"Irises" is known as "one of Van Gogh's greatest works during the Saint-Remy period".
It can attract people's attention from a distance, with rich colors, delicate and changeable lines. The whole picture is full of rhythm and harmonious beauty, and is filled with fresh atmosphere and vitality.
Irises, like sunflowers, were originally very ordinary plants, but Van Gogh endowed them with wonderful images, colors and eternal vitality. This is the painter who spent his whole life in pain and struggle, praising nature and expressing his appreciation for beauty.
The yearning for life seems to be the silent confession of a lonely dancer in the dark. The irises he painted are bright and lovely, but also a little sad, lonely and uneasy, and even have an almost struggling attitude.
The painter Van Gogh also expressed a fresh and energetic atmosphere in his oil paintings.
This is the auctioneer's introduction to "Irises". In fact, there is no need for him to introduce it. Everyone present has already mobilized all their emotions. It can be said that almost half of the collectors who came here this time are here just for this painting.
I have painted over it. During this period, although Chinese antiques had gradually begun to become popular in Europe and the United States, the mainstream market for antiques was still oil paintings by these European painters.
As one of the top painters in Europe, one of Van Gogh's greatest works, "Iris", has naturally attracted everyone's attention.
So when the auctioneer called out the starting price of US$10 million, the collectors in the audience couldn't wait to shout out the price in their minds.
In less than ten minutes, the bidding price for "Irises", which started at 10 million, had reached 25 million!
At this time, the bidders were no longer as enthusiastic as before, but there were still several collectors bidding against each other, and Johnson was acting as Wu Jianye's commentator.
"Is that short Asian man dressed in clothes? He is a legitimate son of the RB Mitsui family. The blond woman over there is the only princess of the Italian Gambino family, and the middle-aged man is from the Rockefeller family.
The last guy with glasses is Richard Meyer, the manager of the Paul Getty Foundation!"
Wu Jianye nodded and said, "That means every one of them is richer than you!"
Johnson: "..."
It is no problem to say that each of them is richer than the Johnson family, but it is not necessarily true to say that each of them is richer than the Johnson family.
However, for a family with such a profound foundation, no one would know the true wealth they control.
Even the man named Richard Meyer seems to be just the manager of a foundation, but he controls more than 3 billion US dollars!
Paul Getty, who founded the Paul Getty Foundation, once dominated the list of the world's richest people for 20 years!
Before the Arabian Oilfield was privately owned, the owner of the Arabian Oilfield was Paul Getty. In 1957, Paul Getty's wealth had reached 1 billion US dollars!
At this time, Wu Jianye was just born.
Although he is the richest man, Paul Getty is also world-famous for his stinginess. He is known as the real-life version of Grandet of that era. After buying the Sutton Manor, this billionaire withdrew the phone bill in order to save money.
Of all outside telephones, only one coin-operated phone was installed on the first floor for visitors and servants.
Even so, Getty Sr. often complained about workers stealing the phones, so he installed locks on the phones.
He would always only pay his share of the meal when dining out; he claimed to leave inheritance to his 100 lovers, but revised his will as many as 25 times, and the money he gave to his lovers in the end made people feel angry and humiliated;
The pastor who conducted his funeral did not receive the payment he had promised until the end...
This master was not only stingy to outsiders, but also to his own family. After his death, he only left an inheritance of 500 US dollars to his family. Yes, it was 500 US dollars, but there was no million behind!
Later Hollywood once shot a movie "All the Money in the World", which was based on Paul Getty, and the events that happened in it were also real events.
His grandson was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 17 million, but Paul Getty refused on the spot and believed that his grandson was working with the kidnappers to defraud him of his funds.
I also have 14 grandchildren, and if I pay even one penny, these 14 children will be kidnapped.
This is Paul Getty's answer.
Later, he received the ear of his grandson sent by the kidnappers, and then he agreed to redeem his grandson for a ransom of 4 million US dollars.
But when it came time to pay the ransom, Paul Getty's stingy personality broke out again and he bargained with the kidnappers over the phone, eventually reaching a price of $3.2 million.
