Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

The reason why Liang En was attracted to this tattered-looking sketchbook is also very simple, because it is one of the few auction items with a starting price of only four digits.

The biggest problem why the other party's estimate was so low, besides the lack of signatures on these paintings, was that not only did the entire book look tattered, but the painting style of the several paintings inside didn't look like they were painted by a single person. It felt like it was abandoned. excercise book.

"Ah, I finally found you." Just as Liang En was looking at the notebook in the cabinet, a familiar middle-aged male voice came from behind. Liang En turned his head and saw that it was Bruce standing there.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Bruce." Liang En shook hands with him, and then asked, "Did you invite me here for something?"

"I heard that an ancient Egyptian painted coffin from a certain important figure will be auctioned at this auction, so I want to buy this coffin." When Liang En asked, Bruce said directly.

"Because I recently plan to develop a hotel near Sharm el-Sheikh, an important tourist city in Egypt, I want to increase my business stakes by donating cultural relics."

The main reason why Bruce dared to speak so frankly to Liang En was that his idea was considered an open secret in the circle.

Therefore, there is no risk in speaking out at this time, but it will help bring the relationship between the two parties closer.

In fact, Bruce has been trying to collect cultural relics related to ancient Egypt since more than half a year ago. It was a pity that the things he had collected before were not of high quality, so after hearing the news this time, he personally participated in the auction.

But the problem is that the organizer of this kind of auction only provides a platform and cannot guarantee the authenticity of the auction items. That's why Bruce thought of inviting Liang En to participate.

"Why didn't I see the coffin?" After hearing what Bruce said, Liang En asked curiously, because he had not seen the coffin since he came in.

"After all, many people are taboo about coffins, so the painted coffin is now placed at the bottom of the cabin and will not be transported up until an hour before the auction." Bruce explained.

"To be honest, I'm quite taboo about that kind of thing. If I really couldn't find anything else related to ancient Egypt, I wouldn't have bought this coffin."

"Okay, I understand." Liang En nodded, and then promised, "I will try my best to help you identify what that thing is."

After talking about the business, Liang En asked about the sketch book. As a result, Bruce told him that the sketchbook was brought by a local rich man, saying that it came from a bankrupt gallery.

Other than that, the information everyone knows is that this book has a history of about 100 years, and the artistic level of the sketches on it is very high.

"Actually, if this is an oil painting, appraisers can roughly figure out whether it is from a famous artist based on the painting style and content, but this is not the case with this pile of sketches." Bruce explained in a low voice.

"Because these sketches only depict some ordinary portraits or even some landscapes and still lifes, it is impossible to judge from the content who this thing actually belongs to."

"The main reason why this thing can become an auction item is because the identity of the person who submitted it is not suitable for rejection. At the same time, this booklet does have a certain artistic value."

Unlike the ordinary cultural relics trade, the art trade is very deep, so compared to the artistry of the work, the creator's popularity is the core that truly determines the value of these works of art.

In other words, even an unknown artist has reached an unprecedented level of artistic creation. But before he gets recognition, his paintings are likely to be worthless. Van Gogh is a good example.

But this should be a good thing for Liang En, because the sketch does seem to suit his eyes. So if the price is not high, he can buy this thing as his own collection.

In the following time, Liang En, introduced by Bruce, met a wealthy man who was interested in various antiques and artworks, and got several business cards with personal phone numbers.

In this way, when he finds something that meets the needs of these rich people, he can directly ship it. It is conducive to the diversity of his shipping channels.

While everyone was communicating, the time reached around 4:50 pm. The invited guests filed into a large living room below the ship's deck.

"Everyone, thank you again for taking the time to participate in this small auction." After seeing that everyone had arrived, a middle-aged auctioneer in a tuxedo walked up to the stage and bowed, and then said to the guests below.

"Because this is a private auction, we don't need to be so formal. In the following auctions, except for those auction items that have not been exhibited before, five minutes of appreciation time will be allowed for each item. The remaining items will be auctioned one by one. One piece.”

"Okay, let's get started now." After seeing that everyone had no objections to the auction rules, the auctioneer immediately launched the first collection.

"This is an abstract oil painting created by the American modern abstract artist Robert Lehman. The current reserve price is US$30,000. Is anyone willing to bid?"

"$50,000." A middle-aged man who looked chubby raised his hand. He was an investor in a gallery in New York, so he was very interested in the works of this leader of modern art.

However, this price also made other people who originally planned to bid give up bidding, because US$50,000 for this kind of small work is close to the limit, and it is obviously not worthwhile to increase the price.

"Congratulations, Mr. Cohen." After waiting for a few seconds and finding that no one else was bidding, the auctioneer immediately dropped the hammer to confirm the transaction, and then a waiter placed the painting next to Mr. Cohen.

In a regular auction, this is completely impossible. But this auction is a private auction, so obviously it's convenient and there aren't too many rules to follow.

The next two items for sale were a diamond ring from the early 20th century and a not-so-famous Japanese samurai sword. They were sold after only bidding once or twice.

Finally, it was the turn of the sketching exercise book that Liang En had been eyeing before to be auctioned. However, because the appearance of this thing was so bad, the fierce auction that Liang En had imagined before did not exist at all.

After calling the price twice, and after the price increased from US$5,000 to US$7,000, another middle-aged man competing with Liang En chose to give up, obviously not wanting to bother with this junk.

"Can you tell me what the features of this sketch exercise book are?" Bruce asked in a low voice after seeing the waiter bring the notebook down. He didn't think Liang En would just buy a sketch book of little value.

"Because I think the content of the painting above is very vivid." Liang En said in a low voice, "Although I don't know who painted it, but someone with such skill should not be unknown."

Although Liang En did not know what this painting was before using the card, he also knew that if it was a good piece of art, it should give people a sense of beauty, and now this painting gives Liang En the right feeling. That's right.