"Can you please waive the exclusive agency rights?"
Professor Sakai destroyed the barbecue on the plate in three mouthfuls, threw away the sign, looked at the agent who came over for a few seconds, and then asked slowly.
"It's boring to say that. Of course I still want it. Professor Sakai, fifty million US dollars. Any gallery that offers such a large contract will require exclusive agency."
Hanks said with a smile.
The so-called exclusive agency means that the contracted artist can only cooperate with one of their galleries during the extension of the contract.
Whether it is selling works, exhibitions or auctions, it must be done through the channels of Mashi Gallery.
Only then can they be called their leading artist.
Otherwise, while they are crazily marketing for Uncle Sakai, they will turn around and sell paintings through other galleries, or even directly bypass the gallery and contact the auction house.
Isn't Ma Shi Gallery just like an idiot whose wife uses your hard-earned salary to hook up with a male gym coach outside?
"Fifty million US dollars in four years is already very sincere."
Hanks really wants to sign this great artist whose fat is ten times more expensive than gold of equal weight.
The art business has always been a market where galleries have the final say.
There are many art students who dream of becoming artists, and there are also many people who are willing to sign vampire contracts that suck out bones and marrow.
But as you move into the high-end field, the artists themselves have more say, and it becomes galleries competing for artists.
A painting that costs half a million dollars can be resold for millions of dollars, and the best paintings may earn several million dollars per painting.
In order to prevent competitors from poaching talents, liquidated damages for internationally renowned artists can often reach nine figures.
Currently, among the first-line painters in the industry who are at this age and in their prime period of high productivity, only a few have contracts that are about to end.
In September this year, Uncle Sakai will end his 17-year cooperative relationship with Ota Art Gallery. He may be the only well-known artist who has not yet announced a contract with another artist.
Hunters from various galleries are frantically rushing to express their intention to negotiate. It is said that the most promising one is Komatsu Gallery in Osaka.
Kazunari Sakai was not in a hurry, and even the studio’s emails to various gallerists were very formulaic and perfunctory.
After Hanks Marsh made a special trip to Japan, he didn't even see the other party in person.
He found out that Professor Sakai likes to go to this small barbecue restaurant for late-night snacks at night.
In order to negotiate this deal, Hanks also worked hard. He rested in the hotel during the day and squatted in the 24-hour Starbucks in front of the barbecue restaurant at night.
After squatting for more than half a week, I finally caught the fat figure of Professor Kazunari Sakai in my sight.
"Boss, have a bottle of sake, the best." Hanks waved to the chef.
They sat in a secluded corner of the grill bar.
Except for Master Otani, there are no customers in this restaurant, and the public security conditions nearby seem to be good.
Hanks asked the chef to get the wine, looked around for a moment, and then took out an exquisite automatic winding box from his handbag.
He put three layers of clean napkins on them and pushed them along the black countertop.
"Masse Gallery has a cooperation with Richard Mille. This watch is a small meeting gift from Mr. Mashi III to you. It is not a sign of respect."
The watch box is printed with the logo of the art-level watchmaker Richard Mille, which is famous for producing top-grade ultra-thin mechanical watches.
Just a watch like this in a specialty store starts at US$150,000.
Of course, Ma Shi Gallery got this watch for free.
Luxury goods companies and watchmakers are traditional sponsors of galleries and museums.
Hanks hopes to use this luxury watch to get closer to the other person.
Apart from watches, which are called men's cosmetics, he didn't know what to give to Uncle Sakai.
Learning to please big artists is almost a basic professional skill of a hunter-dealer.
The people who took drugs together had a heart attack, the people who played with models together got infected with the disease, the people who broke their legs while climbing snowy mountains together... Such tragedies are not uncommon news.
Mainly because Uncle Sakai’s hobbies are too down-to-earth.
Those who like antique cars, beautiful women, handsome men, yachts, and those who like to hunt lions in Africa... well, forget it. Hunting by artists was considered an elegant hobby a few decades ago, but now it is easy for conservation organizations to take advantage of it.
Anyway, these requirements are easy to handle.
Even if you want to go to heaven, as long as you can bring enough benefits to the gallery, a seven-day trip to the International Space Station may not be impossible.
