After Christmas, life here in the United States quickly got out of the holiday mode and began to enter the earning mode. As for the Chinese New Year, although there is an atmosphere in the United States, including Los Angeles, it is naturally far inferior to that in China.
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Naturally, Fang Yi and his family spent the New Year together in Los Angeles, and originally planned to return to Shicheng. However, Zheng Yuan's belly became round again, so he had to let the elders take the hard work of flying for more than ten hours to come here.
According to Chinese calculations, on the 18th day of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar, two of Fang Yi's works began to be auctioned at the New York auction house. The auctioneer holding the hammer was also one of the most famous auctioneers in New York.
At this time, Xu Guangyong also came to the door of the venue with his secretary who graduated from the Foreign Languages Institute.
"Sir, please show me your ID!" The staff at the door immediately said to Xu Guangyong with a smile on his face. Just by his aura, he knew he was the real boss. As for the pretty little secretary, he was a follower at first glance.
Xu Guangyong glanced at his little secretary, then turned to his friend behind him and said: "Hong Jun! This is my first time here. Just to secure this area will cost a lot of money, right?"
This is my first time coming to such a place, please tell me if you have any requests."
"What's there to say? As long as your wallet is thick enough, everything won't be a problem. To be honest, I haven't been to the special auction held by Lawrence Gallery. Let's go in!" Hong Jun is the old Xie Xu Guangyong said, with the problem on his head.
Almost all of his hair was killed in battle, and now only a big, shiny light bulb remains.
After checking the admission tickets, the two of them entered the venue with their followers.
"I thought it was grand, but now it seems like it's just average!" Xu Guangyong looked at the furnishings around the venue, as well as the dark wooden walls on the walls, both in terms of color and mottled textures.
Traces show that this venue has been around for some time.
Xie Hongjun smiled after hearing this. He whispered in Xu Guangyong's ear: "These people just like this. Foreigners in places like these auction houses want to appear to have history. Only things like this are in their eyes."
Come and taste.”
As soon as they entered the hall, there were some chairs for resting. The two of them were sitting facing each other, not interested at all. What they wanted to do now was to see two works by Fang Yi.
"Go and help us ask how we can see the works taken this time." Xu Guangyong waved his hand lightly to his little secretary.
The little secretary walked up to a waiter with an Asian face. After chatting for a few words, the waiter came to the side of Xu Guangyong and the other two.
"Hello, gentlemen! How can I help you?" A mouthful of authentic Mandarin came out from the waiter's mouth.
"Is there anyone here who can speak Chinese?" Not only was it a little strange for Xu Guangyong to get into Xie Hongjun's car, Xie Hongjun had also participated in several foreign auctions.
It's in English. How many people speak Chinese? I didn't expect anyone to speak Chinese at this auction.
The waiter smiled and nodded: "Half of the waiters here can speak Chinese. I also came from China to go to school. I took this opportunity to do some small work. This is the second time I come here to work as a waiter."
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"We want to see the works we shot today." Xu Guangyong didn't want to hear what Yingsheng was talking about, so he directly stopped him and asked the question he was concerned about.
The waiter smiled and said: "Please come with me!" After saying that, he made a gesture of invitation, then turned sideways and led the four people out towards a double door.
After looking at the two paintings, the two of them got familiar with the venue. Then they sat down in the snack area and ate something. After walking around in such a small circle, the two of them saw a few familiar faces. And these few familiar faces
Looking at their faces, Xu Guangyong and Xie Hongjun also smiled and nodded. Although they didn't know each other, they were all in the business circle. Although they were in different professions, they still had some reputations.
"How many rich people from China came today! Did you see that all the richest people in China came last year?" Xie Hongjun said softly to Xu Guangyong beside him.
"Then today's auction seems to be very intense. My money means I have no bottom now!" Xu Guangyong nodded and said: "I'm not interested in paying attention to the richest man or anything. It's just Liu Yue's coming that makes me a little bit interested.
No way, this guy is determined to get whatever he wants, and he’s not willing to spend money!”.
Xie Hongjun said happily: "Anyway, I'm just here to watch the show, and I'll give you a little drumbeat along the way. Anyway, for me, the more lively the competition, the better! Without competition, it wouldn't be fun anymore."
"You don't have to pay anyway, right?" Xu Guangyong glanced at his friend and said with a bit of dissatisfaction on his face.
Xie Hongjun smiled after hearing this: "Don't talk about me, I'm afraid you won't have to pay out the money you prepared today!" After saying that, he waved to another Chinese-faced waiter standing two or three meters away.
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"How can I help you?"
"Who are all here this time? Are there any particularly famous ones?" Xie Hongjun asked.
The waiter thought for a moment and said: "That's a lot. I heard that some big museums in the United States and Europe participated in this auction, and there are also some rich people, not only those from China like you two.
Rich people, and some rich people from Europe and the United States are also here."
Xie Hongjun said a little dissatisfied: "I've been talking for a long time and I haven't heard you mention a name!".
