After two appetizers, the auction ushered in the much-anticipated highlight.

When the staff brought up the third one, the auctioneer said, "Next is Pablo. Picasso's "Woman with a Hat", we have a starting price of 2.3 million."

"2.4 million!"

As soon as the auctioneer's voice fell, someone called for the price.

The auctioneer shouted: "2.4 million, is there anything else to add?" ”

"2.5 million!"

"2.6 million!"

After raising the price by 100,000 three times in a row, many people who originally wanted to try to make a move were silent and did not squeak.

The auctioneer kept shouting: "2.6 million, 2.6 million, good, 99 plate bid 2.7 million, 2.75 million, 2.8 million, 2.83 million, 2.85 million, 2.88 million, 2.9 million, 2.95 million, 3 million."

After someone picked it up, the auction price rose all the way to 3 million.

Then the price was fixed here again, and it didn't move, no matter how much the auctioneer agitated, but everyone had their own price for the painting.

Although this painting is by Picasso, its fame is not particularly prominent, and many people are waiting and watching, hesitating, and then choosing to give up.

Obviously, the 3 million exceeded the expectations of the buyers and collectors in the market.

Just when the auctioneer shouted the price three times in a row and was about to drop the hammer, the telephone commission seat on the right raised the number plate, and a staff member asked for the phone customer: "Can I increase the price by 5,000?" ”

Everyone was stunned, including the auctioneer, and there was such a price increase?

The auctioneer confirms and asks, "How much?" ”

The staff said, "5000." ”

The scene suddenly seemed a little lively, and everyone was talking about it.

The auctioneer is very literate and immediately shouted out the latest price: "3,000,5000, is there anything to increase the price?" ”

The price is here, and it can no longer be called, and the final transaction price is fixed at 3,005,000.

Meng Qingshui asked him in a low voice: "Can the latter be added like this?" ”

"Logically speaking, you can't increase the price like this, but the auctioneer has that authority," Lu explained. ”

The fourth painting is Kamiye. Pissarro's "Bazinkul Laundry Pool" had a starting price of 1.5 million, and after a series of bids, the final transaction price was fixed at 2.38 million.

The fifth painting is by Claude. Monet's "Steps", which is the highest starting price of the painting, is 2.5 million, and many buyers are coming to him.

Sure enough, as soon as "Steps" was put on auction, the on-site bidding situation had completely different changes than before, not only did there be more bidding number plates, but the intensity of bidding was not comparable to the previous 4 paintings.

When the auctioneer introduced: "Our starting price is 2.5 million. ”

Then immediately raise the sign below: "2.6 million!" ”

"2.7 million!"

"2.8 million!"

"2.9 million!"

"3 million!"

"3.1 million!"

"3.4 million!"

rushed all the way, and the price reached 3.4 million in one go, and many people behind this scene were dumbfounded.

It's so fast!

In the blink of an eye, before he could react, he rushed up to almost 1 million.

However, the price seems to have ushered in the first hurdle here, and the buyers who are not strong can not be called here, and they begin to die down.

Then a lot of the real bigwigs who hadn't bid before began to appear.

The first to break this price barrier was a Macao collector, which was directly increased to 3.5 million.

Then a blonde foreigner followed up with a card, 3.55 million.

Not to be outdone, the other bigwigs raised their cards one by one.

Half an hour later, the price broke through 4.4 million like a rocket!

The auctioneer shouted: "4.4 million!" This is the asking price of Mr. Sun at No. 157 in the rear area. ”

Listen, the auctioneer personally called Mr. Sun, thinking that this person used to be a frequent visitor to the Sotheby's auction house, and even the auctioneer knew him.

Of course, if you can let the auctioneer say Mr. Sun, that is a symbol of strength, otherwise these unprofitable people will be so kind and enthusiastic?

However, the price is almost close to the ceiling here, and the number of people asking for the price has suddenly decreased.

