hollywood billionaire

Chapter 286 Leaders of the Golden Age

"Wow, Rembrandt..."

On the other side of the phone screen, Xu Yiru's almond-shaped eyes flickered, filled with envy that was about to overflow.

Xiao Ru, a bookworm who likes to be quiet by nature, has no other hobbies. According to Han Yi's observation, it can basically be summarized by "three looks".

Read books, watch plays, watch exhibitions.

First look, book.Xiao Ru's book is very complicated to read.History, humanities, social sciences, psychology, as long as the subject matter is interesting, even the books that discuss why people fall in love and why they sleep have to be read.I also read novels, and my favorite is "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, especially the love metaphor between the little prince and the conceited and willful rose in the story.

Second watch, drama.It is as small as watching a drama, it is ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and everyone is welcome.She likes movies and TV series from Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, as long as they can let her relax for a while, without using her brain, especially American sitcoms and Japanese animations.Like Han Yi, Barbara, and millions of people who use English as a second language, Xu Yiru’s favorite American TV series is also "Friends". As for anime...she will regularly follow one or two new ones every quarter. Fan, as long as the characters are cute, it doesn't matter whether the plot is logical or not.When I usually eat with Han Yi at school, Leng Buding will hold his throat and learn a few Japanese lines in a coquettish voice.

Han Yi's reaction was naturally to take today's dose of cuteness medicine silently in his heart, but he imitated Chandler and laughed at the other person, saying that if she were a boy, she might not be able to find a girlfriend in this life.

"There are people like you, how could I not find him?"

In response, Xiaoru would usually fill his mouth with food and mumble something like this.

I don't know if he is choking Han Yi or himself.

The third look is exhibition.This is one of the few "outdoor" sports that Xiaoru is passionate about, and it is also the top priority of her every travel plan.When she lived in Taipei, Xu Yiru liked to spend time in museums and art galleries on weekends. No matter where there was a new exhibition, she would be the first to go there to support it.After arriving in Los Angeles, although there are many fewer museums here than in big cities of the same size, Xiao Ru will still find ways to go to LACMA, The Broad or the Getty Center to spend a whole day.

Before meeting Yi Yi, call ahead to reserve a taxi.After meeting Yi Yi, he went with his friend.After kissing Yi Yi, she coquettishly asked him to take her with him.

Well...the third situation is just Xiaoru's imagination so far.

After all, there is a Korean-made monitor around me at all times.

Therefore, when Xiaoru knew that Han Yi was leaving for Europe again, an idea that had never occurred before flashed through her mind.

Skip classes for a week and go to Europe with Yi Yi.

Xiaoru's favorite travel destination is Europe.The Louvre, the Orangery Museum, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Uffizi Museum. Every time he visited Europe, Xu Yiru would stay in each famous museum until closing time before leaving with unfulfilled interest.

If only I could hold Yi Yi's hand and wander around the Red Hall together, whispering our love to each other and admiring masterpieces such as "Portrait of Madame Regamire" or "Mademoiselle Rivière"...

There is nothing more romantic than this in the world.

But unfortunately, after thinking about it, Xu Yiru, who had never missed a class in her life and was rarely late, finally chose to stay on the USC campus and study seriously in class, unhappy.

Study hard and graduate soon.When the time comes, the sky is high and the birds can fly, and you can go wherever you want with him.

Bear it a little longer, bear it a little longer.

But Han Yi's schedule made her curled up in the apartment doing reading, and she really couldn't bear it.

want to cry.

Fortunately for Monaco, this pocket-sized principality does not have any particularly commendable cultural landscapes.

Nice... I don’t want to go that much, but I do want to experience the legendary museum hotel in Negresco.

Como is quite attractive. It is Xiao Ru’s favorite scenery of the inner lake on the Swiss-Italian border. There are also dozens of kilometers of historical landmarks that you can visit.

Not to mention London. The museums here are enough for her to visit for a whole month. More importantly, the places Han Yi went to this time and the treasures she saw were all the things that she could not imagine even after visiting them ten thousand times by herself. experience gained.

In the private exhibition room of Christie's global headquarters, you can watch Rembrandt at an extremely close distance. With your hand, you can travel through time and space and touch the handwriting of the leading figure of Dutch Golden Age painting.

Other girls like designer leather bags, handmade shoes and couture dresses...Xu Yiru also likes them.But this love is just women’s innate favor and admiration for beautiful things.After all, she can have whatever she wants, and she has long been accustomed to walls and cabinets filled with Dior, Prada and Noyopiana.

No matter how many times these things were added, they wouldn't be able to really make waves in her heart.