But he likes to eat... Even if Hanks had the courage to risk his life to accompany a gentleman, he could only chew two bunches of roasted garlic.
Still in this cheap little restaurant, Hanks looked at the price list and lost even the interest in treating him.
"That's not necessary."
Uncle Sakai was used to the agent's overtures and didn't even bother to open the watch box. He shook the $500 Apple Watch on his wrist: "I'm used to wearing this. My wife needs to check my exercise records regularly."
At this moment, the cell phone on the bar suddenly rang.
Professor Sakai saw the phone number above.
The fat on the fourth layer of the chin of the originally calm uncle visibly shook.
He made a silent gesture to both Master Otani and Hanks.
After waiting for a few seconds, he carefully picked up the phone.
"Issei? Have you taken care of your diet, daily routine, and exercise recently?" Mrs. Sakai said on the phone, digging a hole for her husband.
"Yeah, yeah, honey, I did the rowing machine for half an hour before going to bed, and I also ran three kilometers on the elliptical machine. I went to bed on time around nine o'clock, and I didn't wake up until I received a call from you."
It seemed that Uncle Sakai had just booked a room with his mistress when his wife caught him and raped him.
He looked at the barbecue on the tray, swallowed, and made up a lie in fear.
He was not a very electronic software savvy person and was unaware of the power of Apple's location sharing, which has been dubbed "the housewife's spyware."
But over the years, I always feel that my wife’s phone calls to check on her bed are mysterious and mysterious.
Over in Yangon, Mrs. Sakai, who had returned to the hotel, sneered in her heart.
But she did not expose her husband's lies, but said in a very gentle tone: "Well, my Byron is the best. I believe that when I return to Tokyo with Shengzi in the summer, you will definitely lose 220 pounds." Next, give us a surprise, right?"
Sakai Kazunari swallowed hard.
Mrs. Sakai is always condescending and domineering to outsiders.
But she has always been gentle with her husband after marriage.
Sometimes, Uncle Sakai would rather his wife yell at him on the phone instead of encouraging him with such a tone full of expectations.
This made Uncle Sakai not happy even eating meat, as if he was some kind of heartless man.
Whenever the other party calls him "my Byron" in a sweet tone, it always makes his little heart beat wildly and the fat on his body surges.
then,
When he was studying in Spain, a beautiful wealthy daughter told him that he had the sad and emotional eyes of Byron.
Before Uncle Sakai received his first contract with OFA, his career development was not very smooth.
At that time, critics often criticized the picture as lacking characteristics and being just a second Ingres, and the market response was also mediocre.
The school girl was always in his ears, saying in such an expectant tone: "My Byron is the best, don't worry about the stupid words of those bullshit critics, you are not the second Angel, you are Kazunari Sakai, the first great artist.”
Kazunari Sakai, a great artist, is still very moved when he recalls this past event.
Although he always felt that his so-called "sad and emotional eyes like Byron" were actually because he never had enough to eat.
But the eye circles were still red.
Fellow artists in many circles have very messy private lives.
Because there are so many beautiful models around, it’s too easy to get them.
Marriage and divorce are just like official holidays. If you don't come once a year, you will feel itchy all over.
There are countless couples who hold restricted parties together, or simply declare to the outside world that they have an "open relationship."
Those who can maintain a marriage for four or five years are considered model couples, but Uncle Sakai has a very good relationship with his wife. He has never made a mistake that was sorry for his wife.
There are good-looking women everywhere, but this is the elementary school girl who cares about him like a mother-in-law.
"220 pounds? The doctor said that I am prone to obesity and it is difficult to lose weight..." Uncle Sakai wanted to struggle a little longer.
"I believe in you, you can do it."
"225 pounds?"
"I'm 220 pounds, and my blood fat cannot exceed the standard. I've been working out to keep in shape. Katsuko and Tsunasasa are both older, so I'm thinking that when I go back, we can work hard and have another child. How about that?"
"good."
Uncle Sakai gritted his teeth and considered whether he should undergo liposuction surgery in private.
"You never let me down."
"Dear, what's the matter with calling me so late?" Seeing that his wife was finally satisfied, Uncle Sakai hurriedly changed the topic to prevent the other party from adding requests such as losing fatty liver.
