Although the vault looks a bit simple on the outside, the inside of the door is not simple at all.

The entire vault is located in the middle of the fourth floor of the building, about 100 square meters, and is divided into six separate small vaults, each with a separate password lock.

Only Old Mike can come in this vault, and even the painter he found to host the daily work of the gallery could not come in. So after Old Mike entered, he opened all the six small vaults one by one.

All the small vaults are placed in paintings. Some of them are hung on the wall and some are placed on special easels. A vault can hold about twenty oil paintings.

"Cole, do you know why I put these oil paintings here instead of worrying? Because these oil paintings are not famous paintings. Not only were the prices low when they were purchased, but I thought these words were invested. So on the one hand, these paintings were used for collection, and on the other hand, they could also be considered investment." Old Mike pointed to the oil paintings and talked about it.

"Actually, I think investing in oil painting is also a very good investment, so I started to try it, and it looked very good. Look at this painting, this is a painting by John Patrick O'Brien. It was created by him in 1987. I bought it in 1990. I spent $120,000 at that time. As a result, O'Brien's reputation has increased significantly in recent years. His works are full of "modern romantic realism" interest, and now they have begun to be widely collected by many private privates in the Federation and Europe. If this painting is taken now, the starting price is at least 800,000 US dollars. It is not unusual to meet people who like this painting. My investment has increased seven times in just six years. Is this investment considered good?"

Yang Jing nodded, "Mike, you're right. With the recovery of the federal economy and the rise of the IT industry in recent years, it has created a large group of millions, millions and even billionaires. Therefore, the collection industry has become popular in recent years. Whether it is oil paintings or other works of art, it is actually a good time to invest."

Old Mike nodded with a smile, and the boss's praise obviously made him very proud.

Of course he would not invest in these paintings. Although he bought them all, the one who paid for them was the boss in front of him. With the boss's wealth, he would be worth a hundred times more than the paintings in this room.

Therefore, these paintings are mainly used for collection.

Although these paintings are not very valuable, Yang Jing also enjoys reading them with relish.

He himself is not very proficient in Western painting. Now he has so many works by modern painters in front of him, which is enough to increase his understanding of Western painting a lot.

An oil painting in front of him aroused Yang Jing's interest. He leaned closer and carefully admired it, and nodded with satisfaction.

Although this still life oil painting is a little immature, it already has a hint of master's charm in the structure. It is probably either a work by a famous artist when he was young, or a future famous artist who has not yet become famous.

Seeing that Yang Jing was interested in this painting, Old Mike came up, took out his reading glasses and put them on, then looked at the work and said: "This is a painting by a young federal painter who only appeared a few years ago. The painter is David Lefer. Although his still life oil painting is a bit immature, it has a very charming and has a Rembrandt style. I bought this painting the year before yesterday and cost 30,000 US dollars, but I think if I give Lefer a certain amount of time, he will definitely soar into the sky."

Yang Jing agreed with this. Yang Jing could see the charm contained in this painting. As Old Mike judged, as long as this young painter could persevere in working hard, it would be only a matter of time before his fame became famous.

Yang Jing's judgment is really correct. If he returns to the original time and space to check this David Lefel, then he will know that this David Lefel became famous after entering the new century and is even known as "Modern Rembrandt".

After visiting several small vaults in succession, Yang Jing was very satisfied with the paintings purchased by Old Mike.

As Old Mike said just now, there are few famous works of famous artists in these paintings, mostly works of some unfamiliar painters, but Yang Jing can see that these paintings have great value-added potential.

In the last small vault, Yang Jing discovered a surprise.

"Mike, is this work by Norman Rockwell? Where did you get it?" Yang Jing was really surprised to see these three works in front of him.

"Haha, you've found it. How about it, this surprise is good?" Old Mike asked with a smile on his face.

"It's really a surprise. I really didn't expect you to buy Rockwell's works... Well, let me look at Christ Jesus. Are these three paintings all Rockwell's works before 1943?"

"Bingo! Cole, you're not wrong. These three works are indeed works created by Rockwell before 1943. I was lucky enough to see these three works from a friend, and I bought them for only $2.1 million. Well, it was the deal that I completed the night before yesterday. Today I called you here, mainly to give you this surprise."

"Mike, this surprise is indeed great. But wasn't Rockwell's works before 1943 burned all because his studio caught fire that year? Why are these three works still there?"

Old Mike shook his head and said, "The fire in 1943 did not burn all the works in Rockwell's studio, and a small part of them were rescued. These three paintings survived the fire."

Yang Jing shook his head in disbelief, "Two million US dollars, three paintings are not expensive, not expensive! Mike, the deal you made is very cost-effective."

