Almighty painter

Chapter 1071 Transference (Second Update)

"I've kind of forgotten, what was that person's name again? He was the aesthetician who proposed the 'empathy theory,' I think he was German, and there was also someone who analyzed Greek columns..."

Ole recalled.

“Ripple,” the middle-aged man said.

"Hmm?" Mr. Kruger turned his face.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re referring to the German aesthetician and psychologist Theodore Lipps,” said the head of the buying department. “He has a book called ‘Spatial Aesthetics,’ which specifically analyzes the Doric architectural style in Greek temples.”

Ole stretched out both hands and gave a thumbs-up at the same time, indicating that the other party was indeed a professional.

Theodore Ripple.

The young man nodded. "Yes, that should be the name. My godmother said that he incorporated the psychological concept of 'empathy' into his aesthetic theory. He personifies the works of art, believing that the reason why Greek columns can embody an upward posture is because you put yourself in the column. Only when you personally experience as if you are in the column, or even as if you are the column, can you feel the unique joy in the process of aesthetic appreciation."

"This is probably what is called empathy."

Ole recalled that on the lawn of Elena's estate, his godmother said these words to the childhood sweethearts.

“Ripes believes that all aesthetic pleasure is a kind of pleasant empathy. Aesthetic pleasure comes from within; it is not the appreciation of a particular object, a painting, or a sculpture, but the appreciation of oneself. Like looking in a mirror, if we see someone laughing, we subconsciously want to laugh too—that is empathy,” the middle-aged man added.

“You’re a professional.” Ole nodded. “You’re a professional.”

"Like a narcissistic daffodil."

"That's what the young man said with emotion."

"If you gaze at something for too long, you will involuntarily fall in love with what you are gazing at, even if it makes you uncontrollably fall into the water."

"If you want to observe a painting and feel aesthetic pleasure, then you just need to look at it. If you want to fully experience a painting and feel the most intense emotional intensity, then you need to fall in love with it."

"Do you understand what I mean? If you want to defeat Gu Weijing, you have to think like Gu Weijing, and even at some point, *snap*!"

Ole opened his palm.

"You think you're Gu Weijing?"

The man nodded. "I think I understand what you mean, sir."

"I can tell you that for the past seven years, my computer lock screen wallpaper has been a work by Gu Weijing. He's very good at it."

Ole looked and looked, over and over again.

"First, copy it, then add dog poop. Don't look at Gu Weijing's work from the perspective of an enemy, but from the perspective of a friend. Only then can you love it and experience it."

“You were already the most senior professional. When you fell in love with him like Anna Elena did, then, I think, you held the power to truly destroy him.”

Mr. Kruger Jr. gazed at the middle-aged man.

He spoke in the voice of his godmother, or rather, in the voice of Anna Elena: "I suppose this is what they call empathy, isn't it?"

If you want to defeat Gu Weijing, you need to learn to think like Gu Weijing.

If he wants to defeat Anna Elena, he needs to learn to think like Anna.

Only intense love can give rise to intense hatred.

"Leave professional matters to professionals. In the realm of art criticism, you've already acquired the first weapon to defeat Gu Weijing, a weapon given to you by Anna Elena, who is an expert in understanding Gu Weijing. And now, I will give you the second weapon to defeat Gu Weijing."

"Ancient Greek mythology tells us that to defeat the Hydra, you must cut off all its heads at once and then cauterize the wounds with fire. To defeat Gu Weijing, you not only need to crush him in the critical arena, but also in the art market."

“I am an expert in this area.”

"The market follows financial laws; you don't need to speak, money can talk."

If you treat art as an investment, then speculating on art and speculating on stocks follow the same logic. If you want to drive up the price of a stock, you need to use a lot of money to accumulate shares on the secondary market, thus inflating the market price. If you want to drive down the price of a stock, you also need to use a lot of money to accumulate shares on the secondary market, thus inflating the market price.

For both bulls and bears, the stocks they hold in their hands are like bullets loaded into a gun.