Besides, how many clothes can be more luxurious than the Chanel haute couture that Yi Yi gave her?
How many pieces of jewelry can be more dazzling than the Harry Winston gift given to her by her aunt?
Xu Yiru will not feel sorry for herself because her parents' relationship broke up. She is smart and sensible and knows how lucky she is.Before coming to the United States, she was protected by her mother, and after coming to the United States, Yi Yi took care of her. The two of them fulfilled all of Xiaoru's fantasies about a better life.

It is true that there are many obstacles in front of him, but Xu Yiru, who has a stubborn streak in him, is determined that he can break through all obstacles.

The goal is clear and there is nothing else to seek. In this case, there are only a few things left that can make Xiao Ru excited.

These are the artistic treasures that transcend time and class and belong to the common cultural memory and spiritual wealth of all mankind.

Xiaoru is almost fanatically obsessed with these master works. Every color they apply on the canvas is a silent history book of the vicissitudes of time.

A heritage that begins with life and is higher than life.

"Which painting by Rembrandt is it?"

"Not one." Han Yi shook his head, "It's two."

"Two...two pictures?"

"Well, 'Portrait of Mardan Suleman', and 'Portrait of Opkin-Gobi'."

"I... I'm not very familiar with the painting, but I seem to have heard these two names somewhere. Where are they..." Xiao Ru frowned slightly, thinking hard, "If I remember correctly, I should..."

"Have you seen it on the news?"

"News, yes!" Xiaoru perked up and turned his attention from the phone to the laptop beside him, typing on the keyboard quickly, "I'll look for it."

"No need to look for it, I'll read it to you."

Han Yi smiled and stopped the other party's search.

“Two outstanding portraits jointly acquired by the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum have become the most expensive Old Master paintings in history.”

"Hey, wait a minute." Xiao Ru was a little surprised, "It's...already sold?"

"Yes, earlier this year, the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam jointly acquired these two works."

In the private exhibition room of Christie's in London, Han Yi also raised the same question as Xu Yiru.Faced with this question, Joshua Glazer answered truthfully.

"These two portraits were created in 1634. At that time, Rembrandt was only 28 years old, and there were still eight full years before he painted "The Night Watch." However, he left Leiden three years ago and came to Amsterdam to work hard. He has already made quite a name for himself in the capital. He has taken on several students and assistants, received many expensive custom orders, and has lived a life of an educated gentleman." "Mardan- It was at this time that Suleman and his wife Opkin Gobi found Rembrandt. Suleman came from a wealthy Calvinist family and lived in Leiden for five years starting in 1628. It was there that he met Rembrandt. As for Gobi, she was the last sapling of an old and respected family in Amsterdam. Their union brought Suleman prestige, and with Doda A generous dowry of 35000 guilders.”

"To celebrate their first wedding anniversary, Suleman and Gaubi commissioned two portraits from Rembrandt."

"As I said, around the time these two works were completed, Rembrandt was one of the most fashionable, avant-garde, and popular portrait painters in Amsterdam. In the seventeenth century AD, the Dutch Republic was in the midst of trade, In the golden age when industry, science and art were all extremely prosperous, the rapidly rising new generation of wealthy class was Rembrandt’s most important group of art patrons and the source of his wealth.”

"Rembrandt painted countless portraits throughout his life, and there are nearly a hundred self-portraits that have been handed down to this day. But these two portraits in 1634 are the most special exceptions in Rembrandt's artistic career."

"The portrait of the Sulemans is the only pair of two full-length portraits known to be painted by Rembrandt. This type of painting is usually more common in courts further south in Europe, especially in Flanders area, and in the Netherlands at that time, it was extremely rare. The Sulemans chose to customize such a style, most likely to show their aloof social status. After all, the two did belong to the highest level of the Amsterdam bourgeoisie. "

“It was precisely because of the scarcity of the works that they came to the attention of the French line of Rothschilds in 1878, by Alphonse James de Rothschild, son of Baron James Mayer de Rothschild. I personally took it upon myself to add it to the family’s prestigious art treasure house for a high price of 150 million Dutch guilders.”

At this point, Joshua Glazer folded his hands together, stretched forward, and pointed at Antoine Gachet, who was sitting on the right side of Han Yi.

"Mr. Gachet should know very well that the scope, variety and scale of Rothschild's art collection are unimaginable by ordinary people. The four branches of the family, Austria, England, France and Italy, all have their own collections. It has a massive collection of works comparable to those in the National Museum.”

Hearing this, Han Yi turned his head and turned his attention to his experienced asset manager.Joshua Glazer and Antoine Gachet are old acquaintances, which Han Yi is not surprised about. After all, Antoine has worked at the Edmond de Rothschild Estate Group for so long, so he will definitely be affected by the group. The ancient assets it manages have intersections with the two major auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's.