This was not over yet. In the end, Paul Getty only took out 2.2 million US dollars, and the remaining 1 million was loaned to his son...
This is considered as getting his grandson back.
Paul Getty, who was so stingy, was also generous, that is, he was obsessed with collecting art. In this regard, he never skimped on his own funds. Even after his death, he left all his funds to Paul Getty.
Fund, he also built the Getty Museum and announced that the Getty Museum will always be open to tourists free of charge.
The fund he left behind is to manage the Paul Getty Museum.
"28 million US dollars!" At this time, the princess of the Gambino family raised her sign again!
"30 million U.S. dollars!" The heir apparent of the Mitsui family also held up a sign at this time. Big RB was now waving U.S. dollars, showing their financial strength to the world, and buying famous paintings was a major manifestation of their financial strength.
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Next year, Daishowa Paper, Japan's second largest paper manufacturer, will shock the world by buying Van Gogh's painting "Portrait of Dr. Gacher" for US$82.5 million, breaking the record for the most expensive art auction at the time.
The first person to give up the bidding for "Irises" turned out to be the Rockefeller family member, but there was no expression of anger on his face, he just shook his head with a wry smile.
For them, although "Irises" was a rare masterpiece, it could not bring much benefit to the Rockefeller family, so they were the first to give up.
Then came the princess of the Gambino family, the legitimate son of the Mitsui family, and Richard Meyer.
And the bidding is getting higher and higher, and has even reached a staggering level.
When the legitimate son of the Mitsui family raised the price to US$45 million, the princess of the Gambino family also gave up the bidding. Obviously, it was no longer in the interests of their family to continue.
As one of the most prestigious mobster families in Italy, the Gambino family bought this painting back not just for collection.
At this time, the collectors in the hall also believed that this "Iris" would eventually be produced between the remaining two people.
In fact, this is indeed the case. At this time, the two parties have already raised the price to 50 million US dollars!
"51 million!" Richard Meyer was sitting there with his legs crossed, his left hand gently placed on his knee, and his right hand holding the placard, ready to raise the placard again at any time, as if he was sure to win.
Let Wu Jianye sigh.
"Sure enough, what you spent was not your own money!"
Johnson: "..."
Then the legitimate son of the Mitsui family raised a sign: "52 million!"
"53 million!" Richard Meyer then raised a sign.
Wow!!!!
Everyone was surprised again, no one thought that this painting would be sold at such a high price today.
Johnson said from the side: "It seems that this time the "Irises" will fall into the hands of Richard Meier, but that's fine. This painting can be placed in the J. Paul Getty Museum so that more people can see it.
Enjoy this painting."
After finishing speaking, he glanced at Wu Jianye and said: "Wu, I admit that your Chinese civilization has a long history, but this painting is enough to make many Chinese antiques feel ashamed."
Wu Jianye smiled and said: "Then how many Chinese antiques do you think this painting can be exchanged for?"
Johnson didn't understand what Wu Jianye meant.
But then he understood after seeing Wu Jianye's actions.
"54 million!" Just when the auctioneer was about to drop the hammer, Wu Jianye raised his placard. With Wu Jianye's bid, everyone in the hall was shocked. No one expected that Wu Jianye would appear halfway.
See you at night.
Isn't he just a singer? Even if his albums sell for money, the US$54 million is probably more than 90% of his total income, right? Daniel Lewis thought in shock.
But at this time, Wu Jianye also successfully focused everyone's attention on himself.
Daniel Lewis looked at Wu Jianye in shock. Even though he wanted to break his head, he never understood that Wu Jianye would bid.
The people who had just bid with Richard Meyer were also looking at Wu Jianye with interest.
At this time, Wu Jianye had raised a huge question mark in their hearts.
Richard Meyer also glanced at Wu Jianye in confusion. Although he always looked calm and composed, he knew his own affairs. Although he was in charge of the entire Paul Getty Foundation, he could not be careless.
