Van Gogh Reborn!
Chapter 199:

The Arnuvo Contest, which had entered its sixth day, was going in a different direction than its original purpose.

The intention of the French National Art Association to highlight the works themselves was fading.

Instead, the top ranks were occupied by the figures who had already made their fame, such as Anish Puar, Peter Hammel, Lucas Muller, Shara Hughes, Francis Bacon, and Damien Carter.

Due to the pressure of having to appreciate more than 1,700 works in a short time, people tended to look for the works of famous authors. That resulted in such an outcome.

That was why Michel Platini, who had made the Arnuvo Contest a great success, was miserable.

“Sigh.”

Michel sighed as he checked the status of the contest.

He couldn’t help the phenomenon of the votes being skewed towards the famous authors, but there were works that didn’t get anyone’s choice.

It was a hard reality to accept as the planner of the Arnuvo Contest.

He would have been less troubled if the works had no artistic value, but he could feel the desperation and deep reflection in the works, as it was a contest that their lives depended on.

‘What did I miss?’

He wondered if he should have prepared an event to spotlight the works that were marginalized in the middle of the contest, but he shook his head.

It could be unfair for a contest that had to maintain impartiality.

Knock-

There was a knock on the door.

“Director, are you okay for a moment?”

“Yeah. Come in.”

Michel took a breath and answered.

A bright-faced employee entered and put an invitation in front of her.

“This is the invitation from Mr. Jay Jopling that I told you about last time.”

“Is it today?”

“Yes. It’s today.”

The employee smiled.

Jay Jopling, a millionaire, was a big shot in the art world who had foreseen the success of the Arnuvo Contest early on.

He had hosted a party to support SNBA.

He had requested that Michel Platini, the main protagonist who had made the Arnuvo Contest a huge success, attend the party.

“You’ve been working all the time. You have an appointment in the evening, so why don’t you leave work a little early today?”

“I guess so.”

“Are you sick anywhere?”

The employee asked with concern at Michel Platini’s lukewarm attitude.

It wouldn’t be strange if something went wrong after he had been pushing himself so hard.

“No. Yeah. I got it.”

Michel smiled faintly and the employee reluctantly left.

The director of the Marso Gallery sighed deeply after the door closed.

He had a mountain of work to do anyway.

He was also preparing thoroughly for the process of unveiling Henri Marso’s series on the day of the award ceremony.

He didn’t want to waste his energy on meaningless conversations with rich people in a situation where he needed two bodies.

But he couldn’t afford to be lazy about securing funds to continue the contest.

“I hate doing this.”

Michel Platini blurted out his true feelings and the door opened.

“Don’t do it.”

Michel Platini chuckled with relief that it wasn’t an employee.

“What do you think I shouldn’t do?”

“Anything.”

Michel shook his head.

“Did you talk to Hun?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll take a while to find a house.”

“He’ll figure it out. Get dressed.”

Michel tilted his head.

“I’m bored.”

“What are you talking about? I’m busy today. I have an appointment.”

“Is it more important than driving with me?”

“Yeah.”

Henri Marso chuckled.

Michel’s words were quite amusing.

“I’m not kidding. I was invited by Jay Jopling.”

“Why that old man?”

“SNBA support party. Didn’t you get a call?”

Henri Marso racked his brain.

Come to think of it, Arsene had told him that the smug muse had invited him to the party.

“Don’t go.”

“I have to go.”

“Don’t go.”

Michel Platini pointed at Henri with a pen.

“Do you think he gives a penny or two to SNBA?”

“Whether you go there or not, that perverted old man’s wallet won’t be affected.”

Henri Marso picked up Michel’s coat from the hanger.

Jay Jopling had supported and joined the Arnuvo Contest because he was confident that it would succeed.

He invested in SNBA and Michel Platini’s abilities, not because they catered to his whims.

He was not a person who would open his wallet even if he kissed his feet for something that had no potential.

“Don’t do what you don’t want to do.”

Henri Marso threw the coat at Michel.

“You’re delusional if you think everyone can live like you. How can you do only what you want to do?”

“You can do that.”

Henri Marso opened the door.

“Come down in five minutes.”

Michel smiled faintly at his usual reckless behavior.

He could see his intention to make him rest somehow after seeing him work hard recently.

He was cute and grateful that he didn’t know how to comfort him in a normal way.

Michel picked up a pen and wrote that he had to leave his seat to finish the Arnuvo Contest well.

He added that he would do his best to activate the contest until the end and pressed the intercom.

-Yes, director.

“Yeah. Can you come in for a moment?”

-Yes.

The secretary’s office employee entered the director’s office right away.

“Can you check the flowers to send to the Jopling support party? Send them with this postcard.”

“Yes.”

“I’m leaving now. Anything else?”

“There’s nothing unusual. Oh, I also delivered the instructions you gave me this morning to Rabani. He really liked it.”

It was about giving Bida Rabani, who wanted to see the Art Nouveau competition, a day off tomorrow.

