Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 187: Terms of Return of Artifacts (4)

Angelica laughed while asking, “You do know how big ten million dollars is, right?”

“Of course. Do you think I asked without knowing that?” Haejin asked back.

Angelica looked into his eyes as if searching for an answer.

“Is there really such an artifact in here?”

“I was just asking. If there is…”

“Then it would be great, both for Harvard and this great country.”

Angelica then smiled and looked away.

Haejin also smiled and talked about it no more.

He had cast the bait, so it was up to her to take it or not.

Fina kept examining the painting, so Haejin brought a chair and waited on it. After about an hour…

Finally, Fina exclaimed, “Wow… this is Klimt’s painting!”

Fina looked at Klimt’s signature on the lower part of the frame. Then, she looked at Haejin with excitement.

Actually, Haejin didn’t think it was from Klimt when he saw it for the first time.

He just wondered whose painting it was, but there was no signature on the painting itself or at the back of the frame, so he used magic.

But then, he saw Klimt’s face which he had seen on a photo before.

His face was easy to recognize. It had less hair, but it still looked strong and somewhat cute at the same time.

He liked to leave his signature at the lower part of his work where people didn’t usually look, so Haejin could use it as proof to claim the painting was Klimt’s.

“This is really Klimt’s painting? But his paintings are…”

Angelica couldn’t finish that sentence, but both Haejin and Fina knew what she wanted to say.

Fina carefully put the painting down and said, “It might surprise you, but paintings in his early and middle times mostly use the style of art from that period. The paintings created during his boyhood would make you think, ‘oh, the word genius is for this kind of men.'”

When you think of Gustave Klimt, you would recall the strong and unique world that was very different from the style of the other artists.

However, Klimt didn’t paint like that at the beginning.

He was a very talented artist. He was admitted to the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule, a school of applied arts and crafts now the University of Applied Arts Vienna, at the age of 14. After that, he had great success as an elite artist.

This painting proved Klimt had mastered the basic techniques.

“Interesting,” Angelica commented.

“Klimt’s paintings became different ever since he parted ways with the art world of that period and made the Secession group. Of course, we should be grateful for his change…”

“Then is this painting worth ten million dollars?” Angelica asked, and Fina looked at Haejin in surprise.

“Worth ten million dollars? Do you think this painting is worth that much?” Fina asked before Haejin could say anything.

Angelica then told her about what Haejin said previously.

“Mr. Park said it earlier on, what would I do if there was an artifact worth more than ten million dollars. Were you not talking about this painting?”

“Haha, if you were, Mr. Park, you are not good at setting prices as much as you are good at appraising paintings. Expensive ones among Klimt’s paintings are worth more than a hundred million dollars, but this one is not that valuable. You are wrong if all Klimt’s paintings are that expensive.”

Fina wasn’t happy to find out she had been tested. Therefore, she was angered and continued by saying, “Please don’t rush forward to a conclusion. This isn’t the artifact worth more than ten million.”

Angelica asked, “Then what is it?”

“Well, let’s see what I have next, shall we?” Haejin moved again and stopped in front of area D2.

“Here?”

Fina bit her lips at finding that she had been wrong again.

Haejin had spent a few hours at area B and never went back, so both Fina and Angelica didn’t bother to find out which artifacts were there.

However, Haejin had gone through area D only because all the artifacts there were from Asia.

It might have seemed fast to Fina as he was looked around for a few hours, but Haejin only had to give a glance at most of the artifacts to know how valuable they were. He had appraised a few of the good ones in slightly more than ten minutes.

Additionally, the porcelain he was showing right now was one of them.

In front of him was a snow-white teapot.

“This white porcelain teapot was made in the Song period.”

Making Fina work and find out on her own wasn’t funny anymore, so Haejin didn’t hesitate to tell them what it was. Fina was shocked and went closer to the kettle.

“They could produce such white porcelain in the Song period?”

Judging from the question and her expression, Fina didn’t know much about porcelains.

Of course, she had to be much better than students who majored in archaeology but studying both western and eastern art wasn’t easy.

Moreover, as Fina clearly had a strong white supremacy, there was no way she had studied eastern art deeply.

“This was made in Jingdezhen, home of Chinese porcelains. Porcelains this white are called Yeong Cheong(影淸). As its glaze is thin and glossy, its texture is similar to jade.”

Fina stoked the teapot while saying, “Yes, it is extremely smooth. And what is this head?”

“That head is from Fenghuang.”

“Oh! Fenghuang, I know it. It’s a mythical bird in China, right?” Fina made a guess. Haejin confirmed, “Yes. The four animals, Qilin, Turtle, Fenghuang, and dragon are together the Four Benevolent Animals. They are symbols of very noble people and auspicious signs.”

