"War and Peace", "Led Zeppelin", "Olympia", "Luncheon on the Grass", "Night Walk", "Sistine Madonna", "School of Athens"...
The elevator door opens.
Sir Brown walked with steady steps towards the independent office at the end of the corridor.
The day after the shareholders' meeting ends.
The chairman couldn't wait to get rid of the portrait of the old count that had been an eyesore in his office for a long time.
Citizens could not go to the chairman's office to hold up placards in protest.
so.
Unlike the difficult sculpture that had to be transported by a crane, following Sir Brown's order, the portrait that had been hanging on the wall for nearly a century lay obediently in the corner of the warehouse and ate ashes.
“Finally, no one is nagging in their ears that everything that happens here is related to art, which is so simple and ridiculous.”
funny.
What right does she have to stand on the moral high ground and reprimand me? How did the Elena family's wealth and land come from? You can't just rely on painting.
The moment the annoying portrait was taken off.
Sir Brown suddenly felt refreshed and felt as if he had become a serf and became the master of his own country.
However, after looking at the original office for a long time, the empty walls always seemed like something was missing.
The magazine has just taken the first step in reform.
After all, Jazz was not too embarrassed to put his entire portrait on the wall.
He asked workers to install a display case.
The OBE awarded by the late Queen at Buckingham Palace and the three articles "AFRICAN ARTS (African Art)", "BURLINGTON MAGAZINE (Burlington Art Magazine)" and "CONNAISSANCE DES ARTS (Art and Renaissance)" are included The AHCI-level heavyweight journals in which his papers were published are displayed side by side.
These four things are the greatest pride in his life.
As long as a visitor walks into the magazine and sees these mountain-like academic honors, he will immediately know that he is not Anna, the little girl with yellow hair who may not even have full hair.
I have enough academic level and social experience to take on the responsibility of the head of the oil painting magazine.
As for the walls of the office and the corridor outside, he took the underlying meaning of "New Era Magazine is not owned by Elena alone, the master is with me" and hung imitations of famous paintings from all over the world.
Whenever Sir Brown walks in this long corridor, it seems that he is inspecting the subjects in his territory.
The eras of Picasso, Manet, Monet, Menzel, Rembrandt, and Giorgione, who were once leading and most prominent artists, have all disappeared in the long river of history.
Now in the entire art market, he is the biggest king.
You can mess with whoever you want, and you can flatter whomever you want.
Sir Brown's good mood was quietly cast into a haze when he opened the door to his office and saw the worried, fat, round face of the Met's chief art advisor, Al-Khelaifi, behind the seat.
"Shareholders of Al-Khelaifi. The noise in front of the magazine is just a minor disturbance that cannot be brought to light. There is no need to worry so much."
Sir Brown set up the bone china tea set, put the roasted black tea bag into the tea cup, and said calmly.
The chairman felt that this guy was making a fuss out of a molehill.
He was supposed to have lunch with the director of the New Art Center at noon today to discuss the annual meeting, but he received an urgent call from this guy, asking him to meet and discuss some very important matters in detail.
The chairman had no choice but to avoid socializing and rushed back by car.
"The noise in front of the magazine?"
"No, I didn't come to you for such a trivial matter." Shareholder Al-Khelaifi shook his head, "Sir, I've been paying attention to it for several days, and it might be a little bad. You'd better take the time to take a look at this. .”
The shareholder took out a set of unsealed solid wood boxes from the bag at hand.
He cleared the table, opened the cover of the box, and placed everything in the box on the table one by one.
A fairy tale book, a small doll, a set of illustrations and postcards.
"The Little Prince commemorative gift box has sold nearly 1,200 sets in the UK so far, and what you see in front of you is one of the sets I purchased."
Al-Khelaifi knocked on the table.
"1,200 sets?"
Sir Brown took a sip of tea and cleverly suppressed the shock in his heart when he heard the news.
He glanced at the gift box.
He had already seen the new Detective Cat book in Miss Elena's hands at the shareholders' meeting.
However, when he saw it placed quietly on the table in front of him, without any worries about being captured by a camera, Sir Brown's eyes showed a momentary expression of appreciation.
Let’s not talk about those that are available and those that are not.
