Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 31: Fishing (1)

“That. The one employees are carrying now.”

Eunhae looked in the direction Haejin was pointing at. She then brightly smiled.

“That? That painting is one of the reasons I asked to see you here. You pointed it out the moment you saw it. Haha!”

Haejin only asked the price, but Eunhae kept talking, delighted. She encouraged the employees and had them hang the painting on the wall and started to promote it.

“It came here yesterday, actually. I once told you Manager Lee Jongmyeong is from Mirae Group, right? They got this painting and sold it at a low price to me.”

“Oh…”

Haejin went closer and checked the identity of the painting. He was very disappointed but kept listening.

“The lines are neat and delicate, and the beauty of the empty space coexists with the theme. How is that?”

It was a painting of a butterfly near a chrysanthemum, and the scene was very still. The wings of the butterfly didn’t move like those of an airplane and there were bugs crawling next to the white chrysanthemum.

Haejin would stop calling himself an appraiser if he couldn’t recall an artist when seeing his works; however, under the painting, there was an unknown artist sign.

“Good, but from where did they get it?”

Eunhae covered her mouth with her hand and whispered as if she was worried about someone else listening.

“They bought it from China. It was sent to Japan during the colonial era and was sold to China again. Mirae Corporate Group got it as a gift while doing business there, but he didn’t tell me exactly from who. Who do you think the artist is?”

Her eyes sparkled as she asked. She was waiting to hear the name of the artist she had in mind.

“It looks like Sinsaimdang.”

“Oh, doesn’t it? My appraisers have appraised it, too, and they were saying it might be Sinsaimdang’s. Although we are not sure yet, doesn’t the painting look too much like Sinsaimdang’s Grass and Insects? Her unique quiet and comfortable atmosphere, and the soft colors…”

“I see. So, what is the price?”

“Hm… can’t you wait for a while? The exact result of the appraising hasn’t come out yet…”

Eunhae was expecting the painting would turn out to be Sinsaimdang’s.

“But I have my result.”

“What? You finished appraising this?”

“Yes. Actually, it’s a fake.”

Haejin spoke quietly so the employees would not be able to hear.

Eunhae was shocked, her eyes widened, and she took a step back.

“Really?”

“Yes, I don’t make jokes about this kind of things. Why don’t we go in and talk? There are many listeners here.”

“O, okay. Let’s go in and talk. Oh… but should I put it away?”

“No. Keep it there for now and let’s go in.”

“Okay.”

They brought Eunhae to her office. She made an employee bring them tea while she gulped down cold water. Sujeong felt sorry for her and couldn’t look her in the eyes. She kept looking around and saying, ‘Oh, the interior is good’.

“Which part shows the painting is fake?”

The cold water slightly brought back Eunhae’s to her senses. She bit her lips and carefully asked.

“Firstly, the lines might look delicate, but if you look closer, they are over delicate. They are messy. Even the unnecessary parts were touched, so Sinsaimdang’s graceful mood isn’t there. Secondly, there is shade at the bottom part of the chrysanthemum flowers, and that doesn’t exist in the Grass and Insects.”

“But it’s another painting. The part with the shade is so small that we cannot be sure if it is really a shade.”

Eunhae protested. Haejin smiled and shook his head.

“Sinsaimdang’s other paintings don’t have that faint shade. Yes, it is another painting, but what I am trying to say is that the artists have different eyes of seeing the objects.

“Similar structure, similar objects, but different eyes. It means someone else painted it.”

Most would think fake paintings are imitations that are exactly the same as the real paintings, but sometimes forgers argue that the real artist painted something he or she didn’t.

For instance, Han Van Meegeren imitated Johannes Vermeer’s ‘The Girl with Pearl Earring’ and drew ‘the Smiling Girl’.

The two paintings are completely different but, at the time, experts considered Vermeer’s choice of theme, his ability to handle the light and shade, his style that was affected by Caravaggio (Italian artist of the 16~17 th century) and were sure Meegeren’s painting was Vermeers, but in time, it turned out it wasn’t.

This happens even if the real artist is still alive.

Cheon Gyeongja’s Beautiful Woman is so famous, and Byeon Siji’s Landscape of Jeju was also sold over ten million at S Auction, but the artist declared that it was a fake.

After that, the Korean Appraising Lab thought Byeon’s Pony and Boy was real and even issued a certificate. Afterward, a collector had it appraised again by the artist and he said, “This is fake, and I took a photo of it and uploaded it on my homepage to stop it from being sold illegally.”

Finding out the authenticity of a painting the artist didn’t draw is not at all easy, and a little mistake can make an expert be fooled by a forgery.

“Ha…”

Eunhae put her hand on her forehead and plopped down on her seat. Haejin could understand her desperation as she must be thinking a fake was causing her problems again.

