Van Gogh Reborn!-Chapter 230:

230

Sin and Punishment (6)

Jay Jopling slammed his desk.

“Damn it. Damn it!”

He had manipulated public opinion at various exhibitions, including the Art Nouveau competition, but this time he couldn’t exert much power.

Public opinion didn’t change overnight.

It was not easy to handle a task that required meticulous planning over a long time in just a month.

Moreover, he couldn’t talk about the works before the competition started, so Jay Jopling didn’t have many options.

He resorted to questioning Henri Marso’s character, but it only resonated with some insiders in Britain.

In France, where Henri Marso’s stock had reached its peak after the Marso Gallery shooting incident, he couldn’t get any significant response.

The Netherlands, where Damien Carter and Henri Marso had little influence, was not even worth mentioning.

He had no choice but to mobilize the media and experts he had been dealing with to criticize on the day of the competition, but that was meaningless.

People only enjoyed watching and , and they didn’t care what articles were published or what experts said.

They only had one day to see the two works, so they were busy experiencing them and sharing them with others.

‘He planned it from the beginning.’

Jay Jopling gritted his teeth.

He had to drag it into a long-term battle for the public opinion war to work, but Henri Marso didn’t give him any chance.

The duration, the conditions, and even the location were the worst.

The Netherlands, unlike Britain and France, did not have a large art market, despite being a country with a rich culture and art.

Jay Jopling had not included cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Damien Carter’s sphere of activity.

He had never worked there, so he couldn’t rely on his reputation.

Even if the British fans went to Rotterdam, there wouldn’t be many of them.

The more he thought about it, the more thoroughly calculated the schedule was.

‘He’s a cunning bastard.’

Jay Jopling couldn’t understand why Damien Carter accepted Henri Marso’s request.

‘He thinks he’s a real master.’

He was anxious.

He was afraid that the brand he had built, Damien Carter, would collapse.

‘If something goes wrong…’

Jay Jopling shook his head.

The sponsors he had brought in were of two kinds: those who wanted to legalize their illegally obtained funds, or speculators.

The works of the master Damien Carter, purchased at Sotheby’s in Britain, were attractive even considering the high tax rate.

He had been selling the works, so there were more people who wanted to buy them than the number of works, and the auction price was renewed every year thanks to Sotheby’s in Britain and his allies.

All of that was possible because Damien Carter was the best artist.

Today’s competition was not a problem of losing to Henri Marso, but a problem of making the buyers realize that Damien Carter was no longer a safe asset.

“Mr. Chairman, the members have arrived.”

“…Show them in.”

Jay Jopling clenched his teeth at the news that the members of Daemon, the sponsor group he and Jared Satchi had gathered, had come.

‘Those greedy bastards.’

They also knew how important today’s event was, so they came to pressure him.

When the sponsors entered the room, Jay Jopling hid his anxiety and greeted them with a smile.

“Nice to see you, Lord Remington. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jones are also here. And Mr. Wang Chen, long time no see.”

Jay Jopling spread his arms, but the Daemon members coughed and showed their displeasure.

“We’re not happy.”

“Ha ha. Why are you so upset?”

“Don’t you know? You must know what will happen if you mess up today.”

“There’s no reason to worry. Don’t you trust Carter?”

“Henri Marso, that young punk, has a reason to warn us openly.”

“He’s just a brat who didn’t get proper education.”

“How can you believe that! It’s been 10 years since you said you’d revise the law. How can we trust someone who only talks!”

Jay Jopling had promised to revise the capital gains tax to lower the tax rate to keep the buyers together.

If the tax rate was lowered, they could make more profits, so the buyers didn’t sell the works.

There were only people who wanted to buy and no sellers, so Damien Carter’s works became more expensive every day.

“This year is for real. Don’t worry and enjoy yourself while you’re here.”

Jay Jopling gestured to his staff.

Saturday, January 20, 2029, 7:30 p.m.

The world’s attention was focused on the competition between the two masters, which was about to be announced.

Anyone who visited the Boijmans Van Beuningen Master Exhibition could participate in the vote.

The vote was conducted by the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, with the participation of the French National Society of Fine Arts (SNBA) and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) of Britain.

“Welcome, dear art lovers.”

Alexandre de Mor, the director of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, was the host of the event.

“Today, two artists representing France and Britain have presented their new works at the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. Shall we hear their stories? Please welcome Damien Carter and Henri Marso.”

The audience applauded enthusiastically.

The host stood in the middle, with Henri Marso on his left and Damien Carter on his right.

“First, Damien Carter, you have presented a work called A Dazzling Life. Could you please tell us about it?”

Damien Carter smiled and grabbed the microphone.

“Today might be the day when another life begins for me.”

He spoke calmly, as usual.

“I have been dealing with jewels and death until now. Some of you said that I showed a strange image by placing meaningless jewels in front of death. And some of you said that I beautifully reinterpreted the negative meaning of death. I wonder how you saw it this time.”

“You have been using real jewels, but today you used glass that you crafted yourself.”

“It was a wonderful work. If I had known that I had such a talent, I would have become a glass craftsman.”

The audience chuckled at Damien Carter’s joke.

Jay Jopling suppressed his displeasure.

‘That’s right. As long as the gap is not too big, I can somehow manage it.’

He had prepared some excuses, such as Henri Marso had an advantage with glass, or one work does not define an artist, in case things went wrong.

“Then, Henri Marso, you have shown your second work with the title Breakthrough.”

Alexandre de Mor handed the microphone to Henri Marso.

