Chapter 629 - Sir Owen
Chapter 629 Sir Owen
Qin Haodong said, “If I trade these paintings with Sir Owen for the bronze head of the zodiac, how many pieces will it take for him to accept?”
Tian Ye said, “Mr. Qin, it seems that you are unaware of how influential Picasso’s works are in the world. Any of the paintings in your hands will attract the attention of the world’s collectors and they will compete to get it.
Although China’s antiques and works of art have” improved rapidly in recent years, in the eyes of many collectors, there is simply no comparison between the two.”
“Sir Owen, in particular, had a large number of Huaxia works of art and antiques in his warehouse. What he lacks is a piece of art that has a great influence in the world.”
“If you take one or two paintings and ask him for the bronze head, he may exchange with you. If you take out all four of them and put them together into a painting book, he will definitely send the bronze head to you with both hands and maybe he will even give you some other antiques.”
“Really? You are not lying to me, right?”
Qin Haodong could not believe his ears. In his mind, the bronze head was the genuine priceless treasure. Because of this, he drew 40 paintings in one breath, for fear that he would not be able to get the bronze head in exchange.
Tian Ye shook his head with a wry smile and said, “Mr. Qin, how can I joke with you about this kind of thing?”
Zhang Zhaohui said, “Mr. Qin, don’t be surprised. Maybe you’re not familiar with the international market of art works.”
“Although Huaxia had a long history of civilization, due to well-known reasons, more than half of the precious cultural relics had been lost abroad. This was an extremely large number, which was beyond people’s imagination.”
However, foreign works of art were different. There would be a period of time, tens of years or even hundreds of years before there would be a talent in art, such as Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso and Van Gogh.
Due to the rarity of these, the value of these works of art were very high. For example, Beethoven’s handwritten five-line manuscript had once been sold at a sky-high price at an auction.
Because of the disparity in quantity, it was very easy to find Chinese works of art in the international auction market and they could be seen at any time and place.
However, if they wanted to see Picasso’s works or Van Gogh’s, it would be very difficult. Once there was news of Picasso’s paintings at any auction, it would immediately attract countless collectors from all over the world.
“Even with Sir Owen’s wealth and influence, he does not have a painting of Picasso, so we can see how precious it is.”
Qin Haodong said, “I’ve long heard about that but I did not expect that Picasso’s art works would be like this.”
Tian Ye said, “In fact, this is not because Huaxia’s antiques can’t compare with foreign works of art. It’s a matter of quantity. After all, Huaxia’s history is too long and there are many outstanding talents, so naturally, there are many antiques.
Another reason was about people’s cognition. The influence of great artists like Picasso and Van Gogh was known all over the world, and almost everyone was familiar with them.
The early years of Huaxia implemented the policy of closing the border. The Chinese paintings were more in line with the standard of Huaxia people. It was difficult for westerners to appreciate and accept it, so though there were many outstanding artists in Huaxia, but their influence in the world was not as good as that of artists like Van Gogh.
For those collectors, the market value of goods was not the most important factor. They value the reputation of the works more. In the eyes of some great collectors, 100 antiques in Huaxia may not even be comparable to a painting of Picasso.””
Zhang Zhaohui said, “A few years ago, the prices of antiques of Huaxia were not high in the international market. It was only in recent years that some international seller and auction houses started to raise the prices.
However, in the minds of the European and American collectors, the value of antiques in Huaxia is still not comparable to that of Picasso’s works. Among the most expensive ten paintings in the world, Picasso’s works accounted for four, but there is not a single painting of Huaxia among them.”
Zhang Tieniu listened for a long time and was shocked. He couldn’t help but say, “I really don’t know why you like such a painting of a naked woman with such loose skin.”
Tian Ye said, “Big brother, this is art. Can’t you understand?”
Qin Haodong said, “Thank you for your help.”
After that, he waved his hand at Zhang Tieniu. Zhang Tieniu immediately took two red envelopes he had prepared and gave them to the two people.
Tian Ye and Zhang Zhaohui said, “Mr. Qin, it’s our duty to help you. You don’t have to do that!”
Qin Haodong said, “Take it. I have taken up too much of your time.”
Tian Ye and Zhang Zhaohui accepted the envelopes directly without hesitation. In fact, when they went out to do appraisals, they often met rich and wealthy collectors who gave them red envelopes.
After they got into the car, Zhang Zhaohui took out the red envelope and pinched it. It was thin and there seemed to be not much money inside. He said, “It seems that Mr. Qin is too stingy.”
Tian Ye said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Mr. Qin is the old man’s distinguished guest. It’s good enough that he is giving us tips.”