The illustrations in this book are indeed beautiful.
Can……
The collection of gift boxes alone has sold 1,200 sets, which made Chairman Brown feel a little stunned.
It’s only been on sale for a few days!
"Don't worry, it's probably because "The Little Prince" itself has more readers. After all, it is a best-selling world masterpiece that has been popular for many years. It is not difficult to find a thousand readers who love Saint-Exupéry in the entire UK..."
Sir Brown maintained his composure.
Halfway through his words, he looked at Al-Khelaifi opposite him, pursed his lips, and couldn't help emphasizing.
"Have I not already asked shareholders to start a relationship and slander the painting quality of this book in mainstream art magazines? And I also asked you to contact Professor Boggs of the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts to write a special art review , has it been published now?”
Sir Brown has everything on his plate.
The appointment of a new personnel structure, the establishment of a foundation affiliated with the magazine, and the preparation as the local host of the city of Gleze for the upcoming annual art conference that will be attended by the president and dignitaries from various countries...
One extremely important schedule follows one after the other.
His speech in front of reporters was really not just pretentious.
Now even some wealthy people with a net worth of more than one billion US dollars who are interested in art investment may have to make an appointment until two weeks later if they want to meet and chat with Sir Brown.
The emperor would not care about the fate of a beggar.
Internet painters like Detective Cat who are not popular on the stage are really not worthy of being missed by the head of "Oil Painting" magazine.
He just asked each shareholder to guide public opinion a little, and then went about his own affairs.
The chairman also laughed at Anna's wishful thinking of relying on a fairy tale book to make a comeback.
Among collectors who can really spend large sums of money to determine the direction of the art market, some choose to believe in their own eyes, while others choose to believe in authority. In the final analysis, when there are differences between the two, the vast majority of buyers will still choose to trust the authority.
What can guide the market price of collectibles is always praise from art criticism magazines, awards at the Biennale, and shortlists for the Turner and Barcelona Watercolor Awards.
In the most secular field of illustration, the real persuasive factors are industry awards such as the Andersen Award, the Writing and Art Master Award, and the Belgian Golden Key Award.
Only these things can truly turn linen canvases costing a few euros into ever-increasing turnover in the art transaction market.
Rather than "I like it".
The aesthetic direction is in Sir Brown's hands, so he has nothing to worry about.
Just in case.
Sir Brown also cautiously asked Al-Khelaifi shareholder, who was very well-connected in the American art world, to contact Professor Boggs, an expert in the field of knife painting, to write an art review.
Specifically used to criticize the shortcomings of Detective Cat's paintings.
Even among the seven billion people in the world, the only painter who can sell knife paintings for more than $50,000 has rejected Detective Cat.
A few painting speculators who want to speculate in art will also put away their inappropriate thoughts.
In particular, "The Little Prince" is a world-famous book.
With a little manipulation of public opinion, the market can be made to think that its low sales are due to the detective cat, and its high sales are due to Saint-Exupéry's good writing.
Only an explosive sales volume that is almost miraculous can shake the authoritative evaluation of art critics.
It's only been on sale for a few days now, and 1,200 sets of the collector's edition have been sold?
Having 1,200 paying buyers who are not short of money is not a huge explosion, but it is not a good start.
The sales cycle of a book is long.
If the scalper team who likes to hype the figure gift boxes notices that the book "The Little Prince" is quite popular, I am afraid that the sales will only get higher and higher in the future.
"Professor Boggs rejected my request." Shareholder Al-Khelaifi shook his head.
"Reject! Why would he refuse? Every painter hopes to please our Oil Painting magazine, and now this opportunity is right in front of him!" Sir Brown frowned and said displeased.
"That's right. Professor Boggs had agreed to my manuscript invitation last week. He was very happy to gain my personal friendship. But suddenly he changed his mind. That happened to be the first time that "The Little Prince" was released. Two days.”
"Boggs didn't say it explicitly, but listening to the underlying meaning of his words... I always felt that he might be a little... scared."
Khelaifi's eyes were wandering under his round glasses, recalling Professor Boggs's strange tone on the phone.
Fear?
There’s nothing to be afraid of about writing an art review.
unless.
In the mind of Professor Boggs, he saw a flawless work of art that was like a masterpiece of God.
