Late at night in 2018,
The much-anticipated Rockefeller "Auction of the Century" raises the hammer.
After a few rounds of bidding,
The highest-valued Picasso painting,
Sold at a high price of $115,000,000.
In 1905, the painting sold for only $30.
The painting has been hanging in David Rockefeller's home since the date it was bought and has never been taken off
The painting exploded in value by 4,000,000 times in 100 years.
It's all because of the mysterious Bole behind Picasso —
Gechu Stan.
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)
Is it a fluke or a discernment?
Today we take you to know the behind-the-scenes influencers of 20th century Parisian art,
The story of Gechu Stan
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "genius" Gechu</h1>
"I've only met three geniuses in my life: Gechu Stan, Picasso, and Wildhead."
— Alice, a girlfriend of 40 years with Ge Chu
At the end of the 19th century in the United States, many girls locked in the era of deep boudoir and large characters, and the 23-year-old Ge Chu had been admitted to the first medical school in the United States to recruit female students, determined to become a doctor who could be recorded in history. But the boys at the same school were clearly not ready to compete with the girls.
Born into an enlightened intellectual family in the United States, Ge Chu graduated from Harvard at the age of 20 with a diploma in psychology
Questioning, ridicule, and exclusion ensued. "There is no room for me here, there is room for me." Before graduating, Ge Chu left the United States and followed her brother to Paris, the art capital of her dreams.
Ge Chu lived in Europe as a child, and as soon as he arrived in Paris, romantic memories of the past began to emerge
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > discerning beads</h1>
Paris at the beginning of the 20th century had just been baptized by Impressionism, Monet's lotus pond was still rippled, and Seurat's dots were still mottled, but the "picky" brothers and sisters did not look at these mainstream arts. They prefer to wander through the galleries of art dealer Vollard, stopping in front of "niche" artists for hours at a glance.
Amboise Vollard was a Parisian dealer who began acquiring Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne, and Van Gogh while they were still unknown
In 1904, the brothers and sisters had a balance of $8,000 in their trust accounts. With this money, Ge Chu and his brother did not hesitate to rush into Vollard's gallery to consume, and when they came out again, their arms were full of "treasures".
The Three Tahitian Girls / Gauguin
"Madame Cézanne with a Fan" / Cézanne
"The Woman with the Hat", which was criticized by critics for "throwing oil paints on the face of the audience", is Ge Chuhua's beloved work of 500 yuan, which not only solves the dilemma of Matisse being criticized by the painting world, but also allows the painter who is on the verge of bankruptcy to make a living.
The Woman in the Hat / Matisse / The dealers at the time bought the paintings for bargains, and only Ge Chu never bargained, because she knew the future value of these works
There is also Picasso's The Girl with the Flower Basket. The dusty and sad little girl in the painting has deterred countless buyers, but it has only entered Ge Chu's eyes. She ended up spending $30 to bring the painting home.
"The Girl with the Flower Basket" part/The girl who begs for life in the wind and moon place is the same as Picasso who has just arrived in Paris
Gauguin's pursuit of "pristine beauty", Cézanne's delicate balance of space, Matisse's praise of life and color, and the repression of Picasso's blue period without awhere are all understood and tolerated by the Gechu brothers and sisters. Only 2 years after arriving in Paris, the paintings collected by the brothers and sisters have piled up.
The high walls of the home are full of treasures that the brothers and sisters have found, and the one above Ge Chu's head is "Madame Cézanne with a Fan"
In order to house these treasures, Gechu and his brother bought a small building on the left bank of the Seine, but inadvertently became the most elegant place in Paris.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > discerning collector</h1>
Every Saturday night, the thunderous salon gathered all the unknown artists of the time, Matisse, Rousseau, the poet Apollinaire, and later Hemingway and Fitzgerald were all guests of the Gechu family, and Picasso even affectionately confessed that the salon was another home for him.
Fitzgerald in the movie Midnight in Paris/He and his girlfriend Zelda are regulars at the Salon
Knock on the door, and as soon as you can tell who introduced you, Gechu's girlfriend Alice will hand you a glass of raspberry wine and lead you to the warm fireplace to join everyone's conversation.
"It's like the best showroom in a top art museum.
There was a big fireplace which was very warm and cosy.
They serve delicious food and wine...
