Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 76: Back in Korea Again… (1)

Two women in black hijabs came in. Surprisingly, one of them had a small gilt bronze buddha in her hand.

Their entire bodies were covered except for the blue eyes but, as the royals of the Arab Emirates didn’t reveal the faces of the adult females, Haejin understood.

“These are my wife and daughter.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Park Haejin from Korea. I run a small art museum and work as an appraiser.”

“Nice to meet you, too. We’ve already heard about you.”

The answer came from the lady who sat next to Prince Sahmadi. Judging from her voice, she was the wife. The daughter didn’t even say a word, but Haejin didn’t want to be accused, so he didn’t even look at her.

The prince spoke warmly.

“You wanted the artifact from the Louvre at first, and I felt bad at not being able to help you with that. And I would be disgracing the royal family if I just sent you away after all your help. So, I did my best to find an artifact that is the most similar to the one in the Louvre Abu Dhabi.”

“Oh, I…”

It was touching. The prince’s wife put the statue on the table. It was a gilt bronze statue of a standing Bodhisattva. The folds of the cloth started from the top and naturally reached the legs, and the cloth, that covered both shoulders, went down to the ankles.

The soft lines of the wrinkles harmonized with the body’s posture and the hands. It was a magnificent beauty.

“I heard you run an art museum, but it wouldn’t be easy to live with just the revenues from the tickets. My wife and daughter like paintings, so I will sometimes send them to Korea for sightseeing.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Haejin was really grateful. He had been secretly worried as he had been threatened by powerful people, so Prince Sahmadi’s help made him relieved.

It was much better than some money. Of course, the buddha alone had great value.

“And if you come to this country again, you won’t have to worry about a place to stay. We will provide you with somewhere similar to where you are standing now.”

“Thank you for your kindness. I don’t know if I can accept so much.”

“No. You have saved the royal family’s honor. It isn’t too much at all. If I had had enough time, I would have given you something better but, as you know, I am busy now.”

“What you gave me is more than enough.”

“Please visit us again. It is the rule of the desert to treat guests warmly. I will welcome you properly then. As for Degas’ painting and this buddha, we will send it to Korea through the customs immediately.”

It would be impolite to not come again, after all that hospitality.

“Okay, I will come to visit again.”

Haejin left the royal palace and went back. Eric was waiting with his things already packed.

“Thank you. I have received much in Hong Kong and here in Abu Dhabi thanks to you.”

“It’s all because you are good at your job. The only thing I did was getting you a plane ticket.”

“That’s a lot. Without it, how could I have come here to see so many paintings and sculptures up close?”

“Thanks for saying that. Shall we go now?”

Eric and Haejin arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Mat Vellin was waiting with a first-class ticket to Korea.

Haejin had told him he would go to Korea immediately on their way back.

“The prince and the royals of Abu Dhabi Family will remember you. And so will I…”

“I will look forward to meeting you again.”

Mat left, and Eric said goodbye.

“Take care. I will call you again someday. I am worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me. Take care of yourself.”

“I’m not kidding. If Anthony Goldberg finds out that the Degas’ painting he sold to Prince Sahmadi at a dollar is at your museum, he would get suspicious. He can try to reach you in any way, so don’t let your guard down.”

“You be careful, too. Don’t lose the Gogh painting I drew for you.”

Haejin had tried to imitate the painting of the sunset and riverbank while he waited for the prince’s call.

Eric made fun of that for days, saying Haejin was really bad at drawing, even for an appraiser.

“I’ve already taken a photo of that crude painting. My plane is leaving earlier, so I should go now.”

“I’ll wait for your call.”

Eric left, and Haejin arrived at Incheon Airport after more than ten hours of flying.

He wanted to tell Byeonguk and Sujeong about the series of events that had happened in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, but the moment he entered his home, he fell asleep.

Still, he was stronger than ordinary people. When he opened his eyes, it was only about an hour later.

He took a shower and went to Insadong right away. Byeongguk and Sujeong were surprised to see him.

“Who is this? Have you gone on a vacation alone? Be honest! Why is your face so tanned?”

“I wasn’t on a vacation. I somehow ended up in Dubai. Let’s go in and talk. I arrived at Incheon Airport just a few hours ago. Standing like this is hard.”

“Oh, okay. Come in.”

Haejin sat down, thinking about which event he should talk about first, but Sujeong looked troubled.

“Did something happen? Sujeong doesn’t look well.”

Sujeong just drank water without saying anything. Byeongguk glanced at her and spoke.

“She’s gotten lots of work these days. Was it Executive Director Do Eunchae? She introduced Sujeong to her friends. Thanks to her, Sujeong has enough work for the next six months already.”

“Then that’s good.”

“Yes. It is good, but…”

Sujeong interrupted.

“I’ll tell him. One of the people who commissioned me to do a restoration is the wife of a man who is in a high position of… what was it? The Federation of the Korean Industries.”

“Wow… you are already successful. You’re getting great clients.”

“Don’t joke about it. I’m serious. Anyway, she asked me to restore a painting by Oskar Kokoschka… soon, I just thought something was strange.”

Oskar Kokoschka was an artist who worked in Vienna, Austria, just like Freud, Klimt, Schiele, Mahler and Wittgenstein.