Old Mike also shook his head slightly, "Cole, it's not a good deal. The average painting is close to $700,000, and this price is not cheap."

Old Mike's words made Yang Jing realize that he had made some mistake. It was only 1996. Rockwell's paintings were indeed not very valuable in this era. He just substituted the price twenty years later into this era.

Yang Jing, a modern American, is not very familiar with, but Norman Rockwell is one of the few American painters Yang Jing is familiar with. Because when he was in London, he happened to see Rockwell's extremely famous "Self-Portrait of Three People". At that time, Yang Jing was very interested in this painting. After returning, he checked Norman Rockwell's information, so he was very familiar with Rockwell's paintings.

In 1973, the American Gallup Poll asked a question about the adjustment difference across the United States: "Who do you think is the most outstanding painter of the present?" As a result, 82% of the questioned people regarded Norman Rockwell as the most outstanding painter of the present, saying that he was the recorder of the era in the United States.

The American "Grand Housework Pictorial" once asked Rosalyn Carter's wife, the wife of US President Carter: "Which picture do you like the most?" The president's wife replied: "Norman Rockwell's "The Little Girl in the Mirror". The girl's bath in the picture deeply touched me. Children sometimes yearn for their adulthood, just like our Amy."

This painter, born in 1894, became an illustrator at the age of 16 and until she was 82. She has been creating continuously throughout her life. She was once praised by the New York Times as "the most popular artist of this century."

Rockwell's works record the development and changes in the United States in the 20th century: from the barefoot boy in the hot summer to the astronauts who set foot on the moon; from lazy town shops to skyscraper offices; from colorful fairy tale books to shining TV screens... His works not only cover the two world wars, the Cold War in the United States, the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the economic depression and racial issues in the United States, but also include themes such as previous presidents such as Kennedy to Carter, movie stars, and Boy Scouts. However, Rockwell's favorite theme is the calm and innocent child.

This American painter, thirteen years younger than Picasso, can be regarded as a person of the same era as Picasso. But compared to the famous Picasso, Rockwell, who was born as an illustrator, was far from comparable to Picasso in any aspect during his lifetime. Many serious critics or artists even believed that Rockwell was just an "illustrator", and his paintings were only designed for printing, with simple and flat colors.

However, many people who have read Rockwell's original work said that this is not the case. The originals of his oil paintings are exquisite in color and have a variety of brushwork. They said: "You can't see his painting skills from the prints." Since his early years, when he painted, he always posted a note with "100%" written on the canvas, reminding himself that every painting should be put on 100% energy.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this seriousness and hard work that Rockwell became "the most popular artist in the United States this century."

In fact, Rockwell's works did not explode until after the new century. Before the new century, except for a few limited works, other works were not of high value.

However, in the new century, especially in the second decade of the new century, Norman Rockwell's works increased dramatically.

On December 4, 2013, at a special auction of American art at Sotheby's, Rockwell's work "Prayer" in 1951 was estimated at 5 million to 20 million US dollars. However, after fierce competition among buyers on the venue, it was finally sold for an incredible $46 million US dollars, setting the latest record of Rockwell's works at auction at that time.

In this "Prayer", the little boy with the back of his head and his well-dressed grandmother in the painting bowed his head and prayed to God for the food on the table in a shabby restaurant next to the train station. Two young men who were foolish at the same table, one of whom had a cigarette butt with his fingers, and the other bit a cigarette at the corner of his mouth, staring at them earnestly.

At this auction, Rockwell's painting "Spreading Rumors" was last auctioned in 1948, also known as "The Gossiper". In the end, the painting was sold at a sky-high price of 85 million US dollars! Then it directly broke the record that "Prayer" just set.

Rockwell has been brewing the painting "Spreading Rumors" for thirteen years. He had painted this theme before. The 1948 version started with only two gossipers, and later it increased to ten, and finally developed into a vivid painting composed of fifteen different characters. According to Rockwell, the people in the painting were his neighbors in Arlington, and he also put himself and his wife Mary in to avoid anyone suspected of insulting the neighbors, but some were still very angry. He himself was the subject of the conversation, and in the lower right corner of the work, he confronted the culprits of these rumors.

In addition, Rockwell's "Walking to the Church" created in 1952 cost $33 million, while his other "Leaving Home" cost $15.4 million.

But no matter what, these works that have been filmed with more than eight figures are all works by Rockwell after his studio caught fire, but their previous works have never appeared on the market.

And now, there are three works created by Rockwell before 1943. This surprise is really unexpected!
Chapter completed!