Chapter six hundred and fortieth rare goods can live (five)
Chapter 640: Strange things to live in (5)
Bas Guimet handed the thick kraft paper document bag to Zhuang Rui and said: "Mr. Zhuang, the list of items donated by the Freys to the Guimet Museum and the Louvre respectively is here. You first
Let's see……"
Bass had people searching for a long time at noon before he found this information from the archives. Before he could even look through it himself, Zhuang Rui and others arrived.
Zhuang Rui took the brown paper bag and felt with his tentacles that there was still a thin layer of dust on the surface of the brown paper. This large bag of files must have been sealed in dust for a long time.
Taking a deep breath, Zhuang Rui slowly opened the brown paper bag. At this moment, Zhuang Rui felt as if he had opened a door, a door leading to the Old Summer Palace that was burning with fire a hundred years ago!
The burning of the old site of the Old Summer Palace has left many historical events unverifiable, and the ancient Chinese cultural relics lost inside have become a mystery. How many things were stolen by the Eight-Power Allied Forces is still very controversial in the country.
a topic.
But now Zhuang Rui feels that he has touched the history of that year. Although it was only one country that invaded China at that time, the conclusions drawn from this are believed to be more accurate than the guesses of domestic experts.
Opening the sealed file, Zhuang Rui reached out and took out a thick stack of documents. From the light coming from the bright glass window, Zhuang Rui could clearly see that the top document was a government order.
, written in both English and French, and the signature below is the famous General de Gaulle.
After carefully checking the content of this decree, it turned out that it was the original file of de Gaulle, who was the French President at the time, accepting Frei's donation of Chinese cultural relics. The time span of the donated items was from 1914 to 1934.
However, the decree was signed during the de Gaulle administration, that is, after 1945. It may have been signed when the Louvre handed over the file to the Guimet Museum, and it also had the signature of Frey's widow.
Apart from anything else, just this slightly yellowish paper can be regarded as an antique. These things that once recorded a certain period of history are extremely valuable for research and collection in the eyes of historians.
valuable.
Just like the imperial edicts of ancient China, all those that have survived to this day are priceless and precious cultural relics.
Zhuang Rui carefully put aside the decree signed by de Gaulle and continued to look down. The seven or eight pieces of paper at the back were all letters, including between Frey and the then director of the Louvre and Guimet Museum.
Communication.
However, these letters were all written in French. If Qin Xuanbing hadn't known French beside him, Zhuang Rui would not have been able to understand what was written on them.
As Qin Xuanbing translated, Zhuang Rui and Huangfu Yun's faces became less good-looking, because in a letter in 1914, Frey and the then director of the Guimet Museum wrote: "These oriental artworks I own
, all come from the main hall of Shouhuang Hall, one of the halls dedicated to ancestors and emperors in Beijing - the seat of the headquarters of the French Expeditionary Force."
Looking at these letters from the parties involved a hundred years ago, Zhuang Rui and Huangfu Yun had mixed feelings in their hearts. A strong country will make the people strong, and a weak country will make the people weak. In the eyes of Zhuang Rui and others, these things are extremely disgraceful, but among those
In the minds of the invaders, this may be something they have been proud of and promoted everywhere throughout their lives.
Shaking his head, Zhuang Rui skipped the letter and let Qin Xuanbing continue to explain.
After listening to Qin Xuanbing's explanation word for word, Zhuang Rui finally understood the whole story of the Frey family and their relatives' donation of some Chinese artworks. In these letters, he also understood some of the questions that many domestic experts had been confused about.
All have answers.
Since the 1980s, the origins of the oil painting portraits of Chinese emperors and concubines of the Qing Dynasty that have appeared in international auctions have been mysterious and unknown to the world. There have been many speculations about their origins.
However, through these letters, it is clear that all oil painting portraits were produced by the Frei family. In addition to those they donated to the museum, there are more than 10 portraits of Qing emperors and concubines that have flowed into the international auction market.
.
There are a total of 18 pieces of Chinese art donated by the Frei family to the Guimet Museum and the Louvre. Among these 18 exquisite collections, three are Castiglione's oil paintings, namely the four volumes of Castiglione's "Mulan" and "Mulan".
"Kazakh Tribute Horse Picture", the first volume of "Kangxi Southern Inspection Picture".
There are also nine portrait oil paintings of Emperor Qianlong and his concubines painted with Western-style paintings by several other court painters. They are rare oil paintings of Qing emperors in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. In the Guimei Museum, there are actually
Twelve paintings in total.
