Yang Jing shook his head in disbelief. "Two million and one hundred thousand dollars for three paintings. Not expensive, not expensive! Mike, this deal you made is a great bargain."
Old Mike also shook his head slightly. "Cole, it's not a good deal. The average price of a painting is close to 700,000 US dollars. This price is not cheap."
Old Mike's words made Yang Jing immediately realize that he had made a mistake. It was only 1996, and Rockwell's paintings were indeed not very valuable in that era. He was just substituting the prices of 20 years later into that of this era.
Yang Jing was not familiar with many American modernizers, but Norman Rockwell was one of the few American painters he was familiar with. This was because when he was in London, he happened to see Rockwell's extremely famous "Three Self-Portraits" while visiting the British Museum. Yang Jing was very interested in this painting at the time, and after returning, he looked up information about Norman Rockwell, so he was very familiar with Rockwell's paintings.
In 1973, the Gallup Poll asked the following question to the whole country: "Who do you think is the most outstanding painter of our time?" The result was that 82% of the respondents regarded Norman Rockwell as the most outstanding painter of our time and said that he was a recorder of the times in the United States.
In an interview, the American "Excellent Housekeeping Illustrated" once asked Rosalynn Carter, wife of US President Carter, "Which picture do you like best?" The first lady replied, "Norman Rockwell's "Girl Before a Mirror". The girl in the picture deeply moved me. Children sometimes yearn to grow up, just like our Amy."
Born in 1894, this painter started to be an illustrator at the age of 16 and continued to create works until he was 82. He was once hailed by the New York Times as "the most popular artist of the century."
Rockwell's works record the development and changes of the United States in the 20th century: from barefoot boys on a hot summer day to astronauts on the moon; from lazy small town stores to skyscraper offices; from colorful fairy tale books to shining TV screens... His works not only cover the two world wars, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the economic depression and racial issues in the United States, but also include themes such as presidents from Kennedy to Carter, movie stars, and Boy Scouts. However, Rockwell's favorite subject is the innocent children.
This American painter, who was 13 years younger than Picasso, could be considered a contemporary of Picasso. However, compared to the famous Picasso, Rockwell, who was born as an illustrator, could not compare with Picasso in any aspect during his lifetime. Even many serious critics or artists always believed that Rockwell was just an "illustrator" and his paintings were just designed for printing, with simple and flat colors.
However, many people who have seen Rockwell's originals say that this is not true. His original oil paintings have fine colors and varied brushstrokes. They say, "You can't tell his painting skills from the prints." Since his early years, when he was painting, he always put a piece of paper with "100%" written on it above the canvas to remind himself that he had to put 100% of his energy into every painting.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this seriousness and hard work that Rockwell became "the most popular artist in the United States this century."
In fact, Rockwell's works did not experience a blowout explosion until after the new century. Before the new century, except for a few limited works, the value of his other works was not very high.
However, in the new century, especially in the second decade of the new century, the value of Norman Rockwell's works has skyrocketed.
On December 4, 2013, at a special auction of American art held at Sotheby's in New York, Rockwell's 1951 work "The Prayer" was estimated at US$5 million to US$20 million. However, after fierce competition among buyers in the venue, it was finally sold for an incredible US$46 million, setting a new record for Rockwell's works at the auction.
In this painting "Prayer", the little boy with his back of head exposed and his well-dressed grandmother are in a shabby restaurant next to the train station, bowing their heads and praying to God for the food on the table. Two lazy young men, one holding a cigarette butt between his fingers and the other biting a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, are watching them eagerly.
At the auction, the last piece of Rockwell's painting, "Spreading Rumors" (also known as "The Gossipmonger"), created in 1948, was sold for a whopping $85 million, breaking the record just set by "The Prayer".
Rockwell spent thirteen years in the making of the painting "Spreading Rumors". He had painted this theme before, and the 1948 version only featured two gossipers, which was later increased to ten, and finally developed into a vivid painting composed of fifteen different characters. According to Rockwell, these people in the painting are all his neighbors in Arlington. He also included himself and his wife Mary to avoid people suspecting that he insulted his neighbors, but some people were still very angry. He himself is the subject of the conversation, and in the lower right corner of the work, he is confronting the initiator of these rumors.
In addition, Rockwell's "Walking to the Church" created in 1952 was sold for US$33 million, and his other painting "Leaving Home" was sold for US$15.4 million.
But no matter what, these works that were sold for more than eight figures were all created by Rockwell after his studio caught fire. His works before that have never appeared on the market.
And now, three works created by Rockwell before 1943 suddenly appeared here. This surprise is really unexpected!
PS: I bow to thank “w温柔一刀” for the reward of 100.
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