315. Virtue and Sorrow - Two European Ladies

Author: Hao Xifeng

315. Virtue and Sorrow - Two European Ladies

In the 19th century, Drouot auctions were still very casual. Before acquiring this land 14 years ago, all auctions were held in rented venues.

Ingres was the highlight of this event. Even if the huge number of paintings occupied all the exhibition halls of the association, it would not be enough. As a green leaf, the auction of the Marquis Avery had to be held elsewhere. Finally, after coordinating with the court across the street,

So I found a court and made do with it.

The venue still retains the basic layout of a courtroom.

In the middle is a dividing fence, part of which has removed the benches and replaced them with rattan chairs to accommodate the audience attending the auction, while the other part retains the court's large horseshoe table and is covered with dark green velvet to display the auction items.

.

The French auction industry has a unique historical tradition, which is very different from the mainstream auction industries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, and has its own system.

The so-called auction company here is actually a loose collection of temporary offices run by auction appraisers and appraisers. The key is the legal appraisers at the core, who are responsible for all aspects of the auction.

Legal responsibility, and also the main organizer of the auction.

Therefore, if you want to become such a person, in addition to paying the most basic money, you also need a lot of time to learn and accumulate.

Behind the table, apart from the executive who was reading the auction documents, standing in the center was an auction appraiser over 40 years old, Bernard Burns.

He wore a black high hat, a black woolen robe with wide sleeves and a white fine linen pleated tie, which are the specific work clothes of a French auction appraiser. Compared with the auctioneers in the British and American systems who only focus on the auction itself, Bernard as

Senior auctioneers from the Appraisers Association also need to arrange police security to maintain order in the venue.

Next to him was a young apprentice who had just come here from Zurich to learn auctioneering, Gustave Paul, who was just 22 years old this year.

"Have the order of the entries been straightened out?"

"It's all straightened out."

"Where's the bottom price?"

"It's all taken care of."

"The price should correspond to the product."

"I see."

Bernard looked at the chaotic flow of people outside and sighed: "Go and tell the door to be quiet. Even if the Queen is coming, there is no need to be so excited. We are not the auction hall of the great painter Ingres, and there are not so many police to maintain it."

Order, if this continues, the auction will not even begin."

Although Gustave did a good job, he was not as calm as Bernard.

This was only the second auction he went to with his master, and he directly bumped into the Queen of the Paris fashion world, Empress Eugénie. But he was not calm but was more excited, a kind of excitement that yearned for the big scene: "Okay, Master

!”

Originally, the Queen of France's name would not be included in the auction.

But maybe Drouot deliberately postponed the exhibition time of this auction, or someone said something in her ear, so Eugenie came to the auction site with her "good sister" Elizabeth, whom she had just met.

This kind of situation is actually rare. If you find something you like in the auction house, the client or the captain of the bodyguard will bid on your behalf.

When other buyers see that the Queen is bidding, they will more or less give in. Reducing the Queen's bid itself is also a way of "paying tribute." This is impossible for everyone to know in Paris, where the auction industry is particularly complex.

This is not the most embarrassing thing.

The most embarrassing thing is that half an hour ago, someone saw them holding hands entering Angel's auction, and then they suddenly came here half an hour later.

In addition to other buyers around, there was also a young man who did not expect that the small auction he participated in would attract the presence of two beautiful queens of Europe. He met the two beauties by chance on the street, exchanged a few words and then followed

Behind them, surrounded by attendants, they entered the auction.

The young Gustav was excited that he could control such a scene, but a young man younger than himself appeared in front of him, and the step under his feet was higher than the auction booth.

After arranging the seats of the two distinguished guests with Bernard, Gustav became more and more interested in Kavi sitting next to the Austrian Queen: "Master, who is he?"

"He?" Bernard, wearing a monocle, lowered his head and reviewed the products again, and replied, "Isn't he a popular person in the newspapers recently?"

"Oh, I seem to have an impression."

Gustave obviously did not know Cavil, which aroused Bernard's dissatisfaction: "When you first came to Paris and told me that you wanted to be an auctioneer, in addition to accepting the 8,000 francs your mother asked you to send, I also said

What happened?"

Gustav has been tortured by such lukewarm questions recently, and he is keenly aware of the danger: "Well, this, haha, it seems to be"

Bernard looked helpless: "With a fickle personality like yours, you should be a businessman with higher profits, rather than an auctioneer dealing with art."

"Master, I'm sorry."

Since he has collected the other party's tuition for one year, Bernard will remain patient for one year. After all, it is not easy for apprentices at Drouot Auction House to graduate: "Listen, the French auction is under the sole control of our appraisers. International news,

Pay attention to domestic news, entertainment gossip, and even obituaries that no one pays attention to, otherwise how will you make money?"

