Chapter 915

Near two o'clock in the afternoon, the exhibition hall became lively again.

Most of the bidders had already returned to the exhibition hall, and they sat down with great anticipation. Those who hadn’t arrived yet, only a few of them went to the upstairs guest room for a lunch break, and they were all relatively old.

Ye Tian's family also returned to the lounge next to them. They were drinking tea and chatting while waiting for the second half of the auction to start. Everyone was very excited.

After making arrangements for his family members and checking that the time was almost up, Ye Tian left the lounge and returned to the noisy exhibition hall.

Just as he walked to the display area and was about to step onto the auction stage, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Xiaoye, please wait a moment, I have something to ask you!"

Ye Tian stopped immediately, turned his head and looked behind him.

The one who called me to stop him was Mr. Liu, a famous collector from Shanghai, who was also the buyer of Wang Meng's "Hidden Residence in Dongshan Mountain" by Wang Meng, who paid a sky-high price of 255 million yuan!

This is definitely the number one sponsor on the scene! He is also one of the most powerful collectors in the country. There will definitely be many opportunities to deal with him in the future, so he must greet him with a smile!

Ye Tian took two steps forward, and asked politely with a smile on his face:

"Excuse me! What's your business? Mr. Liu, please tell me. I'm all ears. Do you have any questions about Wang Meng's "Dwelling in Dongshan Mountain"?"

"That ancient painting is perfect, without any doubts, I like it very much! The reason why I stopped you is not because of that ancient painting, but another matter. I want to ask you to do me a favor!"

"Help? Tell me, what help do you need? If I can, I will spare no effort!"

"You can definitely help, this is what you are best at, and there is no difficulty! You also know that I like to collect antique art, regardless of Chinese or foreign.

As long as I see the right one, and the price is reasonable and within the economic range, I will take it. Over the years, I have indeed collected a lot of things, both good and bad!

A few days ago, someone introduced me to a French art collector who is not well-known, but he has a few paintings in his hand, which make me so excited that I want to collect them in my pocket!

There were a total of five paintings in that batch. They were abstract oil paintings with obvious cubism and surrealism. The painting level looked quite good, somewhat Picasso style!

According to the French collector,

These five paintings are exactly from the hands of Picasso, they are the works of the pastoral period, they have always been in his private collection, and have never appeared on the market! "

"Picasso's works, that should be very good! Picasso's pastoral paintings are indeed mainly abstract paintings that combine cubism, realism and surrealism!

During the 20 years from April 16th to July 3rd, Picasso was at the peak of his creation, and he drew many outstanding top-level works of art, such as the "Carmen" series, each of which was worth a lot of money.

When you encounter such a good thing, if you are sure that there is no problem with the painting, you should get it in your pocket as soon as possible! Five paintings of Picasso's idyllic period, I am a little moved when I hear them! "

Hearing Ye Tian's words, Mr. Liu's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly:

"Xiaoye, it seems that you know Picasso very well, you are like a few treasures, you are worthy of being a world-renowned expert in antique art appraisal who can take both Chinese and Western, and you really live up to your reputation!

I really like those five paintings and want to take them down, but I have a very tricky problem! I can't identify the authenticity of those five paintings, so I dare not act rashly!

You know, each of the five paintings has an asking price of more than 10 million US dollars, and two of them are as high as 30 million US dollars. Even for me, hearing this price is a bit heartbreaking! "

"Humble, isn't it! When you spent 170 million US dollars to photograph Modigliani's "Side Lying Woman", you didn't even blink your eyelids. It has become a good talk in the art collection field!

You can sell it decisively at that sky-high price, so why would you care about the quotation of tens of millions of dollars, the sum of all five paintings is only 100 million dollars! For you, that's trifle!

The reason why you are hesitant seems to be that you are worried about the authenticity of those paintings. What is going on? Can't the French collector provide an authoritative appraisal conclusion? It shouldn't be!

