Chapter 72: Louvre Abu Dhabi (1)
“How are you going to make him give you a Degas’ painting? And wait, there’s a Degas’ painting in the Arab Emirates?”
“There is one now.”
Of course, Eric understood what that meant.
“Anthony. He sold Degas’ painting to Prince Sahmadi. Then, what were the other two?”
Haejin didn’t plan to hide anything from Eric, so he continued speaking.
“Two paintings from Gogh. One of them belongs to Gogh’s Sunflowers series, and the other was a painting of the riverbank with the sunset. The riverbank painting was Gogh’s very last painting, so it has great value.”
“Gogh’s very last painting?”
“Yes. It is especially valuable because it has Gogh’s last words to his brother, Theo. So, he sold two Gogh’s paintings at fifty million dollars to Prince Sahmadi.”
Eric shook his head.
“How much does that old man have to earn with the paintings to be content… anyway, thanks. You told me what kinds of paintings there were, so I’ll find out the rest.”
Would that be enough? Haejin couldn’t help but think about the wail of the family which he had seen through magic.
“I heard Anthony murmuring to himself…”
Haejin couldn’t pretend to be ignorant and spoke. Eric immediately replied.
“What did he say?”
“I think he said the paintings were too good for ignorant Irish hicks… but I’m not sure.”
Eric crossed his arms and thought about it. He seemed to not have heard about the part about Haejin not being sure.
“Irish hicks… were the paintings’ previous owners from Ireland? Oh, can you explain me in detail about the paintings?”
“I cannot explain, but if you can stop in front of a stationary store, I will draw some sketches of them.”
“That would be great.”
They looked for a stationary store on their way, but they couldn’t find one until they arrived. Haejin had to tell Eric that he would draw for him later.
The place they arrived at was a huge building called Abu Dhabi Export Public Corporation. Prince Sahmadi probably worked here.
They went to the lobby where a young man was waiting for them. He led them to the top floor. In there, the white appraiser was waiting for Haejin.
“We meet again. But this is?”
He hadn’t seen Eric at Burj Khalifa Hotel, so he politely stopped him and asked.
“Nice to meet you. I am Eric Holton, director of Face Note. I wasn’t present at the deal because it was Anthony’s deal. However, I am very close to the appraiser Park Haejin here, so I came with him. Of course, if the prince doesn’t want me to be here, I’ll wait downstairs.”
The white appraiser looked at Eric for a while and turned.
“Please, come in.”
They went in. Prince Sahmadi was watching the three paintings he had just bought and smiled at seeing Haejin.
“Please, sit.”
The low, charming voice came from the prince. As he spoke in English, Haejin was surprised as he sat down. Prince Sahmadi also sat and spoke.
“I know some simple English, but I don’t bother to show it in that kind of meeting. Anthony Goldberg probably knew I know a little English. He just pretended to not know.”
He said simple English, but he was speaking long sentences with perfect grammar.
“Well… I am embarrassed by what happened earlier. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Park Haejin from Korea. I appraise artifacts and run an art museum.”
“You appraise and run an art museum, that’s interesting. Anyway, nice to meet you. You also don’t have to be embarrassed. Even if I hadn’t understood it all, Mat Vellin here would have told me everything.”
The white appraiser’s name was Mat Vellin. His name matched his looks.
“Didn’t you blame me earlier? You had to spend tens of millions because of me.”
Prince Sahmadi waved his hand and spoke warmly.
“Not at all. If you hadn’t told me the true value of the paintings, it would have remained as one of Gogh’s many paintings. As you know, I am rich. Although the price was high, I can afford to not degrade Gogh’s painting. I think I bought the painting at a reasonable price. I am also satisfied. So, you don’t have to think like that.”
He had spent more than ten million dollars than he had thought, but he was saying it was okay. Was his confidence made through the wealth of the royal family? Haejin had met a few wealthy people, but this kind of force was new.
“That’s good as I was worried. And, this is Eric Holton.”
Eric politely bowed at the prince.
“I am Face Note’s director, but I am more interested in paintings than running the company, so I collect paintings for my collection. I happened to meet Mr. Haejin here, and I introduced him to Anthony Goldberg. So, I got to follow them here from Hong Kong.”
“Oh… then Mr. Haejin is not Anthony’s personal appraiser. You introduced him to Anthony.”
“That’s right.”
Eric shrugged as if saying, ‘I did well, right?’.
“Actually, I don’t know much about Korea. However, I think I just got a very good memory about Korea today. I gave you that number because you greatly impressed me. I was shocked as if Gogh himself had come back from the dead to tell me the painting’s secret. So, I wanted to talk to you. But… Mat told me you want something?”