The hero of French art looked around and opened his mouth.

“Today, you have experienced the same future as me.”

Most of the audience nodded.

Henri Marso was satisfied.

To him, an artist was someone who showed the world.

He shared his own vision with others and brought something that did not exist in the world into reality.

It could be happiness, sadness, beauty, or ugliness.

He loved the process of expressing the ideas that he could not say in words.

“Do I need to say more?”

Alexandre de Mor smiled at Henri Marso’s words.

He also deeply understood what kind of future Henri Marso dreamed of, so he decided that there was no need to add anything.

“Thank you both for your good words.”

A screen came down in the center of the stage.

“We thank you again for showing us your wonderful works, and we will announce the result of today’s competition.”

Alexandre de Mor showed the envelope with the result.

“There is no reward here, only the result of a competition that you staked your pride on.”

Henri Marso stood with his chin up, and Damien Carter smiled peacefully.

Jay Jopling frowned, and Go Soo-yeol calmly waited for the result.

“We will check the result submitted by 37,901 of you now.”

The host opened the envelope and checked the result.

He was flustered by the unbelievable result and turned his head to confirm with the staff who handed him the paper.

After confirming that it was not a mistake, he still could not hide his agitation.

“The result of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Masters Exhibition. I will announce it.”

The host’s voice trembled.

“The winner is. …The winner is Henri Marso with 36,113 votes!”

As soon as the announcement was made, the voting result appeared on the screen.

Boijmans Van Beuningen Masters Exhibition

-Henri Marso VS Damien Carter-

Henri Marso

(FR, 1995)

36,113 votes

Damien Carter

(UK, 1975)

1,788 votes

It was neither joy nor ecstasy.

Everyone who visited the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum and watched the live broadcast was stunned by the overwhelming gap.

“Is this real?”

Alex Wood, who was broadcasting the announcement, exclaimed in disbelief.

He also expected Henri Marso to have an edge, but he could not ignore the reputation that Damien Carter had built up.

He was a contemporary artist that Britain was proud of, and he traded at the highest price per work among the existing artists.

He never expected him to sweep 95.2% of the total votes against such an opponent.

Jay Jopling was no different.

“…Profit.”

It was a result that far surpassed the worst-case scenario he had anticipated.

He couldn’t accept it.

“Ahem.”

Jay Jopling turned his head at the unpleasant cough.

The members of Daemon glared at him as if they were ready to tear him apart and kill him.

Jay Jopling, who had used them, lost his color.

They were not just rich people.

Half of the buyers were involved in criminal organizations, and he knew very well what consequences would follow if he incurred their wrath.

“Wait. Listen to me. Yes. It’s a fraud. There’s no way that’s true.”

Jay Jopling panicked and grabbed them, but it was useless.

The Daemon members shook off his hand and warned him.

“You’ll have to pay for this.”

“Calm down first. Now, wait. Wait. President Jones?”

“Let’s pretend this never happened.”

“Listen to me. Ah, Mr. Wang Chen. Don’t you think something is wrong, Mr. Wang?”

“You Brits sure know how to stab people in the back.”

Damien Carter watched Jay Jopling squirm in front of the buyers on the stage and smiled bitterly.

It was the moment his dream, which he had sold his soul for, ended.

He closed his eyes and took a breath, then looked at Henri Marso.

He smiled at the young artist who looked down at him with his chin up.

“You won.”

[The Ugly Face of the British Art World]

British Sotheby’s involved in money laundering

Damien Carter’s works traded through ghost companies

Testimony of Simon Chevalson, president of SNBA

Damien Carter (54), the representative artist of British contemporary art, was caught in a situation where he colluded with British Sotheby’s to deliberately raise the auction price.

, which was sold for 50 million pounds at the British Sotheby’s auction in 2010, was the beginning of Damien Carter’s myth.

At that time, Damien Carter, who was an unknown artist, received the sponsorship of Daemon, a support group formed by Jared Satchi and Jay Jopling, and presented .

, which caused controversy at the time for using real human skulls and 200,000 pounds worth of jewels, was sold to Jay Jopling, the vice president of Signalwatch Co. at the time, through a fierce auction process.

, which is still praised as a work that made a poor artist rise to the master of the art world, was found in Damien Carter’s studio on the 15th, after being missing for 19 years.

[Picture of Damien Carter’s studio]

In Damien Carter’s studio, located in London, there was a contract that promised a high commission to British Sotheby’s in return for setting the starting price of the auction at more than 3 million pounds, along with , which was sold 19 years ago.

[Part of the contract between British Sotheby’s and Damien Carter]

Peter West, the auctioneer who handled the auction at the time, is currently refusing to be interviewed.

Meanwhile, Damien Carter’s studio was full of the remains of unsold works, raising suspicion.

(To be continued)

-Kim Ji-woo (Art Critic)

Right after the voting results of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Master Exhibition were announced.

Kim Ji-woo’s article was written in three languages: Korean, English, and French, and was posted on various portal sites.

Those who initially regarded it as gossip for the purpose of views confirmed the evidence photos included in the article and were shocked.

The moment the media and the public became aware of the accusations related to Damien Carter.

Articles that Damien Carter’s works were traded for money laundering purposes were posted one after another in major daily newspapers in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

The major news in each country reported the collusion between Damien Carter and British Sotheby’s as breaking news.

When the British tax office announced that it had received evidence and a complaint that Damien Carter, Jay Jopling, and British Sotheby’s had evaded taxes, the situation became uncontrollable.

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