Van Gogh Reborn!

272

The Preliminary Battle (2)

André Masséna, the director of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, had a big dilemma lately.

He had to hire an artist, and no one could deny that Henri Marso was the best fit for the French Pavilion.

André himself thought that Henri Marso was the ideal candidate, but the problem was his domineering attitude.

Inviting him meant giving up his role and authority as the director of the French Pavilion.

“What should I do?”

André Masséna sighed.

He had lost some of his prestige due to an unpleasant incident in the past, but the Venice Biennale was still the world’s top art exhibition.

He wanted to prove his ability by achieving a great result.

‘Then who should I choose?’

He thought of a few names.

Bernard Benet, Hom Eung, Dran.

They were all excellent artists, but it was uncertain if they could deliver a performance as good as Henri Marso.

Daniel Buren could also be expected to produce a good result as Henri Marso, but he was too old to participate.

“Ah.”

André Masséna sighed again.

He didn’t know what would happen if he hired another artist besides Henri Marso and failed to impress.

The art lovers would criticize him for not inviting Henri Marso, and the industry would regard him as an incompetent who ruined his work because of his ambition.

‘Maybe I should just.’

If he formed a team around Henri Marso, he could aim for the Golden Lion Award without much trouble.

He would have to give all the credit to him, but at least he could get the title of the 2029 Venice Biennale National Pavilion Golden Lion Award.

After days of repeated deliberation, he came to a tentative conclusion, when Chévasson Simon, the chairman of the association, opened the door and entered.

“André.”

“Mr. Chairman.”

Simon greeted André warmly and sat on the sofa.

“You must be very busy. What can I do for you?”

“I came to consult with you about the national pavilion.”

“Consult?”

Simon asked, holding the teacup that the staff brought.

“Yes. I want to invite Mr. Marceau, but…”

“Hahaha! I wondered what it was.”

Chévasson Simon laughed heartily when André trailed off.

He thought he was worried about how to hire the notoriously difficult Henri Marso.

“Why are you so worried? Of course you should invite him.”

“Really?”

“I’ll talk to him, so don’t worry and proceed.”

Chévasson Simon assured him.

Henri Marso, who liked to be in the spotlight, wouldn’t refuse to represent the French artists.

Besides, he was considering participating in the Venice Biennale recently, so he thought he would surely join.

“Thank you. I need to meet him once. When would be convenient for you?”

“I’ll talk to Marceau and let you know.”

André Masséna thanked him again.

He saved himself the trouble of contacting Henri Marso separately, and everything went smoothly.

‘Is this okay?’

He felt a bit uneasy as if he had nothing to do as the director of the French Pavilion, but he felt relieved when he saw Chévasson Simon’s smiling face.

“Then I’ll be going. Thank you very much.”

“Sure. There are some reporters outside. Talk to them well.”

“Reporters?”

“It’s the deadline for submitting the list of participants for the Venice Biennale. They must be curious if Henri is participating. It would be strange if I spoke for him when you’re here.”

André was touched by Chévasson Simon’s consideration.

“I’ll do my best to prepare.”

“Hah. I hope he doesn’t do his best.”

André laughed along and went outside.

As he left the building, he saw some reporters waiting as Chévasson Simon had said.

They recognized André quickly, as they were literary reporters.

“Are you André Masséna?”

“How are you planning the national pavilion for the Venice Biennale?”

André answered the reporters’ questions politely.

“Usually, the Biennale is focused on the artists, but the national pavilion emphasizes the characteristics of the country. I’m doing my best to represent France.”

“Please be more specific.”

“I want to show what kind of art is dominant in France right now. I’m focusing on communication, so that the audience can feel the depth of French art.”

“Who are the participating artists?”

It was an expected question.

Andre Massena paused for a moment and answered with a chubby face.

“I don’t think we can talk about French art without Henri Marso.”

The reporters who got the answer they were waiting for started to bombard him with questions.

“Did you talk to Mr. Marso?”

“Is it a solo exhibition by Henri Marso?”

“How are you going to work with Marso, who has never collaborated with other curators?”

Andre Massena smiled leisurely.

“I haven’t confirmed the list yet.”

The reporters’ faces rose with disappointment. They felt cheated by Andre Massena, who said it was not a sure thing after they got a scoop related to Marso.

“But I just met Mr. Simon Chevasson, the chairman of the SNBA, and heard some good news.”

“Then?”

“Yes. You will be able to see Henri Marso’s works at the Venice Biennale this year. I’m planning to prepare the best environment for him to exhibit his works.”

[Henri Marso, positive about participating in the Venice Biennale]

[Venice Biennale participation list preview. Henri Marso confirmed]

[Head of the French Pavilion, “Henri Marso will dominate Venice.”]

[The French Pavilion decorated around Henri Marso]

[SNBA official, “Henri Marso represents French art.”]

[Henri Marso Pavilion installed in the Venice Biennale National Pavilion?]

[Andre Massena, “I’m going to make an exhibition hall for Marso.”]

Andre Massena’s interview was soon turned into an article.

The media cheered for the hero of the French art scene, who had secured his position with the Art Nouveau competition, and also published speculative articles to compete for views.

Some articles mixed expectations and said that the French Pavilion was the closest to the Golden Lion Award, while others talked as if Henri Marso had already confirmed his participation.

Alex Wood, a YouTuber who was live streaming, didn’t miss it.

He nodded his head after finding the French article with a viewer’s tip.

“This is something that can be expected. There are so many great artists in that country, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s Henri’s era right now. But I feel like Henri will do it alone. Don’t you think?”

The viewers agreed with Alex’s opinion.

They couldn’t imagine that Henri Marso, a terrible narcissist, would cooperate with someone to decorate the exhibition hall.