For the art market, the artworks in hand are like bullets loaded into a gun.

Let me give you an example.

Andy Warhol is the highest-paid artist in human history, with many of his works fetching over $100 million at auction.

Then.

What would happen if a wealthy person suddenly faced a cash crunch and desperately needed money, so they put up a masterpiece by Andy Warhol for "1000 million" dollars?
Two possibilities.

In a booming market, people would consider Andy Warhol equivalent to gold, with hot money flowing everywhere and countless wealthy individuals waiting for an opportunity to buy a Warhol painting. In that case, the painting would be quickly absorbed by the market, a steal.

Another possibility.

Andy Warhol wasn't selling well, and people were already lacking confidence. This price only confirmed that, and... the whole thing crashed.

A painting originally worth $100 million is only worth $10 million, or worse, no one will buy it even for $10 million. It's only worth $5 million, $3 million, or even $1 million.

Once confidence collapses, it could easily turn into a game where collectors compete to see who can outrun their teammate, with the bear chasing after them.

There is no bottom to this decline.

It's not just a matter of that collector's painting depreciating by 99%, but rather a matter of all collectors holding Andy Warhol's works seeing their assets depreciate by 99%.

Therefore, in general, collectors and institutions that own the artist's work will take over the sale themselves, for example, by purchasing the painting through private negotiations, rather than allowing it to circulate on the market.

This is also very similar to the great battle between bulls and bears in the stock market.

Why is Impressionism so popular in the art market? Because there's been plenty of hot money. People have been speculating on it for 200 years. Americans bought it, then the French bought it, then the Japanese bought it... Wealthy people from all over the world have been buying it.

More money means more stability.

Even in a game of musical chairs, there's no worry about running out of people to pass the parcel to; manipulating the market requires considerable technical skill. Some artists' works have trading records spanning the past 200 years, showing a level of stability comparable to gold, and even outperforming it. Furthermore, the inheritance policies of some countries, such as France, offer significant opportunities for tax deductions and evasion, leading to numerous similar cases.

And some niche collectibles.

It's worth 3000 today, 30 million tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow, if the funds run away, it'll be worth nothing.

Of course, to prevent someone from suddenly dumping the painting, there are often a lot of agreements involved when buying paintings, especially from galleries, which can be quite complicated.

The Mas Gallery is a professional gallery; they have experts among their staff.

exactly.

Ole and his team are professionals too.

After much maneuvering and scheming, the two sides ultimately reached a point similar to the Battle of Trafalgar, where swords were drawn and orders were given—the British Empire expected every soldier to serve faithfully. In the chaotic battlefield, tactics and strategies had become ineffective, and the battle ultimately came down to a test of the training and basic skills of the British and French sailors.

Both sides are professionals, and their competition boils down to a battle of "momentum." Fortunately...

Money never sleeps.

There's no need for Ole to draw his sword and give the order; every gold coin will faithfully stay at its post. So, the competition boils down to the size of the funds available to both sides.

Back when Gu Weijing was at the height of his fame, Auerle dared to splurge; he was a freeloader, a philanthropic gambling king. This was akin to shorting Apple stock with leverage when the iPhone 4 was launched.

Ole used his own money to send Gu Weijing and Anna on a new private jet for their "honeymoon."

just now.

The situation is different now.

“Kruger Brothers Bank gave me a $2000 million line. We’re going to arrange for a buyer to come in privately and acquire Gu Weijing’s work.”

Apart from that painting, "The Magic Flute".

Gu Weijing's works have a maximum price of around one million US dollars, and that was before Hunter Bull made his move.

$2000 million can buy a lot of things.

And these works that Gu Weijing had previously made a lot of money from would become bullets aimed at Gu Weijing, destroying him.

"As for that painting, *The Magic Flute*—"

Ole stared at the multimedia screen, which had automatically locked, revealing the screensaver wallpaper: the painting that holds the auction record to date, Gu Weijing's most expensive work.

not enough.