"I've actually been reading newspapers and frequenting places like the Gallery Hotel, but I didn't pay attention to him." Gustav was a little confused, "Isn't he a doctor?"

"Why are you so stupid?" Bernard frowned and deliberately took off his monocle, wanting to take a closer look at how stupid his apprentice who had just been accepted for two months was, "Why do you need to read the newspaper?"

"It's to find customers."

“Who are our customers?”

"Artist, collector, entrepreneur, heir," Gustav understood. "Oh, I see."

"Doctors, real estate consultants, lawyers, notaries and accountants are often involved in debt, inheritance, bankruptcy and other cases, and they are very important sources of information." Bernard sighed, "We usually have to have a good relationship with them, not to mention

This is a surgical genius whose skills are astonishing."

"genius?"

"Where are you looking?" Bernard glanced at him, having already seen through his student's little thoughts, "You are an auction appraiser, and what you care about is the price of the auction items, their psychological activities during the auction, and money! And!

It’s not an unrealistic competitive fantasy where you have to compete with others everywhere!”

Gustave knew that he had committed his old habit again, so he nodded and said no more.

Suddenly a heavyweight came into the audience, which made the originally chattering crowd unify and salute the two queens one after another.

Eugenie originally wanted to occupy the frontmost seat in the middle and enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by ladies, nobles and collectors. But Elizabeth preferred to be quiet, so she thought twice and finally took her to find a few empty seats on the side.

"We have come to Paris. We should put aside those troubles and be happy."

"Well, I want to throw it away but I always think that I can't throw it away completely." Elizabeth said with a smile, "It's actually much better than in Vienna. If you don't believe me, just ask him."

The two of them looked at Kavi at the same time: "It is true that as Her Majesty the Queen said, just after the war, the Hofburg Palace seemed too serious and lacked the atmosphere of Parisian life. It would be better to wait a little longer."

Kawi, who seems to be at ease, is very close to the two queens on the surface, but in his heart he is repeatedly scolding mmp.

He didn't like to socialize. This time he wanted to finish shopping quickly and then go back to the hotel to rest. But when he met these two "noble people", things became extra complicated.

Social interaction is secondary, just the restraints on speech and behavior. Kawei, who has contacts with many nobles, can bear it. What is more important is the things at the auction. This is the auction of Oriental collectibles, and Queen Eugenie has thousands of collections.

Chinese cultural relics of Fontainebleau Castle.

Kawei has no interest in history. Before, he only knew that France had robbed many things, but he didn't know where they went.

But after meeting and briefly communicating, he was able to conclude that the queen with calm eyes in front of him was very fond of oriental art, and even specially built a Chinese pavilion for these cultural relics.

"I didn't expect Dr. Carvey to also like these things." The 40-year-old Eugenie had calm eyes, a very restrained smile, and her noble temperament did not distance herself from others. "It seems that today is not the right time."

Kawei secretly scolded the other party as an old fox, still maintaining the same rigid smile on his face: "I always thought you liked Master Angel's works more, but I didn't expect you to come here. If I knew."

"What if I knew?"

"If I knew, I would have prepared more money."

Kawei's answer obviously went through an ideological struggle, risking being disliked by the other party, but Eugenie smiled, and her smile was more charming than before. It seemed that in her eyes, money and things were just sudden interests in her brain.

And no is just an attitude of oneself.

"Elizabeth, he is really interesting."

Elizabeth sat next to Kavi, with two attendants standing beside her. She laughed after hearing this: "He is a cute child, but I personally prefer his talent."

"I'm not familiar with medicine, but meeting such a young surgeon opened my eyes." Eugenie said with a smile, "The doctors in the palace are all old men and lifeless."

The medical stuff passed by in a flash, and soon the three of them began to focus on the catalog and discuss their own preferences.

Carvey soon discovered that the chance encounter with Eugenie was not completely fruitless. The last queen of France seemed to have little interest in Chinese calligraphy and painting. She even used some books as waste paper for table legs, and scrolls were used by her.

Just put it randomly in a corner and don't care about it.

"I always feel that Chinese characters are very weird." Kawei deliberately started the conversation, "It's crooked and I really can't understand it."

"Indeed, I read their writing as if it were a heavenly book." Eugenie said. "There are many books in the castle, all of which are written in this kind of writing, and no one in Paris can explain to me what they mean."

"And they also like to leave a string of words on the painting." Elizabeth shook her head, "It destroys the balance of the painting too much."

"Actually, their paintings are also very strange." Eugenie showed a helpless look. "The colors are monotonous, the characters are simple, and most of them are just mountains and water. I really can't imagine what these painters wanted to express when they made these paintings.

Something."

"And there's a strange smell in those papers."

"That's fine. The key is that I don't know their meaning."
To be continued...