The reason why he looked at Antoine Gachet was because he wanted to learn more about the historical changes of these two works from the mouths of insiders.

"Yes, Naples declined earlier. In the middle of the 1863th century, I forget the specific year, the revolution broke out, the process of unification of Italy began, and Giuseppe Garibaldi occupied Naples and established a provisional government. .Because the family maintains close political ties with Austria and France, this puts the Naples branch in an embarrassing situation in southern Italy. The Naples branch, under the leadership of Adolf Karl von Rothschild, wants to He wanted to support the deposed king in order to find a place where he could exert his influence in the new post-war situation, but his relatives in London, Paris and Vienna were not prepared to make the bet with him. So, with the unification of Italy, The relationship between Adolf and these three family branches became increasingly tense, and the business in Naples had to be closed down in [-]."

Antoine Gachet knows that his employer likes to hear these secrets that are difficult to find in ordinary history books, and he is happy to share them as long as they do not involve sensitive information about his old club.Moreover, after spending seven years at the Edmond Rothschild Estate, he himself was deeply influenced by the Rothschild’s magnificent family history and fell in love with the Victorian era on the eve of the storm.

"In times of crisis, the Austrian branch lent a helping hand. Mathilde Hanna in Vienna married William Karl in Naples. Subsequently, they transferred all collections and documents to their office in Frankfurt for custody."

"But in 1901, the Frankfurt office was also closed, and the collection was sent to the Austrian family headquarters in Vienna, where it was kept until World War II. In 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany. As a Jew, Rothschild The De family had to sell their entire business in Austria and Germany at a very low value. The family patriarch, Baron Louis, was even imprisoned for a year, only to be released after his family paid a large ransom. Vienna Rothschild All the valuables in the manor were swept away by Nazi officials and Austrian museum staff. Only 250 items were recovered and returned to the family after the war."

"Therefore, the only well-preserved collections of the Rothschild family so far are in London and Paris. Needless to say, London has not been affected by the war. The British branches of Rothschild are flourishing and can be found in any field. You can see their active and hidden figures. Here in Paris, although there was a period of Nazi occupation and all the family's liquid wealth was confiscated, most of the Rothschild collections are placed on Lafayette Street. In the vaults of the Bank of Paris, coupled with the fact that the business in Paris is too big, Northern Railway Company, Erammann Group, Immers Group, these industrial giants related to France are all funded by the Rothschild family Even the cooperative government in Vichy had a large number of their supporters. Therefore, the Rothschilds in Paris did not suffer the devastating blow that Vienna did."

"But the trauma of the war will inevitably show up, it's just a matter of time. After the end of World War II, the Rothschild family took back the company and bank, but the momentum was not as good as before. In the 1980s, the Secret Trump even nationalized the Rothschild Bank for the second time. Although they were soon allowed to establish a new bank, the overall revenue scale was no longer comparable to that of the past."

"So, the Rothschild family had to open their treasure trove and use these heirloom treasures that had not seen the light of day for a long time in exchange for the necessary liquidity to maintain the normal operation of the family itself. And the auction house that the family trusts most, That’s us – Christie’s.”

When Antoine Gachet came to the end of his detailed introduction, Joshua Glazer, who stood quietly in front of two original paintings by Rembrandt, spoke again.

"Before 2016, these two works had not seen the world for 60 years. Yes, the last time they appeared in public view was in 1956. This year is the 410th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth, and the Dutch government hopes to hold a grand exhibition Rembrandt-themed activities to boost the country's cultural influence, tourism market and overall fiscal revenue. However, the French government does not want such precious master works to be lost to other countries. Therefore, starting from the second half of 2015, , the two governments launched a fierce secret bidding through the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Finally, after in-depth communication with France, the Dutch cabinet agreed to jointly purchase the two paintings with France."

"For 1.6 million euros, the Dutch government will bear half of it on behalf of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Louvre will bear half of it. These two paintings, which have only been viewed once in 150 years, will be displayed alternately between the two museums."

"Today, there are three main reasons why I want to show you these two masterpieces on behalf of Christie's. First, they are indeed the most valuable auction items at Christie's in London at present, and they are the top sellers in private sales this year. You No so-called rare work seen in public display at Frieze Masters was even one-fifth of the size of these two paintings.”

"Second, Mr. Antoine Gachet is an old friend of Christie's, and you are a new friend whom Mr. Antoine Gachet trusts deeply and is willing to give up everything in Europe and start a second career in the United States. Receiving friends , you should use the best things.”

After saying that, Joshua Glazer raised his hand, friendly gestures to Han Yi and Antoine Gachet to get closer to the original painting.