“That’s good. See you tomorrow.”

Michel put on his coat and went outside.

**

Afternoon of the sixth day.

A small change came to the Art Nouveau competition.

Some critics and celebrities highlighted unknown authors or works whose authors were not revealed, amid the tendency of votes being concentrated on famous authors’ works.

It was thanks to Bang Tae-ho, who appealed to the people he knew about the purpose of the Art Nouveau competition.

Those who had been cautiously approaching what kind of work Ko Hun had submitted until then became impatient as the competition reached its end.

They cautiously suggested evidence that was not Ko Hun’s work, and began to touch on works whose authors were not yet revealed.

It was a movement to reflect on the purpose of the competition, which started with anonymous participation.

And just then.

An editorial by a foreign journalist caused a great repercussion in the European art world.

[What We Missed]

The Art Nouveau competition, which opened on the 30th of last month, has two days left.

The Art Nouveau competition, which was held to open a new stream of art, attracts over 500,000 people a day and receives great attention.

Damien Carter’s , Anish Puar’s , and other masterpieces have steadily gained votes since the beginning of the competition and are currently firmly in second and fourth place, respectively.

Not only that, but Peter Hammel, Lucas Müller, Shara Hughes, and Francis Bacon are also in the top 10 and continue their reputation.

As various media are full of stories related to the Art Nouveau competition, it is not too early to judge that the French National Art Association has succeeded in the challenge.

However, before we raise our glasses, we want to ask ourselves if there is anything we are missing.

According to the official application of the Art Nouveau competition, the number of works found among 1,789 works is 1,789.

The efforts of the Art Nouveau competition curators, who wanted to show many works, paid off.

However, as of 10 p.m. on the fourth day, the top 30 works accounted for 97% of the total votes of 3,255,127, which is 3,157,473 votes.

Except for , which some assume to be Ko Hun’s work, , whose author is not revealed, and by newcomer Blanche Fabre, they are all works by established authors.

Especially, the works known as famous authors’ works quickly gained a lot of votes, and some authors openly revealed what works they had done on SNS and other places.

Some media are already talking as if the winners of the world’s largest competition have been confirmed.

Is this really the right way?

The intention of the organizers to hide the author’s name and look at the work completely disappeared.

But there is still hope.

The number of visitors estimated by the French National Art Association is currently 11.72 million (including virtual exhibition visitors).

Since one person can vote for up to 10 works, there are up to 113,944,873 votes left in terms of numbers.1)

Depending on what works the art lovers choose, the Art Nouveau competition will be the starting point of a truly new art world.

-Lee In-ho (The Korea Daily)

Lee In-ho’s editorial was a challenge to the European art world.

The attitude of explaining the reason why votes were concentrated on famous authors by their reputation seemed to deny the artistic quality of the masters.

The European media immediately criticized Lee In-ho’s editorial.

They attacked him for being ignorant of art, ignoring the votes of the citizens, and insulting the masters who participated in the Art Nouveau competition.

“Why did you write such an article!”

Kim Ji-woo scolded Lee In-ho.

“Haha. I expected it, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.”

“Of course they hate it! They wouldn’t have written it if they didn’t know!”

“Don’t you think it’s a problem, Ji-woo?”

“Of course! I think it’s wrong too. But you can’t express it like that. The art world may look wide, but it’s very narrow. If you push in like this, nothing will be left.”

“I guess so. The editor-in-chief told me to pack up and come back.”

Kim Ji-woo opened his eyes and mouth wide.

“Ha ha.”

“Are you laughing now?”

“I guess so.”

Lee In-ho smiled bitterly.

But he didn’t regret it at all.

“I don’t know anything about this side, as they say. But the people who participated in the Art Nouveau competition know.”

“Yes?”

“I’m not good at judging the popular works. There are so many people who know better than me. I wanted to deal with the works that didn’t get any attention.”

“…”

“I wondered why they didn’t get any votes, so I observed them for a few days. There was someone standing in front of them all day.”

Kim Ji-woo narrowed his eyebrows.

“I asked him on the third day. He seemed to like it, but he didn’t vote. He said it was his.”

Lee In-ho shook his head.

“I asked him how he felt. Phew. It was a stupid question.”

“…What did he say?”

“He said there must be at least one person out of the 2~3 million people who actually visited who would like his work. He said he wanted to see their expressions.”

“…”

“He said he didn’t seem to have any yet and laughed.”

Lee In-ho ran the Art Nouveau competition application.

He showed a picture that had received only one vote.

It was a portrait that used vivid colors and combined text and images, influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The author was Jeffrey Wright.

Kim Ji-woo had never heard of him either.

“I think it’s cool, though.”

***

1)To avoid confusion, I would like to explain.

Since not all visitors participate in the voting, and not all voters vote for up to 10 works, the ‘up to 113,944,873 votes left’ mentioned by Lee In-ho is the maximum.

Also, the 11.72 million figure is exaggerated as it is simply the number of downloads of the application.