Chapter Twenty-Four: New York Antique Shop Sweep

  Bring along Jill, the head of the administrative department of the farm, this guy is a British man, according to Al, he has also been in contact with some antique dealings before, and talent cannot be wasted.

  "Boss, I actually used to work in an antique shop before, but I don't really understand anything about antiques." Jill said when Gu Yu asked her on the boat.

  Guo Yu rubbed his head and said, "It's okay, we'll think of a way when we get to New York. We can take our time to find someone, with money, there's no need to worry about not having anyone give us work."

  "Of course, boss."

  This time Guo Yu set off, only bringing Jill this subordinate, after all now subordinates all have their own things to do, and he himself is just playing around, playing wherever.

  It's been a long time since I left New York, and friends have to move around frequently to get close. Let Jill send a visiting card and visit the Rockefeller family. Little John entertained him warmly.

  Kuo Yu asked again about Old John's physical condition, and Little John said that his father was in excellent health. This winter he had not been uncomfortable at all, they had a comfortable Christmas, and thanked Kuo Yu once more.

  Kuo Yu took the opportunity to express his purpose for coming to New York, hoping to acquire some European artworks and see if Little John had any friends he could introduce him to.

  Little John thought for a moment and said, "Guo, I don't know if you know the Colt family. They've recently had some trouble with their family business and need a large sum of money. It seems they're preparing to sell some of the antique art pieces in their collection. You can go take a look, maybe you'll find something."

  What great news, after saying goodbye to Little John, Guo Yu had Jill investigate some of the situation with the Colt family.

  The Colt family has been unlucky recently. The family's business in France was affected by World War I and is currently suspended, while a futures investment on Wall Street failed, severely impacting the normal operation of the family enterprise. Therefore, the Colt family plans to take out artworks for fundraising to get through the difficult times.

  After sending a visiting card to the Colt family, Gu Yu waited quietly for a response.

  The next day was a good weather, Guo Yu led Jill to visit several large antique art shops in New York, hoping to gain something.

  "'Mr. Pist's Art Gallery' is a very artistic name, but he's just a salesman, giving it an artistic name is just to elevate his own taste." Jill said to Guo Yu, this was the antique shop where Jill used to work.

  As he walked through the old-fashioned heavy wooden door, what greeted Guo Yu was a feeling of being in a general store, with all sorts of things on display. A man in his sixties, wearing a single lens glasses frame, looked up from what he was examining and saw Guo Yu and Jill entering. The old man was taken aback for a moment: "Ah, is that Mr. Jill? You haven't been back here since you left."

  "Pisst, I don't want to recall my miserable youth, I really don't like seeing you old guy." Jill retorted, then turned around and said to Gu Yu "Pisst is a stingy and stubborn old man." The three of them could hear her loud voice.

  After exchanging pleasantries, Gill introduced his boss, Guo Yu, saying that he was planning to invest in the art and antique market and had come to take a look.

  Pist immediately became enthusiastic, picked up a navigation instrument and telescope and said it was used by Columbus, picked up a cane and said it was Napoleon's scepter, pointed to a table and said it was the table used by Franklin and others when drafting the "Declaration of Independence".

  Guo Yu ignored Pist's chatter and wandered around the house, although he didn't understand antiques and art appreciation, but he knew how to buy things. Some things that couldn't be verified might not be easy to deal with after buying them back, while texts were the best evidence. So this time Guo Yu came out, the main thing he bought was text-based things, such as notes, calligraphy and paintings.

  In a corner, Guo Yu saw a pile of books and walked over to pick up the top one. He gently blew off the dust on the cover, opened it, and began to flip through its contents.

  They are some practice sketches, and picked up a few more from below, basically all practice works and sketches, signed with English, French, Italian and so on.

  Guo Yu only knows English and truly doesn't understand other foreign languages, so he can't read the name above.

  "Mr. Pistolese, can you tell us about the origins of these sketches?" Guo Yu was very curious about so many sketches.

