Father of France

Chapter 117 A Grand Exhibition

"Shouldn't a man have some dreams?" Coman was not happy to hear this. "If a man can't eat from a five-cauldron pot, he should at least be cooked in one." Louis XIV also said, "After me, who cares about the deluge?"

How could Koeman, a Frenchman, forget the teachings of the Sun King? Everything now is just a diversion from life; leading France, that is life.

The news of the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan and the establishment of the United Nations indicated that this world war was truly coming to an end. People from all countries, including but not limited to Americans, knew that Japan's surrender was only a matter of days, and champagne celebrations had already taken place across the United States.

After a few days of blissful intimacy, Koman and Ava Gardner celebrated the Allied victory. Ava Gardner, seeing the celebratory look on Ava's face, grumbled, "I think you just want to have a baby to celebrate."

"Uh, you've been married but have no children, can you have children?" Koman's words were extremely ruthless, reflecting a strong French style of sleeping with someone and not taking responsibility.

“Who said I can’t have children? I just haven’t been able to give birth yet,” Ava Gardner said angrily. “It’s not like I can’t get pregnant. Who’s spreading this rumor?”

When Koman saw Ava Gardner's strong reaction, he quickly apologized, saying, "I just wanted to say that if the first pregnancy doesn't go well, you should really get it checked out, otherwise it will be too late to regret it when you're older."

Celebrities like Ava Gardner, regardless of whether they are from the East or the West, have many examples of people who regret not having children as they get older.

In the United States, both Ava Gardner and Pauline Goddard expressed regret in their later years for not having a child when they were young.

Ava Gardner was initially angry, but after listening to Koman's explanation of survival and reproduction for a while, she was somewhat moved. "I didn't expect you to know about this?"

"France has been mired in low birth rates for a hundred years. How could you Americans possibly know about all the tragic social events that have occurred during that time?" Coleman chuckled. Of course, his knowledge didn't all come from France; it also included knowledge accumulated over a lifetime.

After all, population issues are a topic that is frequently discussed in the field of online gaming. However, the Eastern power was luckier than France, which was embroiled in a low birth rate problem when it should have been vying for hegemony.

In Europe, only France is experiencing low population growth, while its neighboring competitors are prolific in terms of population numbers.

In the 21st century, the major Eastern powers, Japan and South Korea, are far superior to any other major powers, whether they are world hegemons or old-line imperialist powers in Europe that are barely surviving. None of them have high birth rates.

Even powerful nations like India and Middle Eastern Arab countries have experienced slower population growth. When all countries face a problem together, the problem becomes less serious.

"If the vast majority of people in a country are keen on starting families and raising children, you will suffer a lot of malice in this society if you don't have children." Koman was doing this entirely for Ava Gardner's own good. He remembered that Ava Gardner was very lonely in her later years, and that Ava Gardner's golden age coincided with a low point for Hollywood as American television became more widespread.

The shrinking market for American films, squeezed out by television, meant that Ava Gardner's golden age was short-lived, and she ended up neither becoming a wealthy woman nor having a family.

Now that they had a relationship where they could share a bed, Corman naturally didn't hesitate to help Ava Gardner with her career planning and pointed out the impact of American television on the traditional big screen.

This is an inevitable event, and the film industry will inevitably face this calamity.

Hollywood was quite capable of withstanding the impact of television. Before the 21st century, the Eastern power also faced a period of rapid television adoption, and its film industry was almost destroyed.

“One solution is to continue your career in a place where television is not yet widespread. Of course, this would definitely mean a heavier workload.” Corman recalled that Ingrid Bergman moved her career to Europe when Hollywood was in a slump. Ingrid Bergman was just one of many stars who did the same.

As Ava Gardner listened to Corman's analysis of the challenges facing the film market, she nodded, a thoughtful look on her beautiful face as she asked, "You're not thinking of taking me back to France, are you?"

“Ms. Ava, be serious.” Koman put on a serious face, even more serious than President Hou, and said, “I would not deceive a woman, especially such a beautiful woman.”

He genuinely offered advice to this woman whose fate wasn't too good, but not only did she not appreciate it, she also questioned his motives. It was simply outrageous. If she were even slightly less attractive, Koman would have made her disappear.

Ava Gardner is still able to appear at this point only because of her face.

