Supreme Sacred Ring, Carefree Tycoon!
In the 80s, a good-quality old Hainan Huanghuali round-backed armchair from the Qing Dynasty could be yours for just twenty yuan. Now, two million yuan o...
Yang Jing was very satisfied with Mike Aller's work. The precious antiques and artworks in front of him were enough to prove that Mike Aller had not slacked off in the past two years.
In the safe of a Swiss bank in Cayman, Yang Jing saw sixteen oil paintings, all of which were from famous painters in Europe and the United States, but most of them were from American painters.
Among these oil paintings, there are works by Andrew Wyeth, the most famous American painter of the last century, Henri Matisse, a famous Fauvist painter who is as famous as Picasso, Simon Houet, a famous representative of French court art in the first half of the 17th century, Norman Rockwell, an American realist painter who died just three years ago, and Albert Bierstadt, the most famous American landscape painter of the last century...
What surprised Yang Jing the most was that Mike Aller actually bought a Picasso work called "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".
This is a remarkable work. The size of this "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" is 244 cm*234 cm, which is a rare large-scale work of Picasso. However, Yang Jing knew that this work was originally supposed to be collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but for some reason it was bought by Michael Aller.
Seeing Yang Jing's interest in the painting, Mike Aller said with a smile, "I learned in June this year that there would be a Picasso auction in Cannes, so I rushed over and eventually bought it for $12 million. This painting is also the one that cost me the most money in the past two years."
"Only 12 million US dollars?" Yang Jing asked in surprise.
"What's wrong? 12 million is already very expensive, okay?" Mike Aller said excitedly, "I won this painting after competing with many people. If you hadn't given me so much money, I wouldn't have gotten it. And I still have all the documents from the auction here."
Yang Jing raised his hand and said, "Sorry, Mike, that's not what I meant. You may have misunderstood me. I was just surprised that this painting was so cheap, only $12 million."
In 2015, Picasso's "Women of Algiers (Version O)" was sold at a Christie's New York auction for a whopping $179 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. However, it is generally acknowledged that "Women of Algiers (Version O)" is inferior to "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" in terms of size and artistry. However, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" has been treasured by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and no one knows what kind of sky-high price it would fetch if it were auctioned.
Yang Jing looked at the "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" carefully and saw some unusual signatures in the lower right corner of the painting - Picasso, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", first edition.
After discovering these words, Yang Jing suddenly realized that Picasso had painted tens of thousands of works in his lifetime, which had a lot to do with the fact that he often painted the same painting several times. For example, Picasso painted a total of 15 copies of "Women of Algiers".
Since Picasso had this habit, it is not surprising that he painted two copies of this "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". The most important thing is that this painting is a first edition, which is even rarer. Its value is even higher than the "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" in the collection of the New York Museum of Art!
But now this painting has fallen into the hands of Mike Aller, and the price is only 12 million US dollars. This is really a bit surprising.
However, Yang Jing thought about it and felt relieved. It was only 1981, and Picasso had been dead for less than ten years. The price of Picasso's works at that time was far less than that in later generations. Moreover, 12 million US dollars was an absolute huge sum of money in that era.
It is no exaggeration to say that in 1981, 12 million US dollars was definitely not much worse than 120 million US dollars thirty years later!
"BOSS, I like this job you assigned to me, but it also troubles me." Looking at Yang Jing admiring the sixteen oil paintings, Mike Aller began to complain.
"Huh? What's wrong? Does spending money make you feel distressed?" Yang Jing turned his head and asked with a smile.
"Sometimes having too much money and not being able to spend it is also a kind of distress. This is exactly what I want to say." Mike Aller said with a wry smile and shaking his head, "Boss, it is really a blessing to have a lot of money to spend at will, but at the same time, you give me too much money. The goal you set for me is to spend $100 million a year, but now, two years have passed, and I still have $70 million that I don’t know where to spend it..."
Yang Jing stopped admiring the paintings and patted Mike Aller on the shoulder and said, "Mike, don't worry about these things. Just spend as much as you can. I am very satisfied with what you are doing now. So, in the next few years, I hope you can continue to do this and try to buy more paintings like this."
"Boss, are you planning to invest in art?" Mike Aller thought for a while before finally asking the question in his heart.
Yang Jing smiled and said, "You can think of it this way. In fact, under the current circumstances, investing in art is also a very good investment project."
"Okay, Boss, this kind of investment is only affordable for billionaires like you. I can only serve you..."
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