No. 103 discussed with his daughter, and at the end he raised the card: "4.5 million!" ”

added 100,000 in one breath again, which is intended to tell everyone that he is going to decide on this painting.

The lady in the black dress No. 89, who had been with him, thought about it, did not raise her card again, but set her goal on the final "Eternity".

At this moment, whether it is buyers from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, or foreign collectors, the scene is silent, and it is obvious that the mind is similar to that of Ms. 89, and they have left their efforts on today's final painting, and did not bid again.

After all, there are many, many famous works of Monet, and this "Steps" is not the top among all his works, so there is really no need to make a big move.

Eternity, on the other hand, is considered by many peers and collectors to be a work that can be recorded in the history of art, and it is a new concept that has made an important contribution to the development of the entire art industry.

In other words, this painting is not only Lu An's debut work, but also his representative work, the cornerstone work of his innovative ideas, a benchmark, a symbol, both of great artistic value and historical value, of great significance.

The more famous Lu An became in the future, the greater the collection value of this sermon painting, which can be regarded as a "unique product" in a certain form.

The reason why Yu Guanzhi and Chen Quan did not mark the starting price too high and chose to mark it under "Steps" and "Woman with a Hat" was due to two considerations:

First, Lu An is a newcomer, and this price can have a certain protective effect on him.

Second, it is a kind of respect for artistic giants such as Monet and Picasso, and it also represents a humble attitude, regardless of the auction price in the future, but this move will make many peers feel good.

However, everyone who cares understands that Haibo Auction House left "Eternity" at the end of the finale, and its ambition can be seen.

But none of the people present felt offended, and it was understandable that they had come to today's art auction hall to a large extent with a desire to get "Eternity" more than "Steps".

With the end of "Steps", the scene ushered in a brief commotion, and then entered a dead silence, everyone held their breath and looked at the front stage, quietly waiting for the finale.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Yu Guanzhi suddenly walked over from the back door, and after whispering to Ding Chao, the latter got up and left the position and went to the front position on the left.

Wu Dan had a good eye, took the initiative to sit inside, and gave up the position next to Lu An.

Lu An asked: "If you don't sit in the front, why do you come to the back?" ”

Yu Guanzhi said gently: "Witness history with you." ”

Hearing this, Lu An was stunned and lost his voice.

Wu Dan asked her, "Your behavior won't expose Luan, right?" ”

Yu Guanzhi didn't explain much, but said two words very confidently: "No." ”

Wu Dan thought about it and believed her.

After saying a few words to Wu Dan, Yu Guanzhi turned his head to Meng Qingshui and Wu Yu and said, "I have arranged for someone to prepare a supper, and we will have a good drink later." ”

Lu An pouted: "I promised to have a treat, you will rob me of this." ”

Yu Guanzhi smiled beautifully: "I thought you would be very nervous, but I didn't expect you to even promise to go out for the celebration banquet." ”

Lu An sighed, "I'm really nervous. ”

Yu Guanzhi restrained his expression and said, "I'm the same as you." ”

Lu An looked ahead and asked, "What about Uncle Chen, what is your state?" ”

Yu Guanzhi replied quietly: "He is better than the two of us, and he has more confidence than worry." ”

Then she said: "But this is a good thing, in the past year and a half, Chen Bo has been with "Eternity" almost every day, getting more voices from the outside world, and judging the merits of the works more accurately than us. ”

Lu An agreed, cheering up, "May we have a good night's sleep together after tonight." ”

Listening to these ambiguous words, Yu Guanzhi glanced at him and smiled silently.

The conversation ended abruptly, because after a long wait, "Eternity" finally met everyone.

The auctioneer looked around the crowd and said in a magnetic and comfortable voice: "Everyone have been waiting for a long time, don't worry, the final finale of China's first impressionist and contemporary art auction night is by my side at this time, "Eternity", it is a representative work of Mr. Lu An's mature style."