In addition, I am also very curious, why didn't the Frenchman send these five paintings to auction? You know, that's Picasso! The top lot that all auction houses are crazy about chasing! "

Ye Tian praised the person in front of him for a few words, told one of the most proud things in his life, and then asked the specific reason.

This kid is really good at being a man! It sounds so comfortable! The whole body is transparent!

Mr. Liu had a bright smile on his face, and then explained the reason.

"The French collector provided the appraisal conclusions given by two appraisal experts, as well as a scientific test data report, which indeed carried out some tests on the painting.

Judging from the test report, those paintings were indeed created in the 1950s and 1960s, which conformed to the age characteristics of Picasso's pastoral period, but the problem lies in the two appraisal conclusions.

The two appraisal experts who gave the appraisal conclusions are both Spaniards from Malaga, Picasso's hometown. They are not well-known appraisal experts and are only well-known in the local area.

Regarding the appraisal conclusion they gave, to be honest, I still can’t believe it. After all, this is an art transaction involving hundreds of millions of dollars, so I have to be cautious.

As for why the French guy didn't send these paintings for auction, I still understand quite well. Everyone knows that the tax burden in that damn place in France is too high, it's frightening!

If that collector sends these paintings to the auction, except for the commission, almost 50% of the auction proceeds will be taken away by the French government across the board, which is personally reluctant!

That's why he came to me with these paintings, hoping to trade them privately, transfer these paintings to me, transfer the transaction money to a bank account opened in a tax haven, and then enjoy life! "

"I understand. You want me to verify the authenticity of those Picasso paintings before deciding whether to make this deal. Is this correct?"

"That's right! You are also aware of the domestic situation. There are many top experts in the appraisal of antique works of art, but most of them study Chinese antique works of art, such as those from the Forbidden City.

There are few experts and scholars in China who have deep research on Western painting art, and experts and scholars with advanced appraisal skills of Western artworks are even rarer, and it is very difficult to find.

The classification of Western painting art is too detailed, and the number of modern and contemporary works is also very large. Picasso alone has 60,000 works. Who can guarantee to have seen all of them? Not to mention identification!

The day I received your invitation, I thought of asking you to help identify these paintings. There is no one more suitable than you, and no one with sharper vision than you!

In terms of appraising antique works of art, you are famous for taking both Chinese and Western styles. I have never heard that you have seen it. In front of your eyes, I believe that there will be no secrets at all in those paintings!

So I came to the door. Of course, the more important purpose is to participate in this auction and collect some top-level antique works of art. If I can ask you to help, it would be great!

The authenticity of those paintings, you decide with one word! How about it? Xiaoye, can you help me with this? , if possible, let’s make an appointment, I’ll be waiting for you in Shanghai! "

After finishing speaking, Mr. Liu stared at Ye Tian closely, expecting him to give an answer.

Ye Tian didn't reply immediately, but thought deeply.

After a while, he smiled and said:

"It's so flattering! Mr. Liu, but I'm quite confident in appraising Western antiques, and I've done some research on Picasso's paintings from various periods.

Since you have made this request, asking me to help appraise the paintings is to respect me and recognize my appraisal level. If I don't agree, it would be too unreasonable!

But I'm afraid it won't work in these two days. You have seen the situation on site. Once the auction is over, there must be a lot of things waiting for me. It is impossible to spare time to go to Shanghai.

Let's wait until this time is over. I guess it will be after the tenth day of the Lunar New Year. Then I will go to Shanghai to help you identify those so-called Picasso paintings. Do you think so? "

"No problem, thank you very much, Xiaoye, then I will wait for your good news in Shanghai!"

Mr. Liu said excitedly, then shook hands with Ye Tian and finalized the matter.

Next, Mr. Liu introduced some relevant details. Seeing that the time was almost up, he returned to his seat excitedly.

Ye Tian raised his hand to check the time, then walked onto the auction stage, ready to start the second half of the auction!