Zhang Zhaohui curled his lips and said, “What are you afraid of? He can’t hear us here. All rich people are so stingy…”
As he said this, he tore open the red envelope and found that it did not contain cash, but a check. The price was surprisingly one million yuan.
“My God, he is too generous!”
Zhang Zhaohui screamed. If he had not been in the car at this time, he would definitely have jumped up and down happily.
Tian Ye also saw the check in his hand. Seeing him lose his composure, he asked curiously, “How much is it?”
Zhang Zhaohui shouted excitedly, “One million yuan. It’s actually one million yuan. I’ll be rich when I go out and flirt with girls in the future.”
Tian Ye was also very happy. In the past, they often received red envelopes from their guests, most of which were thousands of yuan. It was the first time for them to meet a rich man like Qin Haodong, who gave them one million yuan each.
What he did not know was that Zhang Zhaohui actually benefited from his association with him. Qin Haodong was most grateful to him. The money was the information fee.
If it were not for Tian Ye, Qin Haodong would not have known that Sir Owen still had another bronze head and he would not have been aware of Sir Owen’s preferences.
After sending Tian Ye and Zhang Zhaohui off, Qin Haodong immediately began to make preparations. He was going to find Sir Owen and ask him if he could make a trade with the bronze head. He could not wait another moment.
However, after hearing what the Tian Ye said just now, he did not want to take out all his paintings. If he took out all the 40 paintings, it might be the opposite of what he wanted.
After thinking for a while, he decided to bring 10 paintings with him to visit Sir Owen first.
Since Nalan Wushuang did not like the paintings, he packed them into a canvas bag. Then he borrowed Uncle Cheng from Li Dongguo, got in the car and rushed over to Sir Owen’s house.
Uncle Cheng was very familiar with the road conditions of Hong Kong. They soon arrived at the gate of Sir Owen’s extremely luxurious manor.
Unlike the manor of the Li family, this was basically a European-style building. The building was simple and elegant. If he had not known that he was in Hong Kong, he would have thought that he was in an ancient castle in Europe.
There were four tall Caucasian bodyguards standing at the gate of the manor. Uncle Cheng first went to tell them his identity and then he told them his purpose of coming here, of wanting to see Sir Owen.
The head bodyguard said, “I’m sorry, sir. If you don’t have an appointment, you can’t meet Sir Owen, even if you are the steward of the Li family.”
“Uh…”
Uncle Cheng looked at Qin Haodong in embarrassment. He thought that Qin Haodong had made an appointment with Sir Owen, but he had not expected it to be an impulse visit. It was difficult to meet someone like Sir Owen without an appointment in advance.
Qin Haodong walked to the door, handed over the packaged paintings to the head bodyguard and said, “Please go and see Sir Owen now. I want to exchange some antiques with him.”
The head bodyguard said, “I’m sorry, Sir Owen will not meet you without an appointment.”
“Give this to Sir Owen. He’ll personally welcome us when he sees it.”
He did not want to waste too much time at the door, so he directly used the Mind-manipulating skill.
“Okay, Mr. Qin, please wait a moment.”
Under the eyes of the other bodyguards, the head bodyguard rushed into the manor with the paintings in his hand.
In a luxurious living room in the manor, Sir Owen was talking to his steward, Fred. He said with annoyance, “It’s been so long. Can’t we find any paintings of Picasso?”
Fred said respectfully, “Sir Owen, there’s nothing we can do about it. I’ve already informed more than a dozen well-known auction houses in the world and they have promised to contact us as soon as there’s any information about the paintings, but there’s still no news.”
“It’s not surprising. Now who will sell the painting of Picasso if he has it in his hand? If I have Picasso’s paintings, I won’t sell it either.”
Sir Owen said, “But in a few days, my friend, Cantona, will be here as my guest. You know, Cantona is a famous collector. When he sees that I don’t even have a painting of Picasso, it will make me feel very ashamed.”
Fred spread out his hands and said helplessly, “Sir, I understand your feelings very well, but I can’t do anything about it.”
At this moment, the head bodyguard came in with a painted scroll in his hand. He bowed to Sir Owen and said, “Sir, Uncle Cheng, the steward of the Li family and a young man came to visit you together. They are at the gate of the manor now.”
Sir Owen said unhappily, “Cisse, have you forgotten that I will not meet anyone without an appointment?”
The head bodyguard said, “Sir, Qin said that as long as you see this painting, you will go out and welcome him.”
Sir Owen said in annoyance, “No, I’m in a bad mood now. I don’t want to see anything unless it’s a painting of Picasso.”