Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 151 Auction

The reason why Liang En was attracted by this tattered-looking sketchbook was also very simple, because it was a rare auction item with a starting price of only four figures.

The reason why the other party’s valuation is so low is that these paintings are not signed, the biggest problem is that not only does the whole book look tattered, but also the style of the paintings in it does not seem to be made by one person, it feels like a discarded excercise book.

"Ah, I finally found you." Just as Liang En was looking at the notebook in the cabinet, a familiar middle-aged male voice came from behind. Liang En turned his head, only to see Bruce standing there.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Bruce." Liang En shook hands with him, and then asked, "Did you invite me over for something?"

"I heard that an ancient Egyptian painted coffin from a certain important person will be auctioned at this auction, so I want to buy this coffin." Hearing Liang En's question, Bruce said directly.

"Because I plan to develop a hotel near Sharm el-Sheikh, an important tourist city in Egypt, I want to add chips to my business by donating cultural relics."

One of the main reasons why Bruce dared to speak so bluntly to Liang En was that his idea was an open secret in the circle.

Therefore, there is no risk in speaking out at this time, but it will help to narrow the relationship between the two parties.

In fact, since more than half a year ago, Bruce has been trying to collect cultural relics related to ancient Egypt.It's a pity that the things collected before are really not up to the grade, so that he personally participated in the auction after hearing the news this time.

But the problem is that the organizer of this kind of auction is only providing a platform and cannot guarantee the authenticity of the auction item.That's why Bruce thought of inviting Liang En to join him.

"Why didn't I see that coffin?" Hearing what Bruce said, Liang En asked curiously, because he hadn't seen that coffin since he came in.

"After all, coffins are taboo for many people, so the painted coffin is now placed at the bottom of the cabin, and it will not be brought up until an hour before the auction." Bruce explained.

"To be honest, I'm also quite jealous of that kind of thing. If I couldn't find anything else related to ancient Egypt, I wouldn't buy this coffin either."

"Okay, I understand." Liang En nodded, and then promised, "I will try my best to help you identify what that thing is all about."

After talking about the business, Liang En asked about the sketchbook.As a result, Bruce told him that the sketchbook was brought by a local rich man, who said it came from a closed gallery.

In addition, the information that everyone knows is that this book has a history of about 100 years, and the artistic level of the sketches on it is very high.

"Actually, if this is an oil painting, the appraisers will be able to roughly figure out whether it is the work of a famous painter from the style and content of the painting, but this is not the case with this pile of sketches now." Bruce explained in a low voice.

"Because these sketches only drew some ordinary portraits and even some landscapes and still lifes, it is impossible to judge who this thing belongs to from the content."

"And the reason why this thing can become an auction item is mainly because the identity of the sender is not suitable for rejection, and at the same time, this booklet does have a certain artistic value."

Unlike ordinary cultural relics transactions, the water in art transactions is very deep, so relative to the artistry of the works, the popularity of the creators is the core that really determines the value of these works of art.

In other words, even an unknown artist has reached an unprecedented level of artistic creation.But his paintings are likely to be worthless until they are recognized, such as Van Gogh is a good example.

But for Liang En, this should be a good thing, because this sketch book really suits his eyes.So if the price is not high, he can buy this thing as his own collection.

In the following time, under Bruce's introduction, Liang En met a rich man who had the opportunity to be interested in various antiques and artworks, and got several business cards with private phone numbers.

In this way, when he finds something that meets the needs of these rich people in the future, he can directly ship it.Conducive to the diversity of his shipping channels.

In the midst of everyone's communication, the time came to around 4:50 pm.The invited guests filed into a large drawing room located below the deck of the ship.

"Everyone, thank you again for taking the time to participate in this small auction." After seeing that everyone was here, a middle-aged auctioneer in a tuxedo walked up to the stage and bowed, and then said to the guests below.

"Because it's a private auction this time, we don't need to be so formal. In the next auction, except for those auction items that could not be exhibited before, each item will be appreciated for 5 minutes. one piece."

"Okay, let's start now." After seeing that everyone had no objection to the auction rules, the auctioneer immediately launched the first collection.

"This is an abstract oil painting created by the American modernist abstract artist Robert Ryman. The current reserve price is 3 US dollars. Is anyone willing to bid?"

"$5." A middle-aged man who looked chubby raised his hand to signal that he was an investor in a gallery in New York, so he was very interested in the works of this leading modernist art figure.

However, this price also made other people who were planning to raise the price give up, because the $5 limit for such a small-scale work is close to the limit, and it is obviously not worthwhile to increase the price.

"Congratulations, Mr. Cohen." After waiting for a few seconds to find that no one else had bid, the auctioneer immediately dropped the hammer to confirm the deal, and then a waiter placed the painting next to Mr. Cohen.

In a normal auction, this is completely impossible.But this auction is a kind of private auction, so it is obviously as convenient as possible, and there is no need to abide by too many regulations.

The next two items for sale were a diamond ring from the early 20th century and a lesser-known Japanese samurai sword, which were sold after only one or two bids.

Finally, it was the turn of the sketch exercise book that Liang En had taken a fancy to before to enter the auction, but because the appearance of this thing was so bad, the fierce auction that Liang En had imagined before did not exist at all.

After just calling the price twice, from $5000 to $7000, another middle-aged man who was competing with Liang En chose to give up, obviously not wanting to bother with this junk.

"Can you tell me what are the characteristics of this sketching exercise book?" Bruce asked in a low voice after seeing the waiter bring down the book. He didn't think Liang En would just buy a sketchbook of little value.

"Because I think the content of the painting above is very vivid." Liang En said in a low voice, "Although I don't know who painted it, people with such a level should not be unknown."

Although Liang En did not know what the painting was before the cards were used, he also knew that a good work of art should give people a sense of beauty, and now this painting gives Liang En the right feeling. That's right.

(End of this chapter)