Transformed into a restrained fire on the tongue,
Warm your body and open your box of words. ”
—— Hemingway's "Flowing Feast"
Hemingway in the movie Midnight in Paris
In the salon, the only people who can sit on an equal footing with the male guests are Ge Chu and his brother, and the female relatives who arrive together are brought aside by Alice. Even Alice herself said:
"Ge Chu and the geniuses together,
I am friends with my wives of genius."
In his gay love affair with Alice, Ge Chu actively plays the role of a man
In such a cultural world, there was no status for women. Ge Chu's strength is nothing more than that she does not just want to be the lord of the salon.
The well-informed Ge Chu also often mentions younger artists, which is also faithfully presented in the film
The artistic and literary prodigies of Paris have either been assisted by the GeChu family to continue to create, or they have been stimulated by their peers in the salon to polish more wonderful works. The brothers and sisters' circle grew like a snowball, and the collection became richer and richer, but the two suddenly broke up.
The paintings on the wall bear witness to the brothers' and sisters' enthusiasm for collecting, and also record the beginning and end of their aesthetic differences
His brother scoffed at Cubism, which was obsessed with geometric figures, but Ge Chu insisted that Picasso's advocacy of "cutting out the complex and simplifying" was the future of art.
The Guitar / Picasso / 1912 / This is The earliest Cubist collection of Gechu. The combination of multiple spaces shows three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional canvas
Flowers/Juan Gris/1914
This time, Gechu no longer echoed his brother's taste, and the two decided to separate the family - the brother left For Italy with most of the collection, while Gechu kept all the Picasso paintings and stayed in Paris.
In order to thank Gechu for his kindness, Picasso gave her and her girlfriend a still life painting "Apple", with the back of which is written "Gechu and Alice Save"
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > belong to Gechu's time</h1>
It turns out that Ge Chu's artistic sense of smell is ahead of the times. With the fame of avant-garde abroad, Ge Chu's reputation spread back to the United States. In 1934, 30 years after leaving, ge chu, the art promoter, finally waited for her to return home.
On October 24, 1934, Ge Chu returned to his homeland after a 30-year absence, giving 74 speeches in 37 cities during a 191-day trip
Just after embarking on the ocean cruise ship, Ge Chu's name appeared on the front pages of all newspapers and magazines, and the electronic display screen on Times Square announced to everyone:
"The time for Gechu Stan has arrived".
In 1933, Ge Chu was featured in Time magazine
Celebrities and dignitaries were also fascinated by the European avant-garde art she brought: in Washington, D.C., First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had a long conversation with her, and at Beverly Hills, Chaplin also invited Gechu to chat and enjoy tea.
Matisse's triumphant Gechu
In 1929, when Abby Rockefeller founded the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, she wanted to buy 6 Picasso works from Gerchu's collection, but due to lack of funds, she had to give up; in 1967, the head of Rockefeller's descendants, David and his wife Peggy, finally bought 8 of her collections, including "The Girl with the Flower Basket", from Gerchu's descendants for $2,100,000.
The painting has been hanging in the study of the couple's 65th Street residence in New York
In 2018, at The Rockefellers' "Auction of the Century," "The Girl with the Flower Basket" fell for $115,000,000, becoming Picasso's second most expensive work.
"The pioneering spirit of the art collected by Gechu Stan,
Inspired us to think wisely,
And to show a more avant-garde vision of collecting art. ”
—David Rockefeller
The Rockefellers, who knew the joy of collecting
After Ge Chu's death in 1946, most of the 47 paintings she spent half her life collecting were donated to the Baltimore Museum, and a small amount flowed into the market and was handed over from generation to generation in the hands of famous artists. As David Rockefeller said:
"These works of art will come into the market again,
Owned by other collectors.
I hope they are like us,
I can get infinite satisfaction and happiness from my works."
From the ostracized medical students,
To the discerning collector, the salon owner full of friends,
Ge Chu single-handedly rewrote the history of modern art.
Her name,
It should be juxtaposed with Matisse, Picasso and others,
Become a Belle Époque gilding imprint.
Picasso's portrait of Gechu has been hanging high on the wall of her home for people to enjoy
Zero o'clock,
The church bell had just struck 12 times.
You are willing to sit on a classic car that travels through time and space,
Back in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century,
Will you sit down with me in the salon of Ge Chu's house?
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