He didn’t believe about the exhibition contract, either.
“I told Mr. Vellin about the exchange exhibition between my museum and the artifacts owned by your country.”
“I’m aware of that. However, would that be enough? With your skills, I think you could have tried to sell Degas’ painting at ten million dollars… is the exchange exhibition worth ten million dollars?”
The prince’s eyes had curiosity in them.
“Actually, it was not only about that. I do want something else, but I don’t know if you can…”
“Tell me first. If it’s something I can do, I’ll do my best to help you.”
Usually, when provoked like this, people would get mad or redden their faces, but the prince remained calm. It was impressive.
“I know that a huge museum just opened here in Abu Dhabi.”
“You mean the Louvre Abu Dhabi?”
Arab Emirate’s Louvre Abu Dhabi was the first international branch of France’s Louvre Museum.
It was an awesome building. Its exterior alone was enough to make your jaw drop.
“Yes.”
“I don’t think you want to look around the museum. Do you want something from there?”
“I know that there is an artifact of Shinra, an old Korean country, exhibited there. I wish to get it back, would it be possible?”
Prince Sahmadi was shocked, his mouth was wide open. Mat Vellin answered instead.
“We do not own that artifact. It is not about power. It is just impossible.”
The Arab Emirates paid 525 million just to be associated with the Louvre name, and an additional 947 million to loan artifacts from the Louvre for 30 years.
So, although the museum was in Abu Dhabi, the exhibited artifacts belonged to the Louvre. They couldn’t just give them away.
Of course, they couldn’t understand why Haejin was making such a request.
“Haa… it is impossible, just as I thought. I just wanted to bring my ancestors’ artifact back. You must know the humiliation and exploits suffered by weak countries.”
Prince Sahmadi nodded.
“I understand. I am also enraged about European countries exhibiting artifacts of the Middle East which they have stolen. If the valuable artifacts from Korea had been stolen, of course, you should try to get it back. However, I cannot help as it does not belong to us. I’m sorry.”
The prince was wealthy. Even Anthony couldn’t mess with him. However, he was apologizing politely to a stranger. It showed what kind of man he was.
“Hu… I understand.”
Haejin shook his head to show his disappointment and thought about how to get Degas’ painting which he had sold at a dollar, but then the prince spoke.
“Then, how about this? Although I cannot give you your country’s artifact, I will give you the Degas’ painting that I bought at a dollar.”
“Really?”
Haejin was wondering how he could get it without offending the prince, but he was offering to give it before Haejin even said anything about it. Haejin was delighted but also confused.
“Degas’ paintings are indecent. They won’t be welcomed here, especially for religious reasons.”
“Well… I guess that can happen.”
Unfortunately, Edgar Degas forever hated women because of his childhood trauma.
This is what happened. When he was young, his mother was having an affair with his uncle, his father’s brother, and it got busted. Edgar Degas’ father forgave her to protect the family.
However, Edgar Degas couldn’t forgive his mother. And soon, she fell ill and died.
That was hard enough, but his father couldn’t forget his wife and turned into a ruined man. Edgar had to watch all that. His anger toward his mother grew and eventually, he started to hate all women.
Because of that, his self-portraits were always full of emotionless expression and a sarcastic attitude with suppressed anger. He couldn’t love any woman till he died.
But strangely, his paintings were mostly about criticizing bourgeois snobs who thought of women only as sexual objects.
As he himself hated women, he probably thought he was different from those snobs.
“Met Vellin told me that the man watching the ballerina from behind is waiting to sleep with her after the show… with such a meaning, I cannot keep it and watch it.”
At Degas’ time, ballerinas were mostly daughters of the poor workers. So, after shows, they were forced to sell themselves to bourgeois.
It is thought that Degas didn’t look at those ballerinas as his hateful mother but as victims like himself.
“I see. Then, I’ll take it with gratitude.”
Haejin wanted to cheer, but he tried to keep a straight face. Then, the prince spoke again.
“If you are not busy, why don’t you stay here for a few days?”
“Oh… actually, I went to Hong Kong spontaneously and didn’t plan to come to Dubai, so…”
Haejin couldn’t say yes, not because spending two days in Dubai was a problem but because he was worried about the prince asking him a tricky favor. However, the prince continued speaking with bitterness.
“There is a museum we are preparing to open. It is as important as the Louvre Abu Dhabi. However, there is a problem. I think Allah might have sent you to me because of that.”
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