He was a great artist of the expressionism and was gifted at drawing esthetic portraits. He interacted with other expressionists and focused on studying coloring methods.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“I’m a restoration expert, not an appraiser. So, I cannot tell whether a painting is real at a quick glance like you.”

Haejin realized what Sujeong was talking about.

“That painting is fake?”

“I think so. I looked closer to restore it, but there are traces of paint over here and there. Some parts are colored so crudely that I cannot believe it was painted by Oskar Kokoschka…”

Sujeong was sure. It was probably a fake. Even though she majored in research and technology about restoration, the university she had attended was the best in the world in that field.

As a discerning eye is necessary to restore properly, of course, Sujeong had been educated about that as well.

“Is it being fake a problem? Can’t you just tell her?”

“Can I? It’s not like I didn’t take the job in the first place. I found out while working on it… what if she tries to blame me later?”

“Did you take photos when you got that painting?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then why are you worried? There’s nothing to be worried about…”

Haejin thought nothing would go wrong as Sujeong had evidence, but she didn’t think so.

“She is scary, even when we first met. She pressed me so much, telling me to restore it properly… wouldn’t she try to tear this place apart if I tell her the painting is fake?”

“You are worrying in advance. She might be gentle about it. Don’t worry too much.”

“You think so? Then, should I tell her first?”

Sujeong brightened up a little. This is why getting into the selling business teaches you about the fear for rude clients.

“Yes, it should be fine. If things go wrong, call me. Oh, and when I was in Hong Kong, I got a chance to go to the Arab Emirates, and…”

That day, they chatted till late night.

“Good morning. It’s been how long?”

“Wasn’t it good to not have me around?”

Haejin went to his museum in the morning. His employees greeted him. He asked if things had been fine while he was gone, and they said the paintings by Francesco Guardi and Jacques-Laurent Agasse had been sold.

Before Haejin left, he had instructed them to not sell them under two billion won, and the two paintings had been sold at over five billion in total. That was good.

So, Haejin went back to his regular life. He restored porcelains from Taean and prepared a special exhibition for the gilt bronze buddha which Hwajin had been after, his new Lee Sangbeom, Degas’ paintings, and the buddha Prince Sahmadi had given him.

After a few days, he suddenly recalled the incense burner he had brought from Hong Kong.

He had forgotten all about it after all that fuss in Abu Dhabi. He had earned a lot. He had spent a thousand million won and yet he forgot all about it.

He went home in a hurry, but the moment he found that ashtray-size gilt bronze stand, he got a call. It was Sujeong.

“Hello?”

“Hey… Haejin. Please come to the workshop, quick.”

Her voice was shaking. She didn’t say why, but her shaking voice reminded Haejin of the painting from the Federation of the Korean Industries officer’s wife.

Haejin went to Insadong, wondering if it was indeed her. In front of the shop, he then saw a Benz S

Class parked at the entrance.

He thought it was stupid to drag a car into Insadong’s alley. When he went in, there was a woman over 50 years old and a man in a suit fighting(?) with Byeongguk.

“What is this?”

“Oh, Haejin, you’re here. This wo… no, this lady here cannot believe that her painting is fake.”

As soon as Byeongguk finished speaking, a sharp voice rang through the shop.

“Why is it fake? Huh? I paid eighty million won to buy it! What do you know about paintings? Huh?”

If you think only refined people go to museums and galleries, you are wrong. As they are wealthy and powerful, they are even more stubborn.

And, as antiques are not luxurious goods for department stores that you can get a refund or exchange just because you don’t like it, when they change their mind, they often start by throwing a tantrum.

However, this particular client had found the wrong people to mess up with.

“Let’s take a look at the painting first. Oh, I am Park Haejin. I own an art museum in Bukcheon. For your information, I was in charge for the excavation and restoration of the porcelains excavated in Taean recently.”

She was about to yell, ‘Who the hell are you?’, but she closed her mouth at hearing what came next.

Haejin went to Sujeong who had the painting. She put it on the table.

She looked like she had something to say, but she soon gave up. She didn’t want to handle that rude woman again.

Oskar Kokoschka’s painting showed the Thames River of London. It was known that he rented a room on the 8 th floor of the Savoy Hotel to see the long view of the Thames River and drew a series of paintings of that view.

This painting was from that series. However, the right corner was smudged as if something had been poured on it.

“I guess you poured something on it?”

“Yes, my child poured hot water on it…”

How could anyone pour hot water on a painting? It must be hung on a wall.

Haejin took a closer look. As Sujeong had said, the coloring wasn’t that of a professional. No, it would be more accurate to say it wasn’t that of an expert forger.

It was Kokoschka’s painting with Renoir’s coloring method.

Although the artist tried to imitate it, he or she didn’t fully understand Kokoschka’s coloring, so the painting ended up being vague.

“It is fake.”

“What, what?”

She said it as if she couldn’t believe it, but Haejin didn’t care and continued.

“To start with, the craquelure is too artificial. An inexperienced beginner baked this in an oven at a high temperature, but normal paintings don’t get such an even craquelure. Where on earth did you buy this?”

Haejin snorted and asked. The woman answered.

“From, from Saeyeon Gallery.”