After Dupont left, Fan Ning opened the drawer, took out the "Old Hoffman Interpretation Manual" which was thicker than a brick, and put it at hand.
His feeling of reading Ancient Hoffmann was similar to that of an ordinary middle school student reading classical Chinese in his previous life, and it was more unfamiliar extracurricular literature.
With the help of translation reference books, Fan Ning stumbled through "Investigation of Belesinsky's Deeds", and his main focus was on the second volume, learning how to represent and interpret those spiritual colors.
He also used basic mystical documents written in ancient Hoffmann language such as the "Taxonomy of Echoes", "The Inspiration of Janus", "Translation of the Sermon of Seven Lights" in the bookcase to find information on some of his recent confusions.
.
"Mysticism is really vast. I don't know how much effort it will take to read it systematically in the future." Fan Ning sighed.
As for other more in-depth documents, you need to learn Tulungarian, and Fanning is ready to turn to Sheeran.
The study time flew by, and it was half past five in the afternoon. Fan Ning gathered at the appointment and set off for Prudence Auction House.
The street lights were beginning to light up, and two private carriages were traveling one behind the other.
In the latter carriage, which was spacious and comfortable with luxurious interiors, there were two soft red sofas that could be slept on, separated by a wooden table. Fanning and Joan's father, Lord Nehemiah, sat and chatted.
He looked to be in his early forties, wearing a dark red luxurious velvet coat and a mink soft hat. He had a clean shaven beard, was a little chubby, and always had a cheerful expression.
During the chat, Fan Ning learned that Joan's family had made great achievements in the conquest of the Kingdom of Nileru in the second half of the 7th century of the New Calendar. They were awarded the title of hereditary viscount by the empire and managed a county at their peak. According to Lord Nehemiah,
It is speculated that the real power of his family is not what it used to be, but it still holds a seat in the upper house of Uflansel and owns its own small industry and land.
"Qiong was born in such a wealthy and harmonious family, no wonder she developed such an optimistic character."
She and Xilan huddled together in the corner of the carriage, listening to Fan Ning chatting with her father for a while, and whispering intimately to Xilan for a while.
Afterwards, Lord Nehemiah raised some topics in the field of art to Fan Ning, including music, public cultural management and art investment. Fan Ning picked up on them one by one and explained his views with reason and humility.
I saw these two people talking about "the unhealthy trends in serious music criticism" to "the shortcomings of the imperial public art space development system", and from the aristocrats' investment taste in recent years "tending towards sentimentality and escape style" to "contemporary emerging collectors"
investment demand motivation”…
"This young man is not only rich in artistic accomplishment, but also has impeccable gentlemanly etiquette, and many of his views are inspiring..." Lord Nehemiah increasingly felt that entrusting Fan Ning as tonight's artistic consultant was a very correct choice.
The group arrived at No. 226 Finlay Street, Pushor District.
Prudence Auction House occupies a large area, but it only has two floors. The appearance is not as flashy and gorgeous as Fan Ning imagined. The building is made of bluestone and covered with vines. At first glance, it looks like a private residence of some noble family.
manor.
The waiter at the door obviously knew Lord Nehemiah, and he was greeted all the way after entering.
This is the place where Mr. Anton bought the fragments of the music series? But the protagonist of today’s auction is an oil painting rather than an antique.
Fan Ning looked at the environment along the way: brown painted wooden walls, bright gas lights, simple and clean decoration, sparse but appropriate decorative paintings and posters - he felt that this place was quite similar to a concert hall.
"So you think that the reason why the once authentic-style paintings are now favored by traditional aristocratic investment is not to psychologically escape the pollution and degradation of industrial cities? - This is the mainstream view in today's art critics." Nisi.
Lord Mi was still asking questions to Fan Ning beside him.
"My dad said more to Carol today than he did to me last week." Behind the two of them, Joan said while holding Sheeran's hand.
"Carron said more to Uncle Nehemiah today than she said to me in the last month." Sheeran responded to his best friend with a smile.
"Please, my identity today is that of an art consultant, okay?" Fan Ning heard the two people complaining behind her and secretly defended herself, "I was ready to collect money before chatting with your father."
He continued to answer Lord Nehemiah's question: "When Mannerism was prevalent in the past, they advocated the revival of classics and humanities; when rural genre paintings became popular again in the market, they pursued a pale and slender court style; now a large number of farmers are pouring into industrial cities to work
, became sickly and thin in the haze, so they began to sing the praises of the countryside again."
"If I were born in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, I would also try to distinguish myself aesthetically from industrial gentlemen." Fan Ning did not shy away from the fact that Joan's father was born a gentleman in the traditional sense.
"But the industrial gentry is the powerful class that has emerged from the current authorities." Lord Nehemiah questioned, "The proportion of their descendants who study art in academic schools is no less than that of the traditional gentry."
