Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 92: Salvador Dali and the Second Dali (2)

The painting on the table had Dali’s unique surrealistic content.

It showed a huge marble statue that looked like it had jumped out of Greek mythology, but it was about to collapse. It gave a strong impression based on Dali’s imagination.

Yaerin heavily nodded at Haejin’s question.

“Yes, I’ve heard of him.”

You cannot avoid talking about Antoni Pitxot when talking about Salvador Dali.

Pitxot was born in Figueres, Catalonia of Spain, just like Dali. Their families were close, and Dali sponsored Pitxot when he was young.

Pitxot was also the co-designer of the Dali Museum that was built in 1968, and he became its director when Dali passed away.

The problem was that at some point, Pitxot started to live in Dali’s house.

Amongst those who were close to Dali or lived close to him, rumors spread that Pitxot was painting instead of Dali who was losing inspiration, and Dali was approving them.

Although Salvador Dali was famous for his obsession with money, at the time, he had enough money.

Revenue from the copyright kept coming in, and he earned a tremendous amount of money from countless commercial designs which he handled.

So, if he had someone else make fakes for him, it would be because of his pride to eliminate the people’s doubt about him losing his inspiration, not because of money.

“Dali had many fakes. Dali’s fakes are the second largest in number, right next to Picasso’s.”

“I know that. That’s why we had this appraised by the best experts before bringing it to Korea.”

Haejin shook his head at this.

“However, I cannot appraise this painting with 100% accuracy, either. As you know, surrealist artists don’t have a fixed style and have various concepts. Plus, the difference between the best days and other times is huge.”

“But I believe you will be different. There hasn’t been a single painting that you couldn’t figure out so far.”

“What will you do about the fee?”

Yaerin flinched. Haevici Gallery didn’t own that painting anymore. The wife of Hanseong Bank’s president did.

Then, the person who should pay the fee would be her, who was uncomfortably sitting on the wooden chair, but asking her to pay could complicate matters.

It was Salvador Dali’s painting, so it was worth billions. So, the fee would be tens of millions.

Would she pay the fee? Haejin could bet his wrist on ‘no’.

Yaerin knew that. She flinched, but she made up her mind and bit her lips.

“We’ll pay. 1%.”

“I’m sorry, but I won’t receive money for the fee.”

Everyone was surprised to hear that answer. Yaerin thought he would ask something harder than the money.

She then grimly asked, “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for Mr. Gang Hyosang, an art dealer who used to work in the 70s. Find out if he is alive, where he is, and what he is doing now. Those are my terms.”

Yaerin was puzzled.

“What? Do you think I am a detective for hire? Aren’t you taking it too far?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s what I want.”

Haejin was doing that for a reason.

When he saw the past by casting the magic on the sculpture earlier, he had seen that the dealer who sold it to Haevici Gallery had another artifact from the artisan.

As he had sold it to Haevici Gallery, Haejin thought asking Yaerin would be the fastest way to find him.

“Haa…”

Yaerin’s face was now red. She fanned with her hand and thought about it.

Haejin had already hinted about Antoni Pitxot, so not getting that painting appraised would make both the seller and the buyer feel uncomfortable.

Yaerin thought about it for a long time, and she gestured to her client who was about to get on her feet to stay.

Next, she said, “Mr. Haejin, although we are not that close, I thought we were close enough to respect each other.”

Haejin felt sorry as he had no hard feelings for her.

“Just as you said, I also think we have become quite close. It’s just that this is a deal between us, and I want to receive something else instead of money. If you say no, I’ll just take the money. You are right. You are not a detective for hire, so I cannot force you to help me.”

It looked like Haejin was being fickle, but Yaerin could see that he was disappointed.

“Are you saying that you will not appraise for me again if I give you the money?”

“Well, I cannot be sure of that.”

Yaerin thought about it again, but then she called someone. She instructed to find Gang Hyosang and hung up.

“It’s a long shot. We might fail to find him.”

“I understand that.”

“Will you appraise after we find out something?”

“No. I trust you, so I’ll appraise now.”

Actually, when Yaerin put the painting on the table, Haejin was slightly nervous. He had felt there was something strange when he had gone past it at the gallery.

But now that he examined the painting, he couldn’t determine exactly which part had a mistake or the awkward point.

The colors and methods depicting were similar to those used by Dali. The problem was why Haejin felt they were similar.