Zhuang Rui secretly sighed in his heart, because the Qing palace oil paintings were so rare that domestic scholars and experts who studied such works had almost no data to refer to for comparison. If he could bring these paintings back, he would surely be able to fill a gap in the history of domestic art.
.
The remaining artworks on the list are mostly ancient Chinese paintings, but the author on them all has unknown words written on them. There are also twelve sets of "Peiwenzhai" jade seals used by Emperor Kangxi and a Qianlong "
The seal of "Treasure of the Supreme Emperor".
In the eyes of Zhuang Rui, these things are also very precious. Among all the emperors of China, except for Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty who was under house arrest by his son and served as the Supreme Emperor for several years, and the father and son of Weizong of Song Dynasty, the only one who has ever served as Supreme Emperor is Emperor Qianlong.
Yes, his seal should be more valuable for collection.
After Zhuang Rui looked at the list, he raised his head and said to Bass: "Mr. Bass, if I may take the liberty of asking, there doesn't seem to be any of the works on this list in your booth.
…”
Although Zhuang Rui has not yet seen the physical objects of these things, in his heart, these objects can all be called priceless treasures. Zhuang Rui doesn't know why the Guimei Museum does not display them. If they have ever appeared in the museum, I believe they will be displayed in the museum.
It would have spread in China long ago.
"Ahem, Mr. Zhuang, you have to know that there are tens of thousands of works of art from the East in our museum, but there are not that many booths. This... so there are many collections that have no chance to appear in the museum...
…”
After Bass Guimet heard Zhuang Rui's words, he coughed a few times unnaturally. In fact, his words only told half of the reason. The Guimet Museum indeed has a rich collection, but the main reason why these oil paintings and jade seals are not displayed in the museum
, but the museum didn’t pay much attention to it.
Europeans have never appreciated Chinese ancient paintings. In their opinion, those more abstract paintings have no beauty at all. The characters are all the same and their facial expressions cannot be seen clearly, while the landscape paintings are also blurry and hazy, making it difficult to identify.
It is far less comfortable to look at than the European realistic paintings.
Therefore, in the early years, the price of ancient Chinese paintings in the international market was not very high, and foreign collectors did not pay much attention to the collection of Chinese paintings. Even if they did, they were mostly collected by some Chinese abroad.
It was not until some Chinese oil painting masters, such as Chen Yifei and others, emerged in the international market in recent years that ancient paintings were also highly praised, and speculators in the international art market began to speculate on their prices.
On the contrary, Chinese bronzes, jades, and Buddhist sculptures have always been highly praised by foreign collectors. Therefore, the chances of these objects being exhibited are much greater than those of calligraphy and paintings. Therefore, what Zhuang Rui saw in the Jimei Museum was also
Most of them are these things.
The Qing palace collections donated by Frey, to put it bluntly, have been stored in the warehouse of the Guimet Museum for more than half a century. If Zhuang Rui had not requested this, it would have been another half century.
Don’t even know if it will ever see the light of day?
After hearing Bas Jimei's words, Zhuang Rui and Huangfu Yun looked at each other, and their hearts felt like mirrors. These actions of the Jimei Museum fully demonstrated that this batch of cultural relics did not occupy an important position in their hearts.
.
After Zhuang Rui thought for a while, he turned his attention to Bass and said: "Mr. Bass, these calligraphy and paintings donated by Frey were plundered from the Old Summer Palace in our country. I think they can be used as part of this transaction."
In addition, among some of the artworks on display in your museum, I would like to select a few pieces, what do you think?"
Hearing Zhuang Rui offer the bargaining chip, Bass, who was originally relaxed, sat up straight, but as Zhuang Rui spoke, his brows also furrowed tightly.
"Mr. Zhuang, how many Picasso works can you bring out for this collection exchange?"
As soon as Zhuang Rui opened his mouth, he wanted to exchange all Frey's donated items, and also asked to select a few pieces from the collection of art. This was unacceptable to Bass. You know, the antiques displayed in the museum are all
It is the essence of the best. Even if Bass is willing, I am afraid there will be different voices on the board of directors.
"Five!"
Zhuang Rui stretched out his hand and said: "I will take out five sketches of Mr. Picasso in exchange for these 18 pieces of Chinese art donated by Frey. In addition, I will also choose three things in the museum..."
"Oh, no...impossible, my god, Mr. Zhuang, your proposal is simply robbery. This is absolutely impossible..."
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Bass Jimei suddenly stood up from the sofa, with an incredible expression on his face. Although he intended to sell Frey's donations, he never expected that Zhuang Rui was only willing to give away
Five Picasso sketches.
This is really quite different from Bass Jimmie's psychological expectations.