But then, Sujeong, who had been watching, asked, “If that Manager Lee Jongmyeong brought that painting, shouldn’t you request compensation for the damages? It’s not like he gave it to you, he sold it.”

It seemed Sujeong had momentarily forgotten who Lee Jongmyeong was.

“Don’t you remember the man who came to buy that painting the other day with Ms. Eunhae? Her fiancé.”

Haejin scolded Sujeong. She quietly hit his side. She knew that but said it on purpose.

“Ooh! I am sorry. I thought it was a stranger, of course…”

“No, it can happen.”

Eunhae’ face turned even darker.

Sujeong spoke again, “You said Mirae appraised that painting?”

“Them and my appraisers as well. Actually, one of our appraisers couldn’t be sure while another said it was Sinsaimdang’s, so…”

“I see… then you must call your fiancé and tell him that it’s a fake. You should at least get your money back.”

“That’s…”

Judging from Eunhae’s expression, it would not be that easy. Of course, if that painting was a fake, Lee Jongmyeong would be known as a fool who gifted a fake to his fiancé while, if it was real, Eunhae would be considered an idiot.

Haejin thought about it and spoke.

“You said… you bought a fake and got into trouble before, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“That’s strange. Although there are many fake artifacts, how can you be persuaded to buy three fakes in such a short time?”

It was weird indeed. At the first time, Haejin thought it could happen, and then came Ma Won’s painting and Sinsaimdang’s…

How can fakes come to one gallery in just a few months? As if someone was hoping Saeyeong Gallery to go bankrupt. No, galleries cannot go bankrupt, so did he or she wanted Eunhae to step down from her position?

“I am so confused, too. As you must know, forgeries of high quality that can fool experts come out only every few years. Not every year, as the whole Insadong goes wild whenever something like that appears once in a few years. Our experts, however, have been completely fooled in just a few months.”

“That is what I am talking about. I have never heard of anything like this… especially that painting we just saw. It is even stranger.”

“What? What is strange?”

“I think forgery of that quality can be recognized by the other appraisers.”

The porcelain he had smashed in front of Haecheol was worth using magic, but Haejin didn’t feel the need to use magic with this painting.

It meant the best appraisers of the country would have been able to find out that there was a problem, but as Saeyeon Gallery was one of the top private galleries of Korea, its appraisers could not be so incapable.

It would be right to agree the painting is disputable, even though they couldn’t be sure that it is not Sinsaimdang’s…

“Maybe…”

Eunhae shook her head as if it was impossible, but she was probably feeling that maybe it could be right.

“I won’t conclude they tried to fool you, but I think there is a problem. You know what I mean?”

Eunhae nodded.

“Yes, I understand. Haa… I can’t trust my fiancé now.”

Sujeong smiled, she just heard what she had wanted to hear.

“I could feel it the moment I saw him. He is somewhat dark. Handsome, but dark.”

“Why did you say that?”

Haejin scolded her again, but Sujeong stood up and kept talking.

“What? I am right! I might not be an antique appraiser like you, but I can tell when I see a person. Personality, manner, wealth, etc, I know when I see it!”

Sujeong made a rectangle with her fingers and shook it. She was trying to comfort Eunhae.

“I should have met you and asked you.”

“Hahaha! I know how to discern good guys and bad guys. It’s just you are too nice.”

They chatted and lightened the mood. Haejin chimed in.

“Well, you can talk about men later… how much did you spend on it?”

“That painting? A hundred million…”

Eunhae’s voice faded. She had bought a forgery at a hundred million and rejoiced about buying it at a low price.

“A hundred million… how much will you charge for it?”

Haejin had thought he would buy good paintings at a low price and sell them at a high price. However, after finding out that the painting was a fake, a plan to make huge money with it flashed through his head.

“What? You will buy it? A fake?”

Eunhae wasn’t the only one surprised. Sujeong was also shocked and came to Haejin.

“What? What are you going to do with a fake?”

“I have a reason. Just wait. How much is it?”

“Oh… it’s…”

Eunhae must have been tormented. As other appraisers couldn’t agree on a result yet, she could think that Haejin might be mistaken this time. She also had to think about how much she should charge him.

If Haejin was right, the fact that she had bought a fake wouldn’t be a problem as long as she sold it soon. It might be a problem if Haejin was fooled and bought a fake, but as he was trying to buy it while knowing that it was a fake, everything was fine.

“I can’t imagine why are you trying to buy this painting.”

“I will think about it. All you have to do is to make the decision. Will you sell it or not?”

Eunhae thought about it for a while and soon nodded.

“Okay, I will sell it. Then the price…”

“A hundred million. I will buy it at the price you have bought it.”

“What? Really?”

Eunhae’s face brightened. Haejin added.

“There is, however, one condition. If you do that, I will buy the painting at a hundred million. It’s nothing complicated.”