That was why he had mentioned Antoni Pitxot’s name as soon as he saw the painting. He was the most probable answer among the forgers who could produce such quality.

Of course, Pitxot wasn’t a forger. The relationship between him and Dali’s was much more than that of a genius artist and an unknown artist trying to borrow his name, and Pitxot understood Dali’s paintings better than anyone.

Plus, Antoni Pitxot was a great artist on his own. He even received the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts from the King of Spain.

In a way, the painting was real with the wrong signature. Antoni Pitxot’s real…

So, Haejin’s conclusion was that he needed to use magic to appraise it properly.

He brought water as if he was thirsty and used it to see the painting’s past.

After a short dizziness, he sighed in relief. It was Pitxot’s painting, just as he had thought.

“Hu…”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

The owner of the painting glanced at Haejin.

“Umm… it’s a little complicated. It is Dali’s, but it is also Pitxot’s.”

“What do you mean? You’re saying they worked on it together?”

Yaerin was a little relieved to hear that the truth was slightly different from what she had expected, but she was still frowning.

“As you know, Dali’s last days were not that happy. After he split up with his wife and muse, Gala, both his body and mind were spoiled quickly. Since then, Dali couldn’t work like he used to.”

“I know that. That is when Pitxot moved into Dali’s house.”

“Yes. However, Dali couldn’t stop making works of art. He strongly believed that he was a genius artist that the world would never have again, and thought he would mean nothing if he couldn’t make works of art.”

“And you think this can be Pitxot’s because…”

“You can imitate the color and methods of depicting if the original artist guides you from the side. However, there is one thing in which your originality cannot hide; the touch of the brush. Dali’s lines are very accurate and delicate. Some paintings are so accurate that they looked like they were produced by a computer. But in this painting, the lines of this statue are blunt and there are traces of overpainting.”

Yaerin brought her face close to the painting. She couldn’t touch it, but she traced her finger along the lines and raised her head.

“I get it.”

It didn’t mean she was admitting it. She bit her lips and continued.

“But you must know that this is not enough for you to think that Pitxot worked on this. This painting has Dali’s signature, and that signature has been proved to be real by scientific tests.”

“The signature must be real. Dali never hesitated to leave a signature. He also wouldn’t have refused to sign a painting that was made in his house. He knew how much money his signature was worth better than anyone.”

“But why is it still not Dali’s?”

Haejin pointed at the bottom left corner of the painting.

“An X-ray would show that there’s Pitxot’s signature here.”

That was the final blow. Even Yaerin couldn’t say anything for a moment.

Then, she stammered, “Why, why do you think, no, believe that Pitxot’s signature is there?”

“I cannot explain that well. Art doesn’t have fixed answers like math… sometimes, it is an instinctive feeling that gives you answers, not evidence.”

Haejin had no other thing to say. Saying something else would be making excuses. He just thanked Pitxot for leaving his signature.

If he hadn’t done that, Haejin would have had no choice but to say it was Dali’s.

Yaerin quickly turned to her client. She was asking what she was going to do.

“I cannot believe it. I will have it appraised somewhere else.”

It wasn’t strange for her to say that. It was like being examined at another hospital when you cannot fully believe what your doctor says.

“Please do that.”

However, she wasn’t done yet.

“If… you are wrong, I won’t let you get away with this.”

She left a fierce threat, but Haejin just smiled.

“Do as you wish. It is the owner’s right to have one’s artifact appraised by another appraiser, but I don’t like being treated as a fraud or an incompetent. Well, it’s not like I won’t let you get away with it like you… I’ll just put your name on my museum’s blacklist.”

Haejin smiled as he talked. The woman then turned to Yaerin, she hadn’t heard about Haejin’s museum.

“Mr. Park Haejin is an appraiser, but he is also the director of Park Haejin Art Museum that recently opened. The one with Picasso’s painting…”

“Oh…”

She was ashamed only then, but Haejin smiled and waved his hand at them. It meant they should leave now.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best to find out about what you asked.”

Yaerin looked much better now, as she thought finding someone was much better than paying money.

“I’ll wait for your call.”

Haejin watched them leave. When the door of the shop closed, he turned to Eunhae.

“Do you know anything about Mr. Gang Hyosang?”

Eunhae had already been thinking about him. She answered immediately.

“I know him. No, I should say I remember him. I think I can find him faster than Yaerin.”

She smiled. Haejin thought hiring her had been the right decision.

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