On the same day Japan announced its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, Picasso's works arrived in New York from Paris, and the New York Times reported that day, "The world's art capital has moved from Paris to New York." Upon seeing this report, Corman scoffed and said to Vanderbilt III, "I wonder what Mr. William thinks of this report?"

"It's a wonderful expectation, not impossible, but not so soon," Vanderbilt III replied solemnly. He too wanted what was said in the newspapers to become a reality, but that would take time.

"Maybe," Coleman muttered cryptically, much like how the United States' shipbuilding industry flourished during the war, only for Britain to reclaim its title as the world's leading shipbuilding nation after the war ended.

The United States is not a country without any weaknesses; many of its industries have failed. Otherwise, if the United States could handle everything on its own, would it have needed the help of Western European countries to fight against the Soviet Union? It could have just gone ahead and won the game itself.

After several days of preparation, Japan had entered the de facto stage of surrender. An art exhibition at the Metropolitan Exhibition Center in New York began, featuring works by Picasso as the main exhibits, as well as a number of other types of artworks.

Before the official opening of the exhibition halls, Vanderbilt III arranged for a group of people from high society and art magazines to enter the unopened exhibition halls first.

While giving attendees a sneak peek, we also need to use these media personalities to generate buzz and make the exhibition even more successful.

Koman, a person with absolutely no artistic talent, was merely there as a liaison, his job being to remain silent and watch as a group of upper-class people with even a sliver of artistic sensibility offered comments he couldn't understand at all.

Eric, a contributing commentator for The Art Herald, was supposed to finish his feature article on the Picasso exhibition three hours earlier, but the silver-haired old man standing in front of "Life" changed everything.

“You’ve been standing in front of this painting for a full forty minutes,” Eric finally couldn’t help but say, the notebook still bearing the marks of her torn pen—the result of her losing control during her third attempt to copy this masterpiece.

“Every era needs some witnesses, my dear,” the old man nodded slightly. “If there’s anything that’s a little uncomfortable about, it’s that his paintings still clearly reflect a Eurocentric perspective, which may not be so acceptable to some commentators.”

Although Norman Rockwell admired Picasso's paintings, he also believed that the Eurocentric narrative was outdated and that the United States was now on equal footing with Europe, no longer needing to treat European standards as the absolute truth as it had forty years ago.

“That idiot thinks I don’t understand English,” Koman muttered to Ava Gardner, earning a glare from the weekly-paid superstar. “She’s our country’s number one painter.”

"I don't recognize him either!" Koeman immediately adopted a solemn posture. "I see. That explains why your comments were so insightful and got straight to the heart of the matter."

After a limited tour and some media hype, the art exhibition officially began. Vanderbilt III took it very seriously, hoping that this exhibition would help the Vanderbilt family's transformation take hold.

The adage "foreign monks chant better sutras" proved true once again this time, with crowds pouring into the Metropolitan Exhibition Center from all directions, demonstrating that the $0.50 ticket was not a burden for the citizens of the world's largest metropolis.

The real roar came from inside the exhibition hall—thousands of footsteps beat urgently on the marble floor, as if rushing to a grand art event.

In front of "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" in the central exhibition hall, a thirty-layered human wall formed a moving barrier. The crowd before the original was as silent as the sea, before erupting into a final frenzy in the museum shop.

Limited edition replica paintings sold out in five minutes, jigsaw puzzles were snapped up, and even coffee mugs printed with "The Weeping Woman" were marked "sold out." As a woman clutched the last set of blue postcards and squeezed through the crowd, a security guard shouted towards the entrance: "Closing time extended to midnight! There are at least three thousand people outside!"

From any perspective, this exhibition can be described as unprecedented, with total revenue exceeding $110,000 on the day, including souvenirs, classic reproductions, a wide variety of merchandise, and tickets.

This was only the first day, and Koman had already heard from the radio that the excitement surrounding the exhibition was far from over.

“For a city of seven million, New York, today’s foot traffic is negligible,” Vanderbilt III said excitedly. “This is more successful than any exhibition our family has ever organized. The buzz will last for at least a week. People from surrounding cities will also come to visit.”

"That's really good news," Koman praised without changing his expression. He couldn't empathize with others in areas he wasn't familiar with, so his praise was dry and lacked any sense of connection.

He didn't know whether a daily income of $110,000 was a lot or a little, but judging from Vanderbilt III's reaction, it shouldn't be considered a small amount.

(End of this chapter)