Sakai didn’t want to make it difficult for her daughter.
More importantly, she thought it was actually quite interesting if she thought about it carefully.
Gu Weijing asked his daughter, Mona, a childhood sweetheart, to get a place in the advanced class.
Although Mrs. Sakai never thought that this local girl would be her daughter Katsuko's opponent, but if she agreed to this request.
presumably,
It will be difficult for Miss Sandnu to behave in front of Katsuko in the future.
Mrs. Sakai pondered in her mind.
…
Austria,
Glitz New Art Center, a bustling art gallery with people coming and going.
In the next two months, this art gallery, which looks like an alien spaceship, will become the venue for this year's annual European Art Conference.
This is the Super Bowl for the art world.
Grod Richter, Cao Xuan, Damien Hirst...
The world's most distinguished and wealthy artists currently living in Europe will gather here.
In order to prepare for this annual meeting, the Glitz New Art Center specially borrowed the works of these master artists from well-known art galleries around the world and held a special exhibition of modern art exhibitions.
at this time,
A beautiful and somewhat breathtaking girl is sitting in a wheelchair, copying a cold black and white landscape watercolor by Naomi Tydeman, winner of the 2013 Turner Watercolor Award.
It seems that he is afraid of disturbing her painting, but also seems to be simply shocked by the beauty of her Greek sculpture.
A quiet field formed within a few meters around her.
All the tourists approaching quietly slowed down their steps.
Countless people quietly admired her profile, but no one had the courage to come forward and strike up a conversation.
"You remind me of Oscar Wilde's famous saying: 'You can never be over educated or over dressed. You are just right with both."
(You remind me of Oscar Wilde’s famous saying, your appearance and your artistic accomplishment are perfect.)
Finally, someone brave showed up.
The handsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes walked up to the girl and said with admiration in English: "Not everyone can appreciate this kind of cold-style watercolor painting by Nomi Tadman."
Anna didn't even look up.
She just gently stretched out her palm and made a leaving gesture toward the exit of the art museum's exhibition hall, indicating that she had no intention of getting acquainted with this artistic young man.
"I appreciate your vision. But Miss, with all due respect, you don't seem to know how to copy. This painter's brushwork style is more casual, and your brushwork is too stiff. The multi-color smudge treatment here …”
The handsome young man seemed to understand the artist's painting style that the girl was copying.
He casually picked up the spare watercolor pen that the girl put on the small table, dipped some black paint on the paint tray, and was about to paint it on the drawing board.
"Please stay away from my paintings."
Before the tip of the pen touched the drawing paper, the girl blocked it with the back of her hand.
Anna frowned and glanced at the young man aside, then put down the brush unhappily.
She knew her painting talent was indeed limited.
Therefore, every time she copies the works of famous artists, she enjoys the process of spiritual communication with the masters.
As for the quality of the painting, it is not the key.
Anna has an artistic mysophobia and hates some self-centered guys scribbling on her works.
"……Well……"
Now it was the blond young man's turn to be embarrassed.
As a young watercolor painter with a small reputation. He always felt that it was easy for him to hook up with an artistic girl like this who had average painting skills.
Unexpectedly, he felt embarrassed in front of this beautiful young lady whom he had never seen before.
Uninformed girl, do you know that I can sell a painting for thousands of euros?
He wanted to say something else, but Anna stopped paying attention to him. The girl seemed to feel the vibration in her clothes. She took out her mobile phone from the pocket of her beige windbreaker and started to reply to the message.
"Sir, please get out of here."
The butler of Elena Manor appeared from the corner of the pavilion like a ghost and patted the young man on the shoulder.
"Miss, we don't want anyone to disturb us right now. Can you please come out with us?"
The butler shook the collar of his dark formal coat and smiled kindly.
Some young people can't get off stage.
"You are her father, don't be so old-fashioned. And this is a public place. I can stay wherever I want. What rights do you have..."
He was just halfway through his words when he was stunned.
Because the young man saw the black suspenders briefly exposed under the armpits of the formal jacket while the silver-haired old gentleman was arranging his clothes.
He was American and recognized it as a concealed holster.
The young man immediately realized something was wrong.
Even in North America, where guns are extremely common, a "concealed gun license" is the most difficult gun certificate to obtain, but in Europe, this is no longer a difficult problem.
