Van Gogh Reborn!

278

Caterpillar and Pork Rice Bowl (3)

“Congratulations.”

With the last deal with the real estate agent, I bought all the land I needed for the gallery site.

My own land.

I had some in Korea too, but that was a place I bought to live by myself and farm after being kicked out by my grandfather, before my memory fully returned.

It was a different feeling from this place, where I wanted to build an artist community.

“Thank you.”

I exchanged greetings with the real estate agent and checked the map I had been using.

The land I bought was marked with diagonal lines, and it included part of the old apartment complex where Jacques lived, an abandoned car dealership, and a commercial building.

Fortunately, I only paid for the land value, not the building value.

It was possible because the buildings were so old that they had to be demolished anyway.

Bang Tae-ho persuaded the landowners well and I was able to buy the land relatively cheaply.

It took some time to change the minds of the building owners, but they didn’t know when they would meet another buyer, since the deal had stopped a long time ago.

Bang Tae-ho took advantage of that.

There was no possibility of redevelopment, the security was bad, and the surrounding market had been dead for a long time.

So I bought a plot of land that was 8,817 square meters (about 2,667 pyeong) for an average of 3,400 euros per pyeong, which cost me a total of 9,067,800 euros.

That was about 12.2 billion won in Korean currency.

It was a huge amount of money, equivalent to 30% of the wealth I had saved up, excluding taxes and brokerage fees.

Just 1 or 2 years ago, I couldn’t even imagine spending that much money in my lifetime.

If Theo had known about this, he would have been happy for me instead of being nervous.

“I couldn’t believe it even when I was looking into it, but this is all your land, Hun.”

Bang Tae-ho took a deep breath and let it out.

“Isn’t it cool?”

“I can’t believe it either.”

I smiled and looked at him.

“They said it was very expensive before. You did a great job buying it.”

They said that Montmartre had a very high land price just 20 years ago.

Originally, it was not very popular because it was far away from the city center and on a hill, but that’s why many poor artists gathered and lived there.

As the artists worked and spread the word, the landlords raised the rent and the poor artists had to leave.

As the street artists disappeared, naturally fewer people came and all that was left were empty buildings and ridiculously high rents.

That’s how it ended up like this.

“Now it’s time to start over.”

Grandfather stroked my head and encouraged me.

“Yes.”

As grandfather said, it was time to start over.

I would demolish the existing buildings and build a nice building like the Marso Gallery, and do art with the members of Chocolatier without anyone’s interference.

Maybe then this place would be crowded with people again like before.

My heart was pounding.

After taking the art therapy lecture, Blanche Fabre became very diligent.

She wanted to join the Boulangerie and prepared her portfolio, and I felt happy watching her.

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Rabani was also inspired by her and drew one piece every day.

He improved quickly as he practiced more, unlike before when he couldn’t draw because he had no money for materials.

When I told him that, Cha Si-hyun envied him.

-I want to do it too.

“You’re doing it.”

I knew he had organized his portfolio in his own way.

-It’s different. It was on the news. It’s very competitive.

I looked up the Korean news and it said that the competition rate for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was 2200:1.

That meant that more than 15,000 people applied for seven spots.

It was a chance to participate in the most prestigious biennale in the world, so it was not unreasonable.

-How about Fabre noona and Rabani hyung? Do you think they can make it?

“I hope so.”

-It must be hard.

Cha Si-hyun understood what I was thinking.

I was cheering for them, but the chances of Fabre and Rabani getting into the Boulangerie were slim.

It was not easy to catch the eye of Michel Platini among more than 100,000 applicants.

“It’s hard. But it’s not impossible.”

-No. I didn’t expect it from the beginning.

It was a place where people representing a country gathered, so it was too much for the kids who just started.

I practiced a lot while preparing for it. Maybe I’ll win a prize at the Learning Art Museum Student Contest.

I like your positive attitude and lack of greed.

“Student Contest?”

Yeah. I decided to enter the elementary division. The grand prize is one million won.

It seems like an art contest organized by the museum for students.

I’ll use the one million won to go on a trip during winter break. Can I get a round trip with that?

“Just look for the cheapest one.”

Chasi-hyeon groaned and searched for something, then complained.

I like a comfortable seat. It takes too long.

“It’ll be hard to get a first-class seat.”

I know. It’s too expensive. I need to win multiple prizes.

I laughed at his absurd calculation.

Why are you laughing?

He seemed to be thinking seriously.

“Sure. You can do it.”

Yeah. I’ll win three prizes by winter break.

“Okay.”

He looked more confident since he won the gold medal at the school art contest in Korea.

