Just as Li Du knew, both paintings were authentic. The results of the appraisal proved this point. All the experts' opinions were unanimous: these were the two lost Van Gogh paintings!
After the appraisal, they no longer paid attention to each other. Instead, they rushed to congratulate Li Du.
"Mr. Li, I have to say that you are a man that we are all extremely envious of."
"Not only are we envious, but there are definitely a lot of big collectors and collections in the world who are also envious of you. Two authentic Van Gogh paintings!"
"Mr. Li, are you interested in handing over these two paintings to Christie's? If they participate in next year's spring auction, I bet they will be stars! "
Christie's spring and autumn auctions were the world's grandest auctions. Every time, there would be the year's top bidders and record-breaking prices.
However, there were still three to four months before the spring auction. Li Du could not wait. He needed to exchange these paintings for money and buy shares in Harry Winston.
He smiled at the experts' congratulations and invited them to lunch.
Previously, he had asked Hans to help him book a hotel at the famous Golden Aquitaine restaurant in Flagstaff.
During lunch, the topic was still these two paintings. When the experts heard that he was eager to sell the two paintings for money, they started to rush to help him find a buyer.
In the trade of collectibles, intermediaries could also make a profit. Once the sale of these famous paintings, which were worth tens of millions of dollars, was successful, they could earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in intermediary fees.
Now that the initiative had changed hands, Li Du became the center of attention. The group of people almost praised him to the heavens.
According to the estimates of the two groups of experts, the more valuable of the two paintings was "Beach at Scheveningen." Although this painting was created earlier, it was larger and more aesthetically pleasing.
Especially the small grains of sand on the canvas, which added a legendary quality to the painting.
The grains of sand did not damage the canvas, but became a testimony of time and history. They accompanied Van Gogh to complete the painting. They blew along with the sea breeze. For collectors and artists, this kind of scene was too precious.
According to the two experts, "Beach at Scheveningen" was worth about 30 million dollars, while "Leaving the Church in Nuenen" was much cheaper, worth about 15 to 20 million dollars.
Van Gogh's oil paintings were very popular in the art market, so these two prices were nothing.
As early as 1987, "Iris" was sold for US $53.9 million, and "Sunflower" was sold for US $39.5 million.
In 1990, "Portrait of Dr. Gachette" reached a new high, selling to a Japanese collector for $82.5 million. In late 1998, "Self-Portrait without a Beard" sold for $71.5 million.
Now, "Daisies and Poppies" had appeared on the market again. Christie's was giving this painting a warm-up promotion. This painting would not be auctioned soon, but would be kept for later.
Professor Kevin and the others worked for Christie's, and they were the technical backbones, so they knew more than the outside world. They revealed during the meal that the auction house was very confident in the painting.
Li Du asked, "How much does the auction house estimate it will fetch?"
"The target is 60 million," Professor Kevin said.
Li Du grinned. It seemed that for the art collection market, money was no longer money!
The others could also grin at the price of his two paintings. The two paintings combined were worth at least 40 million dollars, which 99.9 percent of the people in the world could not earn in their lifetime!
Knowing that he was willing to sell these two paintings, the experts were no longer in the mood to eat. They were all using their connections to promote the two paintings.
They knew many collectors, collectors, and tycoons. In addition, they had many friends in related industries. These were all connections.
As long as they could get in touch with clients, no matter how many people they needed to help, they could still make money, and a lot of money. So why not?
Perhaps in the art collection world, money was no longer money, and tens of millions could be spent casually.
But no one was a fool, and money was not printed by a money printing machine. So it was not easy to sell the two paintings, at least not in a day or two.
Li Du collected the two paintings and settled the bill with the two groups of experts. Then he prepared to fly to Las Vegas to deal with the fire opals he had gotten this time.
In total, he had gained quite a lot over the past 20 days. A safe was filled with sparkling and translucent gemstones, among which there was no lack of treasures.
These gemstones could also be sold for a lot of money, which was no less than the two paintings. They could help him start to acquire shares.
He was eager to acquire shares because Harry Winston was in a difficult situation. A large number of shareholders were selling their shares at low prices, so it was a good opportunity to buy shares.
This was like buying a house. Now that the house prices were falling, many people would buy when the house was rising and not when it was falling. However, Li Du was different. He bought when the house was falling because he believed he could stop the fall.
Li Du had already determined his current development direction. He would first dig for opals, and after digging for opals, he would look for other gemstones. With enough gemstones, Harry Winston could definitely come back to life.
Knowing that he was going to leave again, Sophie was very unhappy. She held his hand and said, "We are going to be long-distance lovers. Darling, what should we do?"
Li Du comforted her. "I will make money first. When we are financially free, I will take you with me everywhere, okay?"
Sophie was a little conflicted. "Financially free? Actually, my salary is quite high, and I have a house. Should I sell it? That way, we can also be financially free. "
Li Du laughed dryly. "When I say financially free, I mean having hundreds of millions of dollars at my disposal."
With the gemstone harvest and the famous paintings, his heart had already grown wild.
Sophie thought he was joking and laughed. "Alright, alright. Go and earn your hundreds of millions of dollars. However, you must be careful when you go to Las Vegas this time!"
Li Du snapped his fingers. Brother Wolf came out from the corner of the wall and looked at him inquiringly. Li Du said, "Show the lady boss what you can do!"
Godzilla was beside Brother Wolf. Without any warning, he kicked Godzilla in the back of his leg and swept his knee across Godzilla's inner thigh.
Godzilla gasped. Inevitably, his legs bent and his center of gravity dropped. At that moment, Brother Wolf reached out and grabbed both of his shoulders. With all the strength in his body, he pulled Godzilla over his shoulder and threw him to the ground with a loud bang!
Li Du was shocked. "God, you are too violent!"
Godzilla was an honest man. He did not have any complaints about being treated so brutally. Instead, he spoke up for Brother Wolf. "It doesn't hurt."
Brother Wolf explained, "I am demonstrating Russian wrestling. I use skillful techniques to throw a person who is larger and heavier than me to the ground. However, the other party will not be injured and the weight is reduced to the greatest extent."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and extended his hand. "Lady boss, do you want to try?"
Sophie shook her head like a willow branch in the wind. "Uh uh, I think I'll pass. You are indeed a very good bodyguard. I am relieved."
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