Van Gogh Reborn!

313

The Final Showdown (18)

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was Bae Dovin, the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, who had overwhelmed the audience with his pitch-black gaze.

Boring music.

Annoying music.

Dull music.

He was a genius of the century who shattered the public’s prejudice against classical music and made them shiver deep in their hearts.

I also enjoyed listening to the Berlin Philharmonic’s performance after watching his live video.

Christine Norman had rated her experience working with him as the best, and even the fussy Henri had recommended me to go to the concert hall and listen.

“Really? I’m fine.”

“Thin. Playing with chicken.”

That was Bae Dovin, who was seriously analyzing the curry.

Why?

It was such a strange sight that I must have lost my mind.

He turned his head as if he felt my gaze.

He had a sharp expression and a bad mood, making it hard to approach him.

I wanted to say hello, but I had a bad experience of being startled by a stranger talking to me, so I just watched him until the man next to him leaned his face forward.

It was the pianist Choi Jihun.

“Who are you?”

“Ko Hun.”

Bae Dovin mentioned my name.

I was surprised and opened my eyes wide, then moved my gaze to my grandfather and bowed my head.

“Hello. I’m Bae Dovin.”

My grandfather greeted him nervously.

“Hehe. Nice to meet you. I’m Koh Sooyul.”

It didn’t seem like they knew each other well, but I was surprised that he suddenly greeted me.

My grandfather looked puzzled too.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from your mother.”

“Hehe. Is that so? Is your mother here too?”

“No. She doesn’t do any external activities.”

“That’s right. It’s a shame.”

“I’ll send her my regards.”

“Okay. It was nice to meet you.”

Bae Dovin and Choi Jihun exchanged light greetings and left their seats.

“He’s grown up so much.”

I was so flustered that I was blank, and my grandfather laughed.

“What happened?”

“There’s a writer named Yoo Jinhee who works in Germany, and he’s her son.”

I had heard the name.

She didn’t do any external activities and only ran a private gallery in Berlin, but she was still considered a master.

“Are you close?”

My grandfather shook his head.

“I met her briefly at an exhibition, but it was a long time ago. It seemed like a courtesy.”

I was dumbfounded and just looked at the direction where he disappeared.

“Hoon, there’s candy here too.”

Candy is not important.

It was amazing that he, who was a world-renowned musician and also the heir of the largest chaebol in Korea, was walking around normally.

“Did he just come to see?”

“What else could it be? His mother is a painter, so he might be interested in art.”

“…”

“Hehe. Are you that curious?”

“Yes.”

“Come to think of it, you liked the Berlin Phil music. You should have talked to him.”

“I should have.”

Bae Dovin and Choi Jihun sat down at one side of the restaurant.

“He was amazing.”

Choi Jihun exclaimed after searching for Ko Hun.

He was impressive enough to have a solo exhibition at a young age, but his achievements were dazzling, such as being invited to the Whitney Biennale and winning second place in the Art Nouveau competition.

“His grandfather told me.”

“What did he say?”

“He said his painting was good. He said he came here to participate and met him.”

Bae Dovin recalled what his grandfather, Yu Janghyuk, had said.

His grandfather, who had visited Kohun’s solo exhibition, had praised a work called .

“So you came to see him? Why don’t you talk to him?”

Bae Dovin shook his head.

“I came to buy a birthday present for my grandfather. There’s nothing to make us uncomfortable. It was enough to say hello.”

“Hehe.”

Choi Jihun laughed softly.

“What?”

“You’re so thoughtful. He’ll be happy if you remember what he said and give him a present.”

Bae Dovin licked his lips.

“Then are you going to participate in the auction?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s very expensive, isn’t it? The work called was sold for 14 million dollars.”

Choi Jihun opened his smartphone.

“They say so.”

The food they ordered was placed between them.

“But isn’t it too much for a birthday present?”

“It’s because the competition was fierce. It doesn’t usually go up that much.”

Bae Dovin told him the situation where the price soared as Christine Norman and Henri Marso competed.

Both of them were wealthy enough to have at least tens of billions of dollars, so it was possible.

“How do you know so well about the art stuff when you only know music?”

“I got to hear it even if I wasn’t interested, thanks to my grandfather and mother.”

Bae Dovin was lost in thought for a moment.

“He seems a bit special.”

“Kohun?”

“Yeah.”

Bae Dovin, who had looked for Kohun’s paintings through his grandfather, had a fresh experience.

, which was exhibited at the Marso Gallery, especially touched his heart.

Through , who looked at the audience from the perspective of Van Gogh.

He was able to experience the feeling of listening to the D minor symphony (chorus) that he wrote 200 years ago for the first time.

“Norman must have liked him too.”

“Ah!”

Choi Jihun shouted loudly.

“Why are you like that?”

“He drew the original painting of , didn’t he? Why did I just realize that?”