Bullets alone are not enough.

He also needs a sufficiently lethal shell.

Not content with just firing his little pistol, Ole wanted to press a cannon against Gu Weijing's forehead and pull the trigger hard.

If I say—

Mr. Kruger Jr. gestured as if he were making a phone call to a collector, saying, "I'm giving that buyer a chance to walk away. I'll tell you roughly how much he'll sell me The Magic Flute for."

"The Magic Flute" is Gu Weijing's most iconic collection.

Its last transaction sold for $2000 million, pushing Gu Weijing's net worth to a "mythical" level.

Correspondingly, if Gu Weijing's price collapses, this painting could be worth only 200 million, or even less.

"It's hard to say. It wasn't purchased by an art investment fund or institution. Many factors influence the psychological price of such private investors, and it doesn't necessarily follow rational considerations," the middle-aged man replied. "If we were to acquire this 'The Magic Flute,' then we might not be able to acquire many other works, after all..."

after all.

Gu Weijing is no longer a cheap painter.

“If you insist on buying it, I’ll ask for 1000 million.” The middle-aged man had met the collector and knew a little about his personality. “To be on the safe side, it might have to be 1500 million. I think it’s hard to go below 1000 million. It’s not just about how much money you’ll lose; emotionally, collectors find it hard to accept that their assets have shrunk by half in just two months after buying the painting. No matter how low the offer, they’d rather hold onto it for a few more years and see how it goes.”

“Then contact him and tell him I’ll offer 2000 million.”

"Ole said."

He pulled out his checkbook and said, word by word, "To be precise, $2127 million. That's the price, right?"

Mr. Kruger Jr. was filling in the numbers word by word in the checkbook.

“I’ll give him a chance. I’ll pay for it myself, so he won’t lose a single penny, including taxes and the auction house’s cut, and he can sell the painting to me without losing a single cent. I think he shouldn’t have any reason to refuse, right?”

"Really buying?"

Do I look like I'm joking?

Ole countered with a question.

Many people present couldn't understand what was going through Kruger's mind at that moment. He was prepared to spend $2000 million to buy Gu Weijing's painting in order to smash Gu Weijing's plate.

Buying a painting for $2000 million and then "smashing" it. While it's not a simple analogy, how is it different from selling a $2000 million check for $1000 million?

This is like stabbing yourself in the back first, and then stabbing Gu Weijing in the back.

Is Mr. Kruger Jr. practicing "Heaven and Earth Coexisting" here like crazy?

“I’ve already said, this isn’t about the money at all.” Ole folded the bank check in half and put it in his pocket.

"This is purely...a personal grudge."

"Ole said."

"Go and contact them."

“Okay, but I must make it clear that the collector will almost certainly sell, but we may not be able to buy it,” the middle-aged man added.

"The same goes for the other works."

"Masse Gallery is a top gallery in Europe, and it's impossible for them to dump shares without anyone noticing. Once we make a move, even if we arrange buyers privately, they will immediately know what we're up to once the funds start flowing in."

We're all ancient foxes, so let's not try to play the ghost story game.

"After all, this is their home turf, and at the same price, the gallery will most likely have a right of first refusal in the contract."

There won't be only one buyer, Ole.

This is a tug-of-war, with one end of the rope held by Ole and the other by the Maes Gallery.

Ole wanted to buy it by force.

As long as there's money, the Maes Gallery can pull through. It's widely rumored that several times in the last century, when European painters were on the verge of bankruptcy, it was the buyers from major galleries who stepped in and used large sums of money to save them.

"Then let's give them to them."

Ole smiled.

“They’re all the same,” he said. “I buy them, I buy them at the Hermès Gallery, I buy them from the Irina family, they’re all the same.”

This is a contest of who has more money.

Ole's goal was to squeeze every last penny out of Gu Weijing and the money around him. Whether he dumped the stock or Gu Weijing sold everything he owned to force the money out of him, the effect would be about the same.

(End of this chapter)