"So far, the "Portrait of Mardan Suleman" and the "Portrait of Opkin-Gobi" have only been exhibited twice. Once at the Louvre in March this year and once at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in May this year. Today This time, it is the third time they are on display since they reappeared in the world - only for you, Mr. Han."

Joshua puts on white gloves and carefully follows Rembrandt's lines.

"In both of these prestigious commissions, Rembrandt created a romantic dialogue between the portraits of the couple by introducing a single movement. Mardan Suleman offers his gloves to his wife as a sign of fidelity sign, while his wife, Opkin Kobi, walked toward him from the stairs."

"The connected black curtain in the background unifies the overall color of the two paintings. The light falls from left to right, falling on Mardin's right shoulder and also on Opkin's lace collar. The talent of this Amsterdam master and His talent is reflected in his ingenious handling of black, white and gray colors. Except for Rembrandt, few people can combine such simple colors to create such a gorgeous effect. Mardan's forged edge starched dress , contrasting with the light silks, quilted satins and tulle of Opkin's dress... Speaking of clothes, you see, in this painting, Mrs. Opie's waistline is noticeably wider, foreshadowing that she is Give birth to a new life.”

“The exquisite uniform bow on the couple’s belts, like a garland, unites the couple. Including the pattern on the husband’s breeches, the luxurious decoration on the shoes, and Opkin’s black fan, all reflect the Rembrandt Lang’s exquisite attention to detail.”

"The expressions of the two models are completely different. Mardan, as a man, is more calm and reserved, with no specific joy. Opkin, on the other hand, is obviously more melancholic and elegant, which is in line with the European society at that time and the different role positioning between husband and wife. ."

"Color, light, the movements and gestures of the characters... the amazing realism reflected in Rembrandt's paintings did not only appear after "The Night Watch", but only appeared in the last period of his life... before "The Night Watch" In eight years, the 28-year-old Rembrandt was able to burst out with such vigorous artistic brilliance, making these two portraits not only have infinite collection value, but also have endless historical value."

"When I was chatting with you in the corridor just now, I learned that your main career is music... If you want to compare it with music, Rembrandt is the Beatles, "Night Watch" is "Let It Be", and "Mal "Portrait of Dan Suleman" and "Portrait of Opkin Goldby" are "I Want To Hold Your Hand," not perfect but forever young."

Joshua Glazer took a deep breath rather exaggeratedly. Just listening to his narrative style, it is not difficult to tell that he is the type of negotiator who is known for being exaggerated and likes to use all kinds of big words to knock his clients out.

"Rembrandt's Youth is an irreproducible, out-of-print collection for anyone who loves Dutch Golden Age paintings, or even European paintings."

"I love Rembrandt."

"Oh, really?" Joshua Glazer raised his eyebrows, with a hint of feigned surprise in his tone.He had a sharp eye for recognizing people, and he had a rough idea of ​​Han Yi's preferences after just a few words in the phone conference scheduled in advance.

I don’t like weird modern art, but I like realism that studies the details thoroughly.The technique of the painting itself is not important, what is important is the long history and humanistic feelings behind the work.

"That can only mean that you are very lucky. After being exhibited twice, these two portraits will undergo a protective restoration process lasting one to one and a half years, so they will be temporarily stored with us. Next time You’ll have to wait until 2018 to see them in public.”

That's why Joshua Glazer went to such trouble to get Rembrandt's work out of the vault.This was also the main motive for him to deliberately go around in a big circle and connect Rembrandt, Rothschild and the great era they experienced through the words of Antoine Gachet.

People like Han Yi are not art collectors, but history collectors.The stronger he feels the pulse of the times, the faster he can make decisions.

Joshua Glazer is not worried at all whether Han Yi is a fraudster who tells lies. Antoine Gachet, whom he knows well, is the first insurance, and Han Yi's Gulfstream G650ER parked at Heathrow Airport is the second. Road insurance, intelligence gathered by Christie's New York office, is the third line of insurance.

Unlike the yacht brokers in Monaco, Christie's wants to know a rich man's past consumption records, which is a matter of minutes.

"Then I'm really lucky."

Han Yi grinned, and then deliberately sighed softly.

"It's a pity that I can't take them home... I definitely can't bid with the French and Dutch governments."

Hearing the other party's response, Joshua Glazer smiled knowingly.He knew that this was Han Yi's subtle reminder that it was time to get to the point.

"Actually, it's not a pity at all, Mr. Han. Let me tell you, you are very likely to get two surprises of equal magnitude today."

"Oh, is it?"

"Yes, actually, this is the third reason why I want to show you these two portraits..."

“We have a consignment here that’s not far off from them and is accepting private offers.”

(End of this chapter)