"Coward. The better Detective Cat is at painting, the more he should step forward at this time. Painting with a knife is so unpopular, and the share of the pie in the art market is very small. He would not like to have another painting master to share his profits. benefits!"
"You can lobby more. It's not convenient now, but in a few months, if his writing is effective, we can consider giving him a positive interview in "Oil Painting"."
The chairman ordered in a deep voice.
Originally, Sir Brown was useful to mid-level painters like Professor Boggs, whose average price was only tens of thousands of dollars, but to give him face.
Dare to refuse without good reason.
The chairman didn't bother to talk to the other party at all, and he didn't even bother to move his fingers to put on small shoes for such a small character.
Three-legged toads are hard to find, and there are many great painter friends willing to serve Sir Brown everywhere.
It just so happens that Detective Cat draws knife drawings.
Boggs is the only named academic authority in this field, and it would be best if he raises the flag to attack Detective Cat.
Sir Brown then patiently agreed to take advantage of it.
"I don't think the effect will be big. I vaguely revealed on the phone before that I would consider holding a personal art exhibition for him in New York in exchange."
Al-Khelaifi shrugged and said that he knew that he could not afford to lose in the matter of "The Little Prince", so he had made a heavy financial commitment.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is the most influential art group in New York and even in North America.
If a painter like Boggs, who is limited by the limitations of his painting methods and subject matter, has the opportunity to organize a personal art exhibition personally, it will almost have the effect of a carp leaping over the dragon's gate.
Maybe he can even take off the label of "minor and partial painter" and his net worth will be greatly improved.
The temptation here is no less than a front-page interview in Oil Painting magazine.
"He can get the opportunity to have a solo exhibition with just one article. He can't even be tempted. This guy must be crazy." Sir Brown was also shocked.
"He's very excited. Of course he's very excited. I can hear this knife-painting expert breathing rapidly through the phone receiver."
"In the end, you still refused?"
"Yes, after a full three minutes of silence, he still refused. He replied -"
Al-Khelaifi rubbed his fat hands and said, "This is not a matter of profit, it is only related to art. He is 65 years old and has a tenured professorship. He does not want to be regarded as an idiot for attacking a set of illustrations that may go down in history. It will be something for posterity to talk about after dinner.”
Card crash——
The office chair made a crisp sound.
"Sir Brown? Are you okay?" Khelaifi looked worriedly at the decent old man across the table.
Sir Brown sat there without saying a word.
Al-Khelaifi could see that the fingertips of the other person's hand holding the tea cup were slightly white because of too much force.
The lake-colored tea ripples like the ocean tide.
The chief consultant has known this academic Taishan Beidou for many years. He was favored by the European Art Association and the Austrian National Publishing Group at the same time, and was hired as the head of the "Oil Painting" magazine.
His political wisdom was as deep as his academic achievements.
In the impression of Al-Khelaifi, his old friend has always been a schemer and old fox who does not show his emotions or anger. This is the first time in his life that he has seen such a gaffe.
"I, I'm fine, I'm fine." Sir Brown took a deep breath and slowly placed the tea cup on the table, "Is it an illustration worthy of being recorded in the history of art? It really praises this detective cat. "
What really made Sir Brown react violently was not actually the praise given to the detective cat by perhaps the most prestigious knife-drawing professor in the world.
But what the other party said - this is not a matter of profit, it is only related to art.
“Everything that happens in this office has to do with art.”
Sir Brown's ears could not help but echo the sonorous and clear voice of the last time he met Anna in this office before she turned around and left.
When he entered, he was still proud that he had eradicated all the marks of Elena's family.
In the blink of an eye, reality slapped Jazz on the face.
He could regard Eliot's vulgar illustrations as a child's way of playing house, and he looked down upon them and ignored them.
And these fluttering words almost broke the old jazz guard.
The dead memory began to attack him - it was almost like some haunting curse, some tangled prophecy.
What a joke!
Even if the illustrations of Detective Cat really have the ability to go down in history. Even if he is his enemy, Sir Brown will erase it with his own hand with ink.
The chairman's left hand clenched into a fist involuntarily, as if he wanted to crush the fear in his heart that shouldn't exist.
(End of chapter)