“The French Pavilion decorated around Henri Marso… It’s a speculative article, but it’s probably true. As you and I think. In this case, he might either come out alone, or there will be artists who support Henri.”

A viewer asked how he looked at the Venice Biennale National Pavilion.

“France, the US, and Italy are strong, I guess. Korea? Korea is a bit.”

Alex found the confirmed participation list and showed it to the viewers.

“Choi came out alone. I don’t understand this. What about Go Su-yeol and Go Hun? I would understand if Jang came out, but it’s so random that I’m a bit puzzled.”

Alex Wood looked around and corrected his words.

“Cancel what I just said. Actually, I don’t know how great Choi is. But he’s not a famous artist, at least.”

Someone asked if it wasn’t good to invite star artists to the National Pavilion.

“Well, it doesn’t make sense to have a National Pavilion if the focus is on the artists, but these days there are cases like France. They put Henri Marso in front of everything. I don’t know if that’s the French Pavilion or the Henri Pavilion. This reporter even says it’s the Henri Marso Pavilion.”

The viewers agreed.

“It feels like they’re just sticking him on, but they can also say that the most popular artist represents that country right now. That’s why they put Henri on. And that also increases the chances of winning. They’re very competitive. The Venice Biennale. Huh? What?”

Alex, who was telling his story, raised the chat window.

It was because of the content that a viewer reported.

[The formation of the fantasy troika]

18:00. Henri Marso, a French artist, officially announced his participation in the Venice Biennale National Pavilion.

Henri Marso will join the ‘Artist Pavilion’ with Go Su-yeol and Go Hun, Korean artists, contrary to what was reported.

The Artist Pavilion, which will be newly established in the Venice Biennale National Pavilion next year, is an experimental exhibition hall that starts from the fact that artists are building their own worlds.

The attention of the ears is focused on what kind of works Henri Marso and Go Hun, who founded the painter community Chocolatier, will present with Go Su-yeol.

The article that came up as a breaking news did not have much detail.

“…What about the French Pavilion?”

Alex Wood blinked his eyes as he repeated scrolling up and down.

└LOLㅋㅋㅋ What about the French Pavilionㅋㅋ

└What’s the article? They said they were in the French Pavilion?

└Henri Pavilion without Henriㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└The trash talkers are at it again. They wrote that they knew what was going to happen, that they were speculating.

└The articles are all being taken down lol

└Wow, but this is really amazing. Goseuyul, Anri, and Hun.

└I know, right? Isn’t this the best lineup ever?

└Crazy. Each one of them is enough to make headlines, but now they’re all in one place.

└I can’t really picture Anri and Hun collaborating, can you?

└They must have a plan.

└Lololololol Andre Massena can’t be reached lololol He’s not leaving his house, what to do lol ㅠ

└So that’s why Goseuyul and Hun didn’t participate in the Korean pavilion.

Shévasson Simon felt like he had been hit on the back of his head when he saw the breaking news.

He was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out as he checked the article.

No matter how many times he looked, the phrase that Anri Marceau was participating in the artist pavilion did not change.

He hurriedly called Marceau.

-Yeah.

“What are you doing!”

Shévasson Simon rarely yelled.

-What.

“How could you decide such a thing without telling me a word!”

-What are you talking about.

“The Venice Biennale!”

-Oh. That happened.

“That happened? What? How can you do this without the French pavilion? Huh!”

-It doesn’t make sense.

Anri Marceau answered calmly. Shévasson Simon, the president of the association, was furious.

“You knew that and you did it! I helped you with everything you did, but this is not it! How can you do this!”

-Calm down. Your blood pressure is rising.

“Do I look calm right now! Tell me! What were you thinking when you did this!”

Shévasson Simon was not appeased.

He had always supported Anri Marceau in whatever he did, but this time he could not let it go.

It was outrageous that he would refuse to participate in the international art exhibition that was the pride of the nation.

-If I take the French pavilion, it won’t give a chance to other people.

“…”

He was ready to scold him.

But Shévasson Simon could not say anything.

-Anyway, I’m not going to do what I don’t want to do. Tell the commissioner to take care of it.

-Marceau, what about this?

-Throw it away.

He heard Hun’s voice over the phone.

-I’m busy. Talk to you later.

Shévasson Simon was frozen with the phone in his hand after the call was cut off.

Some feedback and suggestions:

The original text is written in a casual and conversational tone, using slang, abbreviations, and emoticons. This is suitable for a web novel, but you may want to consider your target audience and genre. If you are writing for a more formal or serious setting, you may want to avoid using too much informal language.

The original text uses a lot of dashes (-) to indicate dialogue. This is a common practice in Korean novels, but not in English ones. You may want to use quotation marks (") instead, and follow the punctuation and capitalization rules for dialogue. For example:

-어.

-Yeah.

should be

“Yeah.”

The original text also uses a lot of ellipses (…) to indicate pauses, hesitations, or trailing thoughts. This is not wrong, but you may want to use them sparingly and vary your sentence structures. For example, instead of:

“…….”

You could write:

He was speechless.

The original text switches between past and present tense, which can be confusing for the reader. You may want to stick to one tense throughout the story, unless you have a specific reason to change it. For example, instead of:

속보를 접한 셰바송 씨몽은 뒤통수를 얻어맞은 듯했다.

Shévasson Simon felt like he had been hit on the back of his head when he saw the breaking news.

You could write:

Shévasson Simon feels like he has been hit on the back of his head when he sees the breaking news.

or

Shévasson Simon felt like he had been hit on the back of his head when he saw the breaking news.

The original text uses a lot of names and terms that may not be familiar to the English reader. You may want to provide some context or explanation for them, or use a glossary at the end of the chapter or the book. For example, you could explain what the Venice Biennale, the artist pavilion, and the French pavilion are, and why they are important for the characters.