Old-time musicians

After Dupont left, Fanning opened the drawer, took out the "Old Hoffman Interpretation Manual" which was thicker than a brick, and put it at hand. Google search reading

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". 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 the ancient Hoffmann language such as the "Taxonomy of Echoes", "The Inspired Revelation of Janus", and "Translation of the Seven-Light Sermon" in the bookcase to find information on some of his recent confusions. .

[Writing this, I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network→𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞]

"Mysticism is really vast. I don't know how much effort it will take to read it systematically in the future." Fan Ning sighed.

For other, more in-depth documentation, which required learning Tulungarian, Fanning was ready to turn to Sheeran.

The study time flew by, and it was 5:30 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 for sleeping, 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 seventh century of the New Calendar. They were awarded the hereditary viscount title by the empire and managed a county when they were most prosperous. According to Lord Nehemiah's statement, his family's real power should be greatly reduced, but it still holds a seat in the local upper house of Ufranser and owns its own small industry and land.

"Joan was born into such a prosperous and harmonious family, no wonder she developed such an optimistic character."

She and Sheeran huddled together in the corner of the carriage, listening to Fan Ning chatting with her father for a while, and whispering intimately to Sheeran for a while.

Afterwards, Lord Nehemiah raised some topics in the art field 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.

Is this the place where Mr. Anton bought the fragments of the sound series? But today’s auction is dominated by oil paintings rather than antiques.

Fan Ning looked at the environment along the way: brown painted wooden walls, bright gas lamps, 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 defended herself in her heart, "I was chatting with your father only after I was ready to receive the money."

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 risen to power now." Lord Nehemiah questioned, "The proportion of their descendants studying art in the academy 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 Nissime smiled and said, "Carlon, you are really interesting. Did you come up with this idea?"

"It was my father Vincent."

"So do you have any directional suggestions? Would you rather suggest that I collect the classical style or the recently popular romantic pastoral style?"

Fanning thought for a while and said, "I am not optimistic about contemporary painters painting classical style; romantic works need to be analyzed in detail, I will remind you when the time comes; finally, I suggest you pay more attention to the new "suggestive" style works, and you can decisively buy them if the price is right."

"Oh?" Lord Nissime said in surprise, "You are so optimistic about the "suggestive" style?"

"Of course." Fanning's tone was very confident.

He knew very well that the "suggestive" style that appeared in this world in recent years was very close to the budding of impressionism in the previous life! Some works are quite close to the styles of Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and others in the early days of impressionism.

In the previous life, this kind of work was initially ignored and was excluded by the traditional academic school, but the market price later rose to the point that humans themselves could not understand it!

The current "suggestive" style is in a period of being excluded by several art academies with royal backgrounds in the empire.

It only has the opportunity to be displayed in some small galleries, auction houses or private art galleries.

If Fanning can pay off his debts and have some spare money, he will definitely invest in a few bargains!

Lord Nisimi joked: "In the past ten years, the market value of "suggestive" 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 Fanning so confident, and the previous chat was quite speculative, he laughed again: "But I believe in your vision, I will pick a few later."

Fanning smiled lightly: "The difference between investors and collectors is that one is only looking for money, while the other is looking for the painting genius of his own time and personally witnessing the history of art."

He blinked and added: "Of course, the latter often gets more money in the end."

In the venue, several people were arranged to sit in the luxurious private room on the second floor. The light here is slightly dim, and there are partitions that can be adjusted by themselves to fully protect the privacy of distinguished guests.

Joan took the hot towel handed over by her father's butler, wiped her hands, and began to sweep the cakes and special snacks on the table, and kept asking Carloen and Hiram to be polite.

Lord Nissime shook the amber liquid in the wine glass, closing his eyes and sipping from time to time.

The auction officially started at 7 pm. After a period of time, Lord Nissime tried to participate in the auction 5 times at Fanning's instruction. Among them, there were 2 works of contemporary painters in romantic style, which were bought at a price of 80 pounds and 180 pounds.

Lord Nissime was surprised to find that Fanning not only had a sharp vision and accurate analysis, but also made bidding suggestions very quickly and accurately, and gave up decisively.

It not only avoided the unnecessary "you promote me" with competitors, but also saved his own funds to the greatest extent.

"Carlon, how did you do it?"

"Analysis of content and technique is one aspect, and 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 have to estimate the proportion of the artist's willingness to sell products to the supply of similar creations in the market... This requires some industry experience."

Fanning chewed a fried fish ball lightly.

"This guy should reopen his Turner Art Museum and become an art critic or collector. Damn, it's a waste of talent for him to go into the music industry." Lord Nisemi admired and regretted it secretly.

"Dad, I'm going to go outside for a while." Joan stood up and acted coquettishly to her father in a soft voice.

"Joan, where are you going?" Sheeran asked.

"I'll be back after taking a breath. You stay with my dad and Carlon."

"Go, little darling. There are a lot of new things everywhere in the auction house. Be careful not to break anything." Lord Nisimi waved his hand lovingly and casually. He must be used to his daughter's behavior.

"Okay~"

"Joan can't sit still. I don't know how she practiced her flute and violin." Fanning watched Joan's back leave and laughed in his heart.

He still leaned leisurely on the sofa, eating fried fish meatballs one by one.

While chewing, he suddenly stopped.

"No, isn't this...?"

He took out his pocket watch and opened it. The time pointed to 7:45 in the evening!

"Impossible???"

Fanning closed the pocket watch with a "snap", his face full of disbelief.

"Joan, you?..."

The underground knowledgeable gathering mentioned by the gray-clothed man who was killed by him was exactly at 8 o'clock in the evening in the warehouse next door!