He uses the funds inside to buy famous paintings. For him, 53 million is almost close to the limit.
If the price exceeds the foundation's expectation, the foundation will probably cause trouble for itself.
"55 million!" Fortunately, the price has not yet reached the foundation's heart. He can continue bidding, but there are not many opportunities left for him. If the Asian increases the price again, he will have no choice but to compete with this artwork.
Say goodbye.
Wu Jianye held up the sign with a smile: "56 million!"
"Are you crazy? Do you have so much money?" At this time, Johnson felt that he was going crazy. Why did Wu Jianye increase the price like this? Wasn't he worried that if there was no way to pay for the funds later, he would have to
Become the laughing stock of the world?
Wu Jianye smiled and said: "How about it? Now can you consider me buying a stake in your family's cinema chain company? I told you, money is never an issue!"
Johnson was shocked: "You bought this painting just to prove your financial strength to me?"
"certainly!"
Of course not. Wu Jianye was not taken advantage of. Of course he could not have decided to take this painting just to prove his financial strength to Johnson.
First of all, the value of this painting will definitely increase in the future, and it will increase exponentially, so Wu Jianye is not worried at all that this painting will fall into his hands.
At the same time, Wu Jianye also had his own ideas. He didn't know much about Chinese antiques, let alone foreign oil paintings. In his opinion, this "Iris" was nothing more than that.
What he is interested in is what Johnson just said. The value of this painting in the eyes of Europeans far exceeds that of Chinese antiques. Most of the treasures of Chinese antiques spread abroad are in the hands of these collectors. He can definitely
Use "Iris" to exchange for the Chinese antiques you want!
Of course, even if he didn't find the barter antique he wanted in the end, "Irises", which was regarded as a sacred item by Europeans, was taken away by the Chinese. It's actually quite exciting to think about it!
Richard Meyer, who had always been calm and collected at this time and seemed certain to win, finally shook his head with a wry smile and gave up bidding again.
The most precious item at Sotheby's spring auction, "Iris", was bought by Wu Jianye for US$56 million!
This set a historical record for Chinese auctions!
The audience burst into applause. As the auction ended, Wu Jianye, as the most dazzling person in this auction, was naturally surrounded by many people.
For example, several people who had participated in the auction before came to Wu Jianye at this time.
The princess of the Gambino family wore a long black dress and said with a smile: "Hello, I am Esther Gambino. I am very happy to participate in this auction with a mysterious director today!
"
Apparently when she came over just now, someone had already introduced Wu Jianye to her.
"Hello, I'm very happy to meet Miss Esther!" Wu Jianye shook hands with Esther Gambino.
Others also shook hands with Wu Jianye and got to know each other. Before that, it was impossible for Wu Jianye to fall in their eyes. After all, Wu Jianye was just a Chinese director. Even a world-famous rock singer at their level would not be able to catch Wu Jianye.
Give Wu Jianye more respect, but it's different now.
Wu Jianye spent US$56 million to buy Van Gogh's "Irises", which shows that Wu Jianye's financial resources are not inferior to any of them here.
This painting "Iris" is equivalent to Wu Jianye's entry ticket into Europe's top circles!
Daniel Lewis watched from a distance as Wu Jianye was chatting and laughing with many big guys he could only look up to, with a complicated expression on his face.
He found that ever since he faced Wu Jianye, he had been crushed in all directions. Now even in terms of financial resources, where he was most confident, he knew that he and Wu Jianye were not on the same level at all.
His total net worth is less than 100 million U.S. dollars, but Wu Jianye can now spend 56 million U.S. dollars. The photo of "Irises" has proved a lot of things.
At this time, looking at the circle Wu Jianye is in, it is a circle that he cannot enter no matter how hard he tries...
But what Daniel Lewis didn't know was that his disaster was not over yet. He had long said that Wu Jianye was a man who would take revenge. He had ignored Daniel Lewis many times before, but Wu Jianye thought that he was not of a high level at all.
.
Now that Wu Jianye has accepted his trick, it is impossible to let him go so easily!