"Humph, I want to talk to you about my daughter."
"Katsuko?"
"Yes, she is not with me now." Mrs. Sakai said.
"It's so late, what's wrong with her? What happened?" Uncle Sakai stood up from the bar with a shout, looking a little nervous.
"Your daughter is a big girl now. She is going to paint with our little artist Gu Weijing. Maybe the atmosphere is just right now in front of the flowers and under the moonlight."
Mrs. Sakai's tone was teasing.
"Oh, not bad."
After hearing that his daughter was fine, Kazunari Sakai visibly relaxed, sat back on the chair, and took a sip of sake in his glass.
"What do you mean, okay?"
Mrs. Sakai's tone rose in displeasure: "Katsuko went out to date a boy at this point, and your reaction was 'Oh, okay?' Are you such a father?"
Kazunari Sakai really likes Gu Weijing.
Talented, hard-working, and calm.
He himself comes from an ordinary family, and he doesn't care so much about being in the same family. At most, he can leave enough money for his daughter and son-in-law to be safe and prosperous.
As long as you have a good personality and good character, nothing else matters.
Sakai Kazunari has always found this matter quite interesting.
Women are such strange creatures.
His mentality when he was in love was really different from when he became a mother. His wife fell in love with him when he was still penniless, but when his precious daughter was in love with a poor boy, she started to find fault with him.
certainly,
Uncle Sakai doesn't have the courage to point out his wife's double standards.
He immediately followed the lady's tone and changed his words: "What a bastard! Such an obedient child as Shengzi was led astray by him. I will definitely deal with that little bastard next time we meet -"
Uncle Sakai cursed a few words.
He was still a little worried about whether his wife was going to fight with each other, so he tried to persuade her: "——But, dear. The children have grown up, and we should also give Shengzi a certain amount of personal space. Gu Weijing In fact, he is also a good boy, and he will not handle this matter too roughly. Don't you think so?"
There was no reply from the other end of the phone.
Uncle Sakai's heart slowly sank.
People who study art are very sensitive to emotions. Love is a win-win or a lose-lose situation. Many times, if it is not handled well, one injury will hurt both children.
"Pfft..."
Mrs. Sakai on the other end of the phone suddenly laughed, and she asked in a playful tone, "Issei, are you so sure that I have to be a villain?"
"Huh? Of course not. It's just that I thought you wanted to bring Shengzi and the one from the Komatsu family together."
Uncle Sakai realized that things might not be what he imagined.
"Yes. That's what I really think. As a leisurely and elegant rich lady in a gallerist's family, she should not have to suffer much in her life."
Mrs. Sakai said calmly: "As a mother, of course I hope to give Katsuko a better choice. But unfortunately, our daughter Katsuko's heart has been taken away by that boy Gu. What can I do? I'm not I want to sell my daughter. Xiaosong himself is not up to par, so I can still force Shengzi to marry him."
"If you can't control it, leave it alone. Anyway, she chose the man, not me. I'm the one who brought the hardship on myself."
"That's the truth."
Uncle Sakai nodded vigorously and patted his belly.
"Will there be any problems between you and President Komatsu?" Mrs. Sakai asked.
"President Komatsu, hey, nothing will happen."
Kazunari Sakai shook his head: "Don't tell me that I haven't signed with Komatsu Gallery. Even if I sign, it will still be the same. It will be a little embarrassing at most. A big business worth tens of millions of dollars will not be affected by the affairs of children. What a change."
"Besides. President Komatsu is indeed very powerful, but to give me a look, he doesn't have the ability." Sakai Kazunari shook his head with disdain.
The art world is afraid of offending the senior elite.
The big guys suppress the juniors and make things difficult for you, with just one sentence.
But for an artist who has reached this stage, Uncle Sakai himself is a senior member of the family. He is not willing to offend President Komatsu, but he is not afraid of him.
"This is the best, that's what I think too." Mrs. Sakai was obviously relieved, and her tone was a little cheerful, as if she wanted to share some new discoveries with her husband, "I'll tell you a secret. Maybe my daughter has inherited my good eye for discerning pearls. What about your vision?"
(End of chapter)