As the master painting of Haibo Auction House, as a painting carrying the ambition of Lu An, Yu Guanzhi and Chen Quan, the auctioneer introduced it in great detail, and spent two minutes explaining its particularity, history and artistry.

After singing the praises emotionally, the auctioneer said to the crowd: "Our starting price is, is 2 million. ”

Hearing the pause in the starting price, many people laughed and then competed to make bids.

There are so many cards that the auctioneer can't win for a while:

"2.1 million!"

"2.2 million!"

"2.3 million, 2.4 million, 2.5 million, 2.6 million, 2.7 million, 2.8 million, 2.9 million, 3 million, 3.1 million, 3.2 million, good, 3.3 million, 3.4 million, 3.6 million, 3.7 million!"

shouted countless bids without stopping, and at this point, the auctioneer had to change his breath, and then stretched out his hand to Mr. Hu in the back area and said, "4 million!" Hu bid 4 million! Thank you! Is there a price increase for 4 million, 4 million! ”

Mr. Hu deserves to be Mr. Hu!

Everyone is 100,000 and 100,000 plus, and this pot-bellied man jumped directly and added 300,000, which made many buyers who followed the trend and shouted just now frown.

Hearing that the bid soared to 4 million in less than two minutes, Long Yan was stupid, and Li Zaimei's eyes were shining.

Zeng Yuanye and sister-in-law Li Zhiyi glanced at each other, and as the wife of the King of the Golden Horn in Suzhou Province, they both felt that this world was too crazy.

Zeng Yuanye understands that this is just the beginning, and the good show is still to come, because there is a lot of stamina.

She smiled and teased her daughter: "As long as "Eternity" exceeds "Steps" and reaches 5 million, I will help you convince your father to allow you to fall in love freely." ”

Long Yan listened to the encouragement and said: "Let's move out the identity of my uncle, coax Lu An, maybe it will be done." ”

Li Zaimei is not so spring-hearted, "I have inquired, the owner of this auction house is called Yu Guanzhi, and now he is sitting with Lu An in the back." ”

Long Yan glanced back: "You said that Mercedes-Benz woman?" ”

Li Zaimei acquiesced.

Long Yan rarely sees her cousin like this, and she knows that it must not be simple behind her, but her mind is not all on Yu Guanzhi, her eyes are on Meng Qingshui and she says: "I wonder, why is Lu An surrounded by beautiful women, regardless of family background, if you are against this woman, do you have confidence?" ”

The more she got to this time, the more calm Li Zaimei became, "Aside from my family background, I will lose, she is studying at Shanghai Medical University, from Baoqing, Hunan Province, and the relationship with Lu An is obviously not ordinary, not ten or eight years, I can't make up for that kind of childhood sweetheart." ”

Long Yan was surprised: "Have you investigated?" ”

Li Zaimei said: "Knowing oneself and knowing the other is invincible, my brother-in-law has a relationship with Shanghai Medical University, and it is easy to obtain a person's information." ”

Long Yan asked, "What's her name?" ”

Li Zaimei said: "Meng Qingshui? ”

Long Yan whispered the name and asked: "There is Huang Ting in the front, this Meng Qingshui, and Yu Guanzhi in the back, so are you still chasing after it?" ”

Li Zaimei said: "Yu Guanzhi can be excluded for the time being, but I shouldn't come today." ”

Long Yan thought for a while and asked, "Are you afraid that Lu An will misunderstand that you are pestering him for fame and fortune?" ”

That's what Li Zaimei meant, so I've been regretting it today.

Long Yan is really interested in Lu Anke now, and can't help asking, "Then what should you do?" ”

Li Zaimei said: "Look at it, I made a plan for myself to chase him 5 times." ”

Long Yan asked, "Why 5 times?" Why not 3 times, they all say that everything is no more than three. ”

Li Zaimei said: "I am not at NTU, and I can't leave an impression three times. ”

Long Yan felt reasonable: "After 5 times, what if you don't catch up?" You're going to give up? ”

Li Zaimei was silent, and her eyes turned to No. 103 and No. 89 with everyone, and the pair of enemies were on the bar again.

