In the southwest corner of Midtown New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River, in the Chelsea district.It was founded in the 19th century as a suburban settlement of New York, but with the industrialization of New York, there were numerous meat processing plants and many other factories, so the area has a strong industrial character.It is for this reason that by the 90s, it attracted a large number of artists, and today it is the most artistic neighborhood in New York, with more than 350 galleries alone, mainly located between West 18th and 24th Streets, between 10th and 11th Avenues.If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would hardly have imagined that there would be so many galleries in this area, which is less than 500 meters long and less than 300 meters wide.Yang Jing, accompanied by Mike Sr., got out of the car in front of a building on 20th Street.The five-story building with exposed red bricks in front of me looked like it used to be the factory building of a certain factory, but now the building has been completely occupied by artists."
Cole, in this building alone, there are twenty-three galleries.The two galleries I bought are also here. ”Old Mike stood beside Yang Jing and whispered, while Nathan Brown took four bodyguards to guard around.Yang Jing looked up at the building, which was full of quaint taste, and then looked west, and found that on the west side of the building was 11th Avenue, and beyond 11th Avenue was the Hudson River, and there happened to be a wharf on the bank."
It's a nice place, it feels pretty quiet."
Yang Jing said lightly, but Old Mike could hear the appreciation in his tone."
Hehe, since a group of artists came here six years ago and started to enclose the land, in just six years, this has become the place with the largest concentration of artists in New York.No one could have imagined that a hundred years ago this area that was a factory and workers' neighborhood would become one of the most artistic places in New York today. ”Old Mike said with a smile.Then he shrugged his shoulders again, "But there is one thing I don't agree with here, which is that in addition to the gallery area with many art museums, this is the most famous gay and lesbian gathering area in all of New York."
Cole, the High Line on 23rd Street to the north and Chelsea Market on the east side used to be famous among tourists, but now it is completely occupied by those gays" Yang Jing smiled and glanced at old Mike, "Why, do you hate homosexuality?"
”Old Mike is in his sixties, so he is naturally more old-fashioned, and nodded when he heard the words and said, "I don't like them very much, but I can't stop this phenomenon from happening."
So, I usually pretend I can't see it.However, I'm going to move these two galleries out in a while, and the private museum I bought on Museum Avenue is about to be renovated anyway, so I'll move them there when it's done.I've had enough of it here!
”Yang Jing asked, "You bought a private museum on Museum Avenue?"
”The so-called Museum Avenue actually refers to the middle part of the famous Fifth Avenue.Fifth Avenue is long, but the section between 80th Street and 105th Street is known to New Yorkers as "Museum Mile" because of its concentration of famous museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, the National Academy Museum, and more than 100 national and private museums of various sizes.Old Mike shrugged his shoulders and said, "If you don't buy it, you can't buy it, and if you don't buy it, there will be no place for those antique artworks I bought for you!"
”Yang Jing pointed at himself with a blank face, and the meaning was obvious-are you sure it's because of me?
Old Mike rolled his eyes angrily and ignored Yang Jing.Yang Jing realized that since he knew Old Mike and made a lot of profits from speculating on London Gold, it seems that he has entrusted Old Mike to acquire all kinds of precious antique artworks around the world.It has been seventeen years since 1980, and with the vision of Old Mike and the financial resources of the Evil Dragon Fund, Old Mike must have collected antique artworks from a museum a long time ago.That's why he bought a private museum on Museum Mile, otherwise there would really be no place to put the antique art he bought.Yang Jing, who understood this, said with some shame: "Okay, Mike, I apologize for my expression just now." ”Mike, who was in his sixties, had a tendency to be an old child, and when he heard this, he just shrugged his shoulders and didn't say a word, leading the way towards the door of the building.The two galleries that Mike Sr. bought were next to each other, on the fourth floor of the building.There was a 24-hour security guard on duty at the entrance of the gallery, and when he saw Old Mike coming, he immediately greeted him very respectfully.Entering the gallery, Yang Jing saw a large number of paintings hanging on the walls on both sides of the gallery, including oil paintings, watercolors, prints and drawings."