Only a small number of plainclothes police officers, military intelligence agents, and security personnel around high-ranking officials and dignitaries are qualified to carry weapons using the concealed gun belts under the armpits of suit jackets.
Not to mention that this is an art museum with extremely strict security.
Now that I think about it,
Although European art museums do not prohibit art lovers from copying at will, special permission is generally required for on-site painting at special exhibitions with a large flow of people.
He had been wandering around the New Art Center for so long, and he had only seen this girl painting alone with an easel in front of the original works of famous artists. This was proof.
I should have realized long ago that the identity of the other party is not simple.
Realizing that he had found someone he shouldn't mess with in his lustful hunt, the young man suddenly became intimidated. He lowered his head and walked towards the door of the art gallery with his head down.
When he left the exhibition hall gate in the future, he took one last unyielding look back.
Then he saw a scene that shocked him to the extreme.
The beautiful girl in the wheelchair looked at the screen of her mobile phone, her eyes as cold as the frozen snow on the mountain melting little by little.
She was originally extremely beautiful, but extremely cold.
When I laugh at this time, I feel like spring is blooming and everything is coming back to life.
Not only was he stunned.
Many tourists couldn't help but pick up their mobile phones and take secret photos of the girls' mesmerizing beauty.
"Excuse me, will you be my agent, Mr. Sloth?"
Anna looked at the invitation sent by Detective Cat on the screen, feeling a sense of satisfaction from the bottom of her heart.
She was very happy to receive an invitation from this African big sister, and even more happy to receive an invitation from the other party at this time.
Theoretically,
Detective Cat Now is not a very good time to hire an agent.
The biggest role of an agent is to find a suitable contract for the painter in the art market, act as a middleman to handle various issues between the painter and the employer, and receive compensation or a share of the painter's income.
Although the painter and the agent share a community of interests,
But sometimes they may not get along well with each other.
The biggest problem is the contract fee.
Many painters, especially illustrators, often feel that after finding a suitable employer, they do not need an agent, and there is no need for an agent to take such a large amount of money from their income.
There are many examples in the art world of unscrupulous illustrators who, in order to save hundreds of euros in agency fees, signed new contracts privately, bypassing their agents and employers, and ended up turning against each other.
When some famous agents sign small painters, they not only charge very high commissions, but also like to charge sky-high liquidated damages.
Then, like a Premier League club speculating on football players, they will wait for their painters to become famous, and then sell them to some big galleries to make a profit.
Anna understands these situations.
Where there is money, there is dirt.
In the art circle, the objective reality is that many agents and illustrators are very close to each other, and they are even more wary of each other. It is not uncommon for them to get into heated arguments and hate each other to the death.
She was obviously the detective cat contacted privately by the Scholastic Group. She could completely pretend not to know about this matter, but she could take the initiative to find him, which made Anna's heart feel warm.
"Of course, it's an honor."
Anna expressed her wishes without any hesitation.
"Ms. Detective Cat, I would be delighted to be your agent."
"There is a question. I may not be able to get much money now... Are you willing to take a commission from my contract income? If not. I can only wait until the Scholastic Group contract ends and get the money." Pay your salary.”
"I don't want a salary, um... I just want a 10% commission, do you think that's okay?"
Ana thought for a while and quoted a number.
Objectively speaking,
A ten percent commission is neither high nor low in the field of illustration.
If Ms. Detective Cat is regarded as a first-line illustrator, the other party may not be able to find an agent with a lower price in the market.
Anna didn't deliberately make the commission very cheap.
She couldn't care less how much money she would get from Detective Cat's contract.
With the connections and reputation of Irina's family, if she were willing to go to galleries like Gagosian and Lisson, a million-dollar salary would only be considered a starting point.
That's what she cares about.
Two people are bound together, their names are connected, and they are moving towards a goal together.
It would be meaningless to drive less, and her efforts were not cheap.
"But I don't want any liquidated damages. If you feel that you don't need me anymore, or if my job doesn't deserve the commission, we can all get together and go."
"Of course, this is a very favorable condition for me." Detective Cat's answer was also very straightforward.
Try to add another chapter tonight or tomorrow.
Most likely it will be tomorrow.
I fight for it.
(End of chapter)