Ms. No. 89 took the lead in shouting: "4.1 million." ”

No. 103 Chaoshan accent shouted: "4.15 million!" ”

Lady No. 89 held up a sign: "4.2 million." ”

Not to be outdone, No. 103: "4.25 million." ”

No. 89 raised the card again: "4.3 million." ”

No. 103 did not hesitate and continued: "4.35 million." ”

Wu Dan said to Yu Guanzhi with great emotion: "It's really lively, the fight is up, the fight is up." ”

When he got here, a foreigner looked irritable, and directly showed his card: "4.5 million!" ”

The auctioneer was happy and immediately shouted passionately: "4.5 million!" No. 72 is asking for 4.5 million! Is there a price increase? ”

A staff member of the telephone entrustment table held up a sign: "4.6 million." ”

The auctioneer immediately sang and said: "Okay, the telephone entrusted guest to bid 4.6 million, 4.6 million, 4.6 million plus the 89th guest 4.65 million, the 103rd guest 4.7 million, and the 72nd guest 4.9 million."

Lu An really wants to give this foreigner a thumbs up, it's so fucking cool to raise the price like this.

Noticing his expression, Yu Guanzhi quietly told him: "Guest No. 72 is from the United Kingdom. ”

Lu An realized that the fucking family's family uses pounds, and now the exchange rate is 1:12, and 4.9 million yuan is really not much for these rich people.

At this juncture of breaking through 5 million, the auctioneer didn't dare to stop, "4.9 million, 4.9 million, hey, it's back in the central district, and Liang is bidding 5 million!" 5 million! ”

This Mr. Liang is Liang Changhui, last time he wanted to buy "Untitled" for 5 million, but unfortunately Lu An and Yu Guanzhi did not sell it, which made him depressed for a long time.

In the auction just now, he didn't show his cards, just waiting here.

Seeing that the price had soared uncontrollably to 5 million, and No. 103 still wanted to bid, his daughter reminded: "Dad, it's past our budget." ”

No. 103 rubbed his temples: "I love this work very much, I may not come across it once in my life, and my intuition tells me that if I get it, I can pass it on as a wealth in the future." ”

His daughter said: "I agree with your statement, but 5 million can't take it, and any more will affect our business." ”

No. 103 looked at the enemy No. 89, then at Liang Changhui, and then at the gringos at No. 72, knowing that this painting was likely to be out of contact with him, but he didn't give up, and said in a deep voice: "Shout again, if it doesn't work, forget it." ”

The daughter couldn't bear to see her father like this, so she took the initiative to take the license plate: "5.2 million!" ”

Wow!

It's really brave, and you dare to increase the price like this at this price, and everyone looks at it together.

Lu An and Yu Guanzhi looked at each other and smiled.

But when the price came to 5 million, he was already very relaxed and asked, "Where do you think the auction price will stop?" ”

Yu Guanzhi thought about it for a while and gave a value: "It should be 5.5 million." ”

Then she asked, "What about you, how much do you guess?" ”

Luan said, "I'm about the same as you. ”

The auctioneer is a person who will come to things, with his left hand facing No. 103 and his right hand facing Liang Changhui: "Guest No. 103 bids 5.2 million, 5.2 million, Liang is always 5 million, 5.2 million, and there is a price increase, 5.2 million."

Mr. Lu now has only two peak works, one "Eternity" and one "Untitled", "Untitled" is said to be not for sale, it is said to be handed down, what does it mean? It means that "Eternity" is eternal and eternal."

At this point, someone asked the auctioneer, "Can I increase the price by 10,000?" ”

The auctioneer said, "Yes, yes." ”

Then shouted: "The telephone entrusted guests to bid 5.21 million, do the guests in the venue still participate?" ”

Hearing 10,000, Wu Yu said to Meng Qingshui: "It's all at this price, only add 10,000, if I definitely add it." ”

Meng Qingshui also thinks like this, many people think like this, 5 million are here, do you still care about 10,000?