These paintings are very ordinary, what are you doing with these paintings?"
Yang Jing asked puzzled."
Hehe, you don't know that, do you?
The main reason is that there are too many famous paintings that I have acquired over the years, and I can't let them go, so I put some paintings that are not very valuable here, of course, not hanging here, but storing them in the warehouse here.However, although the paintings were not as valuable as those famous paintings, they were still valuable, so in order to disguise the existence of these paintings, I simply bought two galleries and used the galleries to disguise the existence of those paintings. ”After a pause, old Mike complained, "Cole, do you know that I've been racking my brains for the past few years for those antique artworks you want. ”Yang Jing smiled embarrassedly, but did not answer.Yang Jing knew that Old Mike actually liked antique art very much, otherwise Yang Jing would not have entrusted him to buy antique art all over the world.Old Mike bought these antique works of art and usually took them out to appreciate when he had nothing to do, and he couldn't get tired of it.Old Mike asked one of the security guards who came in, "Is Mr.
Robert not here?"
”The security guard shook his head, "Sir, Mr.
Robert made an appointment with a client today, and he went to the client's house. ”Old Mike didn't ask again, but explained to Yang Jing in a low voice: "Robert is the host of this gallery, that guy is a painter, I met him ten years ago, and then after I bought this gallery, I asked him to take charge of the daily work here." ”As he spoke, Old Mike led Yang Jing to the vault of the gallery.Compared to the size of the gallery, the vault is too big."
This vault was newly built after I bought these two galleries, the outside is wallpapered, but the inside is reinforced concrete and steel plates, solid, the ground and roof are also specially reinforced, plus the security guards on duty 24 hours a day, ordinary thieves can't help this vault."
Old Mike was very sure, but Yang Jing still felt a little unreliable.To put it bluntly, this kind of gallery is a kind of alternative store, but it is not as complete as the goods in the store, and there is only one kind of product sold here, and that is the gallery's paintings.There are many foreign painters, but there are very few painters who can become famous and sell their works for a high price, and among the 100,000 people, there may not be a painter of the level of Picasso or Cézanne, so the life of most painters is still relatively poor.But there are also some well-known painters who usually use their own funds or other people's sponsorship to open galleries, and put their paintings in the gallery for those who have money to choose.But in any case, the value of the paintings in the gallery is far less than the famous paintings enshrined in the museum, and in the same way, such a gallery will not have much good security.Most of the paintings that Mike Sr. acquires on weekdays are famous paintings painted by famous artists, even if the paintings in the gallery vault are not as valuable as those famous paintings, but a random painting is at least in the unit of 100,000 US dollars.Is it really appropriate to put these paintings in such a vault?
However, looking at Old Mike's excited look, Yang Jing thought about it and finally didn't say anything about this inquiry, and when Old Mike opened the door of the vault, he took two steps back slightly and then turned his head and whispered to Nathan Brown: "In the future, these two galleries will increase their security forces, whether it is personnel or equipment." ”Nathan Brown is a very shrewd person, and his ability to manage the huge shield in an orderly manner is enough to prove his ability, so he nodded very simply, although he didn't ask anything, Yang Jing believed that he could make the security here better.Old Mike opened the door of the vault, and then Yang Jing saw that the door disguised as an ordinary family security door turned out to be an explosion-proof door made of stainless steel, although the thickness was not large, it was definitely not something that ordinary people could forcibly crack open."
Haha, you can't see it, can you?
If you want to open this door, the password, iris scan, and fingerprint are indispensable, and if any of the three are verified wrong three times or all three at the same time, then the door will be completely locked immediately, and only I can change the password again and open the door.So, Cole, you're not worried about the paintings in this vault, and I heard you a little bit about what you just said to Nathan" Old Mike made a playful face at Yang Jing, just like a child.Yang Jing spread his hands helplessly, "Okay, Mike, you won."
However, it is better to increase the security force here, after all, we have our own shields, and they are all the most professional security guards. ”Old Mike thought for a moment, finally nodded, and walked into the vault.