  "Ah, well, that was a failed investment. I paid top dollar to bring them back from France, but nobody here appreciates these works. They've been collecting dust for years now. If you're interested, I'll let them go cheap - two bucks a sheet, how's that?" Pissarro hawked.

  "Pisster, this is just a pile of useless drawing paper, not even worth collecting, you bought it back then for the price of scrap paper, two dollars per sheet, you have 20,000 sheets here, do you know what $40,000 can buy? At least a painting by Fran?ois Clouet." Gill retorted excitedly after hearing Old Pisster's quote.

  "Gill, you know, it's because I have friends in France who are into painting sales that I've been able to accumulate so many sketching exercises. Who knows which one of them will become a great painter? By then, these things will be worth money."

  "That's also something that will happen decades later," Jill said.

  "Mr. Pistole, I'm willing to pay $2,000 for these practice sketches, and there's another business deal I'd like to discuss with you, what do you think?" Guo Yu said after a moment of thought.

  Pisst thought for a moment and agreed to Guo Yu's price, after all, he had only spent $200 on these things at the time, and he was also uncertain whether these things would have greater appreciation space.

  "I agree with your price, what business do you have to discuss with me?" Pistor asked.

  "Although I don't paint myself, I love paintings and am willing to invest in these young or lesser-known artists. So I'd like you to help me acquire their works and sketches, and I'll give you a reasonable price."

  "I have a few names that I hope you'll pay attention to and collect their works, Vincent van Gogh; Pablo Ruiz Picasso; Winslow Homer; Henri Matisse..." Gu Yu rattled off a string of famous artists from later generations. There were artists from various countries, which would require Pistachio to take care of."

  Having settled this deal, Guo Yu hired someone to pack up the large pile of sketches and send them to the hotel, then continued on to the next art store.

  The second and third houses, although they had some gains, were not great. Guo Yu only liked a few things, and they were all Eastern antiques, including an Indian gilded Shakyamuni Buddha statue, ivory carvings, and other items that he didn't understand.

  In the fourth house, Guo Yu finally satisfied his desire to buy. As soon as he entered the store, Guo Yu saw that all the gemstone-like items, colored eggs, and oil paintings were in Russian style. Was this a Russian-owned place?

  It wasn't until I asked Boss Jack that I found out he had recently received a large shipment of Russian-style items, so he simply redecorated the store and changed it to its current style. As for the origin of these antique artworks, the boss didn't say clearly.

  Guo Yu was puzzled in his heart. Russia is still fine now, how can someone transport a large number of Russian artworks out? Are they also farsighted?

  Never mind, Guo Yu quite likes these exquisite art pieces, and they look real to him too. After all, there are not many people making fake antiques now, and Russian antique art is not very popular in Europe either, so there's no need for counterfeiting.

  Fabergé egg, made with exquisite craftsmanship, inlaid with jade and precious stones, and this is a set of eight eggs.

  Cloisonné enamel silver coffee pot, oil painting by Konstantin Somov and so on. As long as Guo Yu liked it, he would buy it directly. Boss Jack finally took Guo Yu to the warehouse and let him choose. In the end, Guo Yu counted that he had bought nearly a hundred pieces of antique art.

  Boss Jack was also very happy, although the value of Russian antique art is not high now, but the source is sufficient. Finally, Guo Yu and Jack reached an agreement that if there are any more fine Russian antique art pieces in the future, they will contact him and Guo Yu will buy them at a high price.

  Guo Yu is a big earner. For example, the Fabergé eggs that are popular nowadays cost around $400-$500 each, but in modern times, one egg can be worth $40-$50 million. A set of eight is even more precious and extremely rare.

  After wandering around New York's antique market for a few more days, Guo Yu finally received an invitation from the Colt family to visit their collection of ancient art. You said you would sell it, but instead you gave yourself an excuse and invited me to appreciate it, but Guo Yu accepted with pleasure.