He probably got help from his parents, but I didn’t want to burst his bubble and I also thought anything was possible, so I cheered him on.

Brrr-

As soon as I hung up, another call came in.

It was Marso.

“What is it?”

Where are you?

As usual, he didn’t answer and asked what he wanted to know first.

I wondered who taught him phone etiquette.

“I’m home.”

Get ready to go to Münster. I’ll pick you up.

“Now?”

Yeah.

“No way.”

Why.

“I ordered pizza.”

Eat it later.

He was unreasonable.

I thought I had to go there someday after the last cancellation, but not on Sunday lunch.

“Let’s go next Saturday. I’ve been waiting for a week.”

I decided to eat potato pizza only once a week, on Sunday lunch, for my health.

I couldn’t miss that opportunity.

Come out in 10 minutes.

He hung up.

He had always been rude, but he seemed more curt lately.

“What’s going on?”

Grandpa came out.

“Marso wants me to go to Münster.”

“Now?”

I nodded.

“You’ll be busy for a while, so it might not be bad to go ahead. But he’s in a hurry.”

“I know. I ordered pizza.”

“Pizza can be eaten later, but I have a meeting with the room representative and an architect tonight.”

“Right.”

I was looking for someone to entrust the construction of the Chocolatier gallery.

Grandpa stroked his chin and nodded.

“It’s better to go and come back. It’s not like I have to do anything with the person I’m meeting today. I’ll just talk to them and see what they’re like.”

“Really?”

“It’s hard to find time to go separately. You’ll be busy when you start working on the joint exhibition hall.”

“I guess so.”

“You can take the pizza with you. You’re taking a private jet, aren’t you?”

That sounded okay.

I hesitated and the doorbell rang.

I went outside and saw a golden sedan waiting.

“Are you coming back today?”

Grandpa asked Marso.

“I’ll be back before dinner.”

“Um, please take care of him. And make sure Hoon doesn’t get lost, okay?”

I looked back and forth between Grandpa and Marso.

They didn’t act like this two years ago. I had no idea when they started to trust each other so much.

I preferred them not being on bad terms, but I wished they would keep some distance.

“Got something to say?”

Marso asked, frowning.

“…Let’s just get the pizza and go.”

Bang Taeho was shocked to hear that Ko Hun had gone to Münster.

“Münster?”

“That’s right.”

Even though it was an unplanned trip, Kosuyeol didn’t seem too worried.

He just ate the potato pizza that Ko Hun had missed because of the late delivery.

“You’ve changed a lot. How you treat Mr. Marso.”

“He’s a strange friend, but Hoon likes him a lot.”

I didn’t like Marso’s shameless and reckless personality, but I learned a lot about his good points in the last two or three years.

The best thing was that he cherished his grandson Hoon very much.

Thanks to Henri Marso, Ko Hun developed a habit of going to bed early and getting up early, and he also started exercising.

He also enjoyed the wide range of experiences he had wished for while living in Paris, thanks to Marso.

“How long would it take to go to Münster separately? It would be faster to fly there and back.”

It took about seven hours by car from Paris to Münster.

The Münster sculpture project was a competition that valued harmony with the environment, so I had to visit it someday. It would be better to go there comfortably.

Bang Taeho nodded.

“By the way, are you going to Seoul next week?”

“Yes. I have to book a place for the interview. I’m planning to go and see the interview.”

“You’re working hard.”

“Haha. It’s a good deal if I can work hard and exhibit a good work.”

Bang Taeho laughed heartily.

He was willing to sacrifice himself if the artists from Korea could show their skills on the world stage.

“Right. Do you have any candidates you’re interested in?”

“Yes. Actually, I don’t know if I can choose even after the interview. I thought half of the 15,000 applicants would apply casually, but they didn’t. They all looked so desperate that I was embarrassed.”

Kosuyeol nodded sympathetically.

“It’s a rare opportunity, so they all want to grab it. There might be some fortune tellers too.”

There were ten Korean artists who could participate in the France-Korea joint exhibition hall.

Three of them were already decided, which caused a controversy for a while.

Kosuyeol, Jang Mi-rae, and Ko Hun were recognized as painters on the world stage, so it wasn’t a big issue, but there were some people who said it was unfair.

Kosuyeol knew that.

“No. If it weren’t for you and Hoon, I wouldn’t have been able to start this.”

Bang Taeho comforted Kosuyeol.

Kosuyeol smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Bang Taeho’s words.

“Next Biennale, I’ll have to apply from the documents. That’s fair.”

“Are you planning to participate again after winning this time?”

Bang Taeho joked sincerely, and Kosuyeol opened his eyes wide and laughed.

“Hahat. That’s true too.”