"It's not a personal distinction, it's a conceptual distinction." Fan Ning immediately emphasized this point, "The key is to master the definition of 'elegant art and profound appreciation'. Haven't you discovered that no matter how big the aesthetic differences between them are,
They all claim to have 'royal aesthetic taste'."
"Artistic taste is a kind of cultural capital."
Lord Nehemiah smiled and said: "Caron, you are so interesting. Did you research this point of view?"
"It's my father Vincent."
"So do you have any directional suggestions? Are you more inclined to suggest that I collect authentic style or the recently popular romantic pastoral style?"
Fan Ning thought for a while: "I'm not very optimistic about the true style of contemporary painters. Romantic works need to be analyzed in detail, and I will remind you then. Finally, I suggest you pay more attention to the new 'suggestive flow' style works, which have suitable prices.
, can be won decisively.”
"Oh?" Lord Nehemiah asked in surprise, "You are so optimistic about the 'suggestive flow' style?"
"Of course." Fan Ning's tone was very confident.
He is very clear that the "suggestive flow" style that has emerged in the world in recent years is very close to the bud of Impressionism in the previous life! Some works are quite close to the painting styles of Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and others in the early days of Impressionism.
In previous lives, no one cared about this type of work at first and were squeezed out by traditional academic schools. Later, the market price increased to the point that humans themselves could not understand it!
The current "suggestive flow" style is in a period when it is being squeezed out by several art academies with royal backgrounds in the empire.
There are only opportunities for display in some small galleries, auction houses or private art museums.
If Fan Ning can pay off his debts and has some spare money on hand, he will definitely invest in a few bargains!
Lord Nehemiah joked: "In the past ten years or so, the market value of 'suggestion flow' works has indeed increased slightly, but gentlemen generally feel that investing in them is not as good as doing financial management in the bank..." But seeing Fan Ning so confident
, adding that the early chat was quite speculative, and he made another haha: "But I trust your vision, I will pick a few pictures later."
Fan Ning smiled softly: "The difference between investors and collectors is reflected in that one is only looking for banknotes, while the other is looking for painting geniuses of his own era and personally witnessing the history of art."
He added with a wink: "Of course, the latter often ends up with more money."
In the venue, several people were arranged to sit in the luxurious private room on the second floor. The light here was slightly darker and there were partitions that could be adjusted by oneself to fully protect the privacy of the distinguished guests.
Joan took the hot towel handed by her father's butler, wiped her hands and began to sweep away the pastries and special snacks on the table, and kept telling Carol and Sheeran to be polite.
Lord Nehemiah swayed the amber liquid in the wine glass, closing his eyes and sipping from time to time.
The bidding officially started at 7 p.m. In the following period, Lord Nehemiah, under Fan Ning's instruction, tried to participate in the auction 5 times, including 2 works of contemporary painters in the Romantic style, which were sold for 80 pounds and 180 pounds.
Get it at price.
Lord Nehemiah was surprised to find that Fan Ning was not only sharp-sighted and accurate in analysis, but also very quick and accurate in making bid recommendations and very decisive in giving up.
It not only eliminates the needless "you get promoted while others get promoted" with competitors, but also saves your own funds to the greatest extent.
"Caron, how did you do that?"
"Analysis of content and techniques is one aspect. Many variables in the art market also need to be considered, such as the reputation of relevant art critics, the average price of similar works, the breadth of the artist's market... and its own flow space. We
It is necessary to estimate the ratio of the artist's willingness to sell works to the supply of similar creations on the market... This requires some industry experience."
Fan Ning chewed a fried fish ball softly.
"This young man should reopen his family's Turner Art Gallery and become an art critic or collector. Damn it, he would be wasting his money by pursuing a career in music." Lord Nehemiah admired and secretly regretted it.
.
"Dad, I'm going to go outside for a while." Qiong stood up and acted coquettishly to her father in a soft voice.
"Joan, where are you going?" Sheeran asked.
"I'll come back after I get some fresh air. You stay with my dad and Carolyn."
"Go, little darling, there are a lot of new things everywhere in the auction house, be careful not to damage anything." Lord Nehemiah waved dotingly and casually, probably because he was used to his daughter's behavior.
"Okay~"
"Qiong can't sit still, and she doesn't know how she practices the flute and violin." Fan Ning watched Qiong's back leave, laughing to herself.
He was still leaning on the sofa leisurely, taking a bite of fried fish and meatballs.
While chewing, he suddenly stopped in his mouth.
"That's not right, isn't this...?"
He took out his pocket watch and opened it. The time read 7:45 pm!
"impossible???"
Fan Ning closed his pocket watch with a snap, his face full of disbelief.
"Joan, you?..."
The gathering of knowledgeable people underground mentioned by the man in gray who was killed by him happened to be at eight o'clock in the evening in the warehouse next door!