After hearing this, the waiter smiled and said: "The guest list is not something that a little waiter like me can know!". At this point, the waiter whispered: "I heard that Abu also sent someone here this time!".
"Anyway, it's all what you say!" Xie Hongjun said with a smile after hearing this. Having participated in several such auctions, Lao Xie thought he knew a little bit about the market. The so-called opening was just to whet everyone's appetite. Who knows something?
What phone call is entrusted with? Is it a scam?
Thinking of this, Xie Hongjun felt a little disappointed again. It turns out that no matter which auction it is, it has to be done twice, and even Fang Yi's auction is nothing more than this!
Xie Hongjun thought that he was a bit unfair to Zou Heming. In fact, Zou Heming didn't find any shills for this auction, and he didn't even need to find anyone. Five or six famous museums sent people to compete for the works, and they still used them.
Arrange for child care? And Xie Hongjun soon discovered that he had thought wrong.
At the beginning of the auction, as usual, I auctioned some small things first to warm up everyone and bring out the mood of the venue. Things worth more than ten or two hundred thousand dollars are really important to the wealthy men sitting in the auction house now.
Nothing.
Even Xie Hongjun, who was preparing to come to the theater, took a picture of a calligraphy and painting by a calligrapher in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
Of course, a warm-up is just a warm-up. After almost half an hour, the atmosphere in the venue was up.
"The last two works are works that Mr. Fang Yi just completed last year. What you are seeing now is the first one. The scene depicted is a small bar in the Painter Village on the outskirts of Los Angeles. There is another interesting fact about this small bar..."
The auctioneer told the story about Fang Yi appraising paintings for the proprietress. Then he started talking about Fang Yi's style.
"The starting bid for this work is eleven and a half million! Five hundred thousand plus one." As soon as the auction house finished asking everyone to start bidding, someone raised their hands.
In less than three minutes, the price of this work has exceeded 18 million.
"Why don't you bid?" Xie Hongjun looked at Xu Guangyong and said: "You don't want to take the last self-portrait, do you? I advise you not to think about it. You don't have to think about that work. I guess I don't have one.
You don’t have to think about 30 million.”
After hearing his friend's inquiry, Xu Guangyong said with embarrassment: "I didn't have time! These people raised their hands too fast." At this time, the price of the painting had risen to 20 million US dollars.
When it reached 20 million US dollars, people in the venue seemed to calm down a bit, but within ten seconds someone put up a sign in his hand and shouted 21 million US dollars.
"You can shout now!" Xie Hongjun urged Xu Guangyong and said.
Xu Guangyong shook his head after hearing this: "Even if I want to buy it, I can't afford the price!".
"Ah!" Xie Hongjun looked at Xu Guangyong and didn't know what to say. Are you planning to buy a painting? He said he couldn't afford the price before it was his turn to hold up the sign. Please don't be so arrogant!
Xu Guangyong is actually quite boring. Not only Xu Guangyong, but also many domestic high-rollers who came this time found that these foreigners bid so fast that they didn't even have time to raise their hands. The price went up. Wait a moment.
When he stopped, the price already made him tremble with fear. How could it be so easy to come up with 20 million US dollars? If he could get a little more in RMB, Xu Guangyong had no choice in this situation.
Now the two of them could only watch the show. After another three or four minutes, Liu Yue, whom Xu Guangyong mentioned earlier, was also defeated. The final price of the painting was set at 27.5 million. Such a price made the audience
Almost everyone took a breath. Many people knew that the painting below must be worth over 30 million US dollars.
Both Fang Yi and Fabubile's self-portraits now have special significance. Critics define these two works as the foundation works of post-classical themes. In other words, starting from these two works, post-classical themes
It is only after the classic style has truly developed and matured that it has been given such meaning. Think about it, can the price of a painting be less?
This is also true. Lao Xie enjoyed watching it. The competition in the field was almost 25 million years ago. Everyone raised their cards without Si Hao hesitating. It was as if they were taking money instead of money.
It's just a pity that when the bidding was halfway through, there were no longer many domestic high-rollers raising placards. They were all foreign devils, and the final price of the painting stopped at 36 million US dollars.
In terms of price, it jumped directly to the first place in the list of works by living painters.
After going out, Lao Xie looked at Xu Guangyong and sighed and said: "When I came here today, I discovered that at the auction I attended before, I saw Chinese people snatching away the goods. It turned out that they were unwilling to bid.
They just expect to sell things to people like us. Now they also want what they want, and they don’t offer us any politeness at all!”
Xu Guangyong also sighed after hearing this: "Forget it, these people are from old capitalist countries. When it comes to money, we still can't compete with them head-on!".
Now not only Xu Guangyong but also Xie Hongjun have a new understanding of Fang Yi's works. One of the two works was bought by an American tycoon, and the other was a private foundation. The owner of this foundation is also a famous figure. This
It is unlikely that the two of them were Fang Yi's shills, and the price was not enough to reduce the price. Now Xie Hongjun and Xu Guangyong know that these two works were actually sold at a sky-high price.