Choi Jihun remembered the movie he saw last year.

He enjoyed watching it and found related information, and saw an article that said that a kid named Kohun participated as a concept art manager and became a hot topic.

He bought the original painting book and forgot about it. He couldn’t believe it.

Bae Dovin chuckled.

“He also participated in the next work.”

“Count Caliostro?”

Choi Jihun asked in surprise.

Christine Norman, the director, introduced as the first of the Lupin series, and said that there were two more movies left.

He was even more surprised that his one and only friend had something to do with the movie.

“You’re going to work on the OST, right? You’ll see him again.”

“I don’t have anything to see after the shooting is over.”

“That’s too bad.”

“What’s too bad?”

“He’s cute. And he draws well. Does he take poster requests?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should I invite him?”

“Whatever.”

It was an indifferent answer, but he knew it was the best affirmation for him.

Choi Jihun decided to send a concert ticket to the young painter.

“Yes. I arrived. The auction will start soon. Yes. ……Are you saying everything? I understand.”

Arsene finished the call and sighed.

He, who had gone on a business trip to Basel, Switzerland, received a special order from his employer.

It was to buy the work that Kohun put out instead of Henri Marso, who attended the World Art Forum.

‘He won’t let it go when he finds out later.’

He was worried as he watched the two fight every time they met recently.

He had made a friend who matched his mind, but he was afraid that the relationship would be twisted because of his stubbornness.

‘There’s no choice.’

He, disguised as a nun, calmly looked around the auction house.

The big shots of the art world were not bored.

‘It’s no wonder.’

Today was the most anticipated day of the Swiss Art Basel, the world’s largest art market.

Julian Pio, famous for his style of simplifying the description and emphasizing the characteristics of the people.

Gohun, loved for his bold brush strokes and sincere sense of color.

And even Egon Schiele, who was said to have made Klimt jealous, had his work up for auction.

There were collectors with enormous wealth, and even large museums came, so the competition seemed fierce.

Arsen headed to the guide.

“Good morning.”

“Hello.”

The guide checked Arsen’s ID card against the list and gave him a number plate.

‘I have to figure out who’s buying. And how much wealth they have.’

Arsen, who had experienced many auction houses, waited for the auction to start while checking the faces of the participants.

‘They don’t talk about the works.’

But as expected of an auction house where the competition was fierce, no one said what work they were interested in.

As he was about to give up and sit down, the hall became a bit noisy.

“That’s Baedobin.”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Maestro, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Several people murmured and some approached the man who entered and greeted him.

‘B?’

Arsen’s eyes caught the orchestra leader of the Berlin Philharmonic.

He was considered one of the greatest musicians in history and the heir of the global group WH, which had a market capitalization of about 1,700 trillion won, so he couldn’t help but attract attention.

‘Why is he here…’

Arsen narrowed his eyes and observed Baedobin.

He was well-known and a musician that Henri Marso liked, so he had a rough idea of him, but he didn’t know he was interested in art.

If Baedobin bid on Gohun’s work, it would be a tough fight.

‘No way.’

Arsen shook his head.

Soon, the appointed time came and the elderly auctioneer showed up.

Following the British tradition of auctioning, the auctioneer climbed onto the podium set up two steps above.1)

“Art lovers, welcome. I’m Adam Gladstone, the auctioneer.”

The participants applauded as the auctioneer of Christie’s announced the start.

“The auction will begin. You are the ones who express the people walking on the street. Julian Pio’s Walking in the Morning.”

“Wow.”

The people gasped and applauded as Julian Pio’s was revealed.

A middle-aged man in a suit walking with his shoulders slumped.

Someone who walks like running while talking on the phone.

A person who walks leisurely with a coffee and other scenes that can be seen in the city in the morning were implemented as animations (moving pictures).

“Walking is the most natural action. At the same time, it is also the most personal action. The artist captures the characteristics of the people in the city through the act of walking. This work, which depicts the people walking their own paths, is perhaps our portrait today.”

Adam gave the participants enough time to appreciate .

He believed that the auction would go well only if they felt the value of the work as well as the name of the artist.

But he didn’t waste that time.

He observed the participants and figured out who was shining their eyes.

“The starting price of this sensual pop art work is $10,000.”

As soon as Adam finished speaking, 100 of the 300 participants raised their number plates.

Adam was secretly delighted.

And Arsen swallowed his saliva as he confirmed that Baedobin did not raise his number plate.

1)Christie’s follows the British tradition of auctioning.

The auctioneer conducts the auction from a high place to assert his authority.

The auctioneer has the right to bid, so the auctioneer’s discretion, sense, and charisma are important.

Christie’s established a professional education institution in 1978 and taught art history, appraisal, and art administration to train auctioneers, and sold numerous works by leading the auction.

Christie’s most successful auction case is Vincent van Gogh’s , which was sold for $82.5 million at Christie’s New York auction in 1990.