“Hmm… it is very precious.”

Fina was satisfied and stoked the teapot, but Angelica frowned even harder while asking, “That’s it?”

“Yes. You can’t be thinking that the three artifacts I have shown you are not good enough, right?”

Although the artifacts in the Henderson Collection were extremely valuable, the artifacts Haejin had found were good enough as well.

Even Fina admitted that, so she looked at Angelica confusedly.

“I agree with Mr. Park. The paintings from La Tour and Klimt are extremely valuable.”

She still had that European-centered mind.

Fina was probably thinking that the two paintings were much more valuable than a teapot from Asia.

However, Angelica’s frown didn’t go away.

“But you mentioned that artifact worth more than ten million! This teapot is a precious artifact and will draw attention when we exhibit it at the museum, but it is not worth ten million. You were talking about something else, weren’t you?”

“What if I was?” Haejin asked back.

“What?”

“That is why I asked you what you would do if there is an artifact worth more than ten million dollars sleeping here,” Haejin explained.

“I…”

She couldn’t say anything. So, Haejin just sat down on a pile of boxes nearby and said, “I’ve fulfilled my part of the deal. No one would be able to deny that even if you bring another appraiser.”

“So?”

Haejin continued, “So, if I find you an artifact worth more than ten million dollars only out of good will, it would be… unfair.”

Angelica crossed her arms and nodded, “Go on.”

“You and your colleagues must not have been happy with this deal as it was your president who decided on it. That is why I asked. What if there is such an artifact? What would you want to do with it?” Haejin asked again.

“That is a meaningless question. Just get to your point. What do you want?”

Angelica was smart, and it made it easier for Haejin to continue.

“There is a painting of Joseon here. Give it to me, and I’ll tell you which artifact is worth ten million dollars.”

“I have no authority to decide on that matter,” Angelica replied.

“I know. You must get your boss’ permission. However, I also know your president knows very little about antiques. He made it clear there would be no more deals…”

The first thing he had done after seeing that painting was finding out if he could make another deal with Harvard’s president.

However, he said that there would be no more deals.

Eunahe said he was returning the Henderson Collection not because he wanted to but because he was forced to, so making an additional deal would be insulting for him.

That is why Haejin had to make a detour and had to use Angelica’s greed.

“I cannot make it happen unless the president gives his permission.”

Haejin then replied, “Then I have no choice but to leave it among these countless other artifacts… or you might be able to find it if a good appraiser examines every artifact in this storage.”

If Haejin had made this offer earlier, Angelica wouldn’t have thought twice to say no.

However, he had shown her three artifacts, and now she knew how good Haejin was.

The paintings from La Tour and Klimt were shocking enough, and there was an artifact worth more than ten million dollars…

Managers of the museums tend to think that the artifacts in their museum belong to them.

Maybe it is the right thing to do, but sometimes, it arouses their greed and forces them into making bad choices.

That is the history of huge museums in America smuggling artifacts in the 1980s.

Angelica couldn’t let this opportunity go, either. She kept hesitating.

It was impossible to bring in a new appraiser and have him or her examine every artifact.

It would cost a lot, but she would have to take the sole responsibility if such an artifact didn’t show up.

“Please give me some time,” eventually, Angelica said what Haejin had been waiting for.

“My plane leaves tomorrow morning. You must give me the answer before this evening,” Haejin then replied.

“But that’s way too soon. Do you have any idea how busy this university’s president is?”

Angelica was losing her temper, but Haejin didn’t even blink an eye.

“I know he is busy, but it’s not like this matter would require a long conversation. It’s simple enough. If you want to exhibit a ten-million-dollar artifact, give me one painting from Korea.”

“What kind of painting is it?” Angelica then asked.

Haejin stood up and took out a piece of paper rolled crudely that was only a few steps away.

“This one.”

It hadn’t been preserved properly. If Haejin hadn’t found it, someone might have discarded it as trash.

“Let me see,” Fina said while taking it and carefully unrolling it.

It was about 80cm wide and 50cm tall. It was the painting of a chrysanthemum.

It was an ink-and-wash painting without any color, and there was a signature stamped on the empty part on the left.

When stamping the signature, since Chinese letters must be written in a small square, they look slightly different from their original shape.

Therefore, even people who know how to write their names in Chinese letter sometimes don’t recognize it when it is stamped, so of course, no appraiser in Harvard could have been able to read it.

“What does this signature mean?” Fina asked while pointing at the red letters.

“It is Man Cheon Myeong Wol Ju In Ong (萬 川 明 月 主 人 翁). In short, it means, ‘Everything of this world belongs to me,'” Haejin replied.

“Then…”

“The person who drew this painting was a king of Joseon.”