why is vigil so... - La migliore offerta (2014) Discussion

[–] a-r-vasileva 10 years ago

Well, the film shows that he cheats people into thinking the possessions they want to auction/ buy are worth a lot less than they really are, and then buys them himself really cheap with the help of his friend (Billy). There was a painting he sold for 90,000 which he later admitted was worth 8 million. Probably most of the paintings he obtained this way went to his private collection but even if he sold a small fraction he could have easily made millions. :)

reply

[–] yukonracer 9 years ago

The previous answer is a a good one and I agree with it. I'd add only that auction houses receive a percentage (~5-10% I think but don't know). If it was Oldman's auction house then he would personally be the beneficiary of any profit. $100,000 for a 1 million piece sold, and we know he often sold pieces for multiple millions. Not a bad racket.

reply

[–] LilyDaleLady 9 years ago

Auctions at this level (priceless art) ARE profitable and DO make millions -- but the auction house gets 10% (and I think some costs like appraisals are born by the client) BUT they have HUGE OVERHEAD.

No auction house is run by one guy like this. They have dozens of employees, a big place like Sotheby's has HUNDREDS -- everything from a secretarial staff, to PR and marketing people who set up the auction events, to bookkeepers and art restorers and appraisers, MORE THAN ONE AUCTIONEER and just "helpers" who move the art around. These folks all need to be PAID. You need a building, security guards, storage facilities, trucks, movers, etc.

The costs are very high. It is lucrative, but not THIS lucrative. Virgil is living like an internet billionaire.

Also: he is spending quite a big of his profits buying the paintings from the shill bids -- yes, he's getting them cheaply but he is still spending hundreds of thousands on each one. And his "collection" has priceless paintings by Rubens, Renior, Bronzino, Sargeant and other VERY famous artists that nobody could "shill bid" away from buyers.

reply

[–] ToHelenBackAgain 9 years ago

He's presented to us as one of the leading experts in the world on art authentication, and the sole owner of one of Europe's most prestigious auction houses, which regularly handles pieces worth anywhere from tens of thousands to millions.

Even if he plays it straight most of the time - and I think he'd have to - how would he NOT be rich?

"Look! I'm a prostitute robot from the future!"

reply

[–] morganseer 9 years ago

It's a matter of degree, isn't it. But if we were to assume that most of the paintings in his vault are just good forgeries, maybe he could afford to live like this.

I'm just not sure he could stomach that.

reply