It's just 10,000, isn't it?

Sure enough, the lady in the black dress No. 89 raised her sign again, "5.25 million." ”

The auctioneer said: "525.25 million, back to Ms. 89, 5.25 million, are the guests in the venue still interested, and the guests entrusted by phone still have a price increase, 5.25 million." ”

When I turned my head, I saw a sign in the back area lighting up, and the auctioneer kept answering: "Mr. Hu bids 5.3 million, thank you, Mr. Hu bids 5.3 million." ”

Liang Changhui raised his card again: "5.4 million." ”

The auctioneer began to sensationalize again: "Liang from Xiangjiang bid a total of 5.4 million, Mr. Lu An's "Eternity", the source is detailed, the publication is authoritative, and the department is famous, and the total Liang in the venue is 5.4 million, is there any price increase?" ”

When the price came to this, the people who were active just now slowly lost their minds, because it was already beyond their budget.

No matter what the auctioneer said, the guests on the scene looked tight, obviously lacking follow-up.

I asked many times in a row, and the auctioneer was experienced and knew that it was almost over, so he slowly looked around the scene and shouted: "5.4 million, the first time!" ”

After a while, he shouted again: "5.4 million, the second time!" ”

After another meeting, the auctioneer shouted, "One last time, 5.4 million."

Before the auctioneer could finish shouting, No. 72 raised his card again: "5.45 million!" ”

The auctioneer's face was full of smiles, "Okay, our No. 72 guest, bid 5.45 million, is there any price increase?" Are there any guests in the venue, customers who are entrusted by phone, and there is a price increase? ”

The No. 89 lady in the black dress was halfway up and put it down again, and her psychological price for "Eternity" was up to 4.8 million, which was beyond her affordable range.

The same is true for Liang Changhui, his ideal psychological price is 5 million, and it is already the limit when he calls 5.4 million.

But he looked at the foreigner, couldn't bear it, and raised the number plate impatiently: "5.48 million!" ”

Just when the auctioneer was about to shout the price, the telephone commission table also held up a sign, "5.6 million!" ”

Well, the price increase exceeded 100,000 at a time, and the unwilling guests on the scene suddenly relaxed, since they were no longer able to ask for the price, they were relieved.

Guest No. 72 wanted to hold up a sign, but he didn't know what his companion next to him said, and finally he didn't move.

The auctioneer couldn't believe that the painting could fetch 5.6 million, far exceeding the 4.5 million when he chatted with Chen Quan at that time.

At the beginning, Chen Quan told him: "After 4.5 million, our goal has been achieved." ”

But now, the fuck it's over 4.5 million, it's over 1 million.

The auctioneer shouted three times in a row and agitated three times, but the pin drop could be heard at the venue, and no one responded.

In the end, the auctioneer dropped the hammer with satisfaction, only listened to the sound of the "bell", and he announced: "Congratulations to the guests on phone No. 33, thank you, China Haibo Auction House 1993 Winter Auction, Impressionist and Modern Art Night Sale, with a total turnover of 15,485,000, a 100% sell-through rate, thank you again for your participation." ”

5.6 million!

5.6 million!

"Eternity" sold a record 5.6 million!

There were many people at the scene, and Lu An suppressed his excitement and hugged Yu Guanzhi: "It's successful, thank you." ”

Yu Guanzhi was also very excited, and hugged him back rarely, "We succeeded!" I have a hunch that the next time "Eternity" appears in the auction house, it may break 100 million. ”

PS: Ask for subscription! Ask for a commuter pass!

(Speaking of which, "Eternity" is a reference to top works of art, such as Monet's water lilies, so the setting is a lot higher than "steps".) )

It's too late, send it first and then change it.

(End of chapter)