Down town Athens is a mixture of a modern crazy city and a cultural hub. Old churches standing next to modern dull buildings; ancient monuments standing proudly in three thousand years of history next to modern monstrosities of cement and glass.
Maddening traffic with non stopping horns hooting. Untold pollution chasing everybody out of Athens and filling your lungs with poison. Walking towards Plaka and the central market of Athens towards the gallery was a pleasure. I was an onlooker, I was a tourist on a sort of business trip. I admired the displays in the shop windows but I was more thinking of the gallery I was to see soon.
Peddlers screaming their heads off to sell. Crowds rushing to their business and I am watching, taking all in and thinking:
Do I want this? Can this be the place to make money?
Ten minutes walk it was? Perhaps less than that but soon enough I was there. Paintings outside, vases in the windows, furniture further in. It was one of those antique shops that sold everything; that did not bother me.
I walked in eagerly. Two sales sharks rushed to help me. I am just looking, I stated calmly and in a very indifferent way. I looked around, I took in the activity, I watched with curiosity the people buying and the boss in the shop. A middle aged man who spoke a little but all ran scared around him.
That was a messy shop but somehow it was run with military precision. The phones were ringing, the bike bells were loud outside but drowned under the heavy hooting of taxis and cars alike. What a mess!
It was the bazaar area of Athens!
The Galanis drawing was literally sitting on the floor of the shop. You could not miss it. Nothing else was near enough in quality to this painting/drawing. It stood out and it called the viewer.
There is nothing else here! It’s just me! Lovely nude picture. Beautifully drawn, masterly coloured chalks and pastels. Galanis was a master of the Belle Epoch in Paris and this had all those attributes one would expect from such a work and period.
I circled it, I looked at it and then;
Good morning, can I help you? The husky hoarse voice of a man sounded behind me.
I am so and so. This is a lovely drawing , he added.
Yes, I like it, I responded coldly.
I am so and so from London.
What’s the cost?
This is a privately owned painting. They are asking for 1500.00 pounds. I believe it is worth every penny of it.
I remained silent! I kept looking and checking the painting’s frame and backboard. It was all genuine, old, non-trade.
It was a fair price but in Athens one needs to bargain, one needs to play the game of negotiation and mutual giving in of some ground.
The norm is to offer just about 50% of the asking price. I did not offer anything. I thanked the gallery owner and left. I was confident the painting would be there the following day. I needed to think over the possible purchase and my strategy in going about it. I am very slow in getting things done and thinking quickly is not my trademark. Slow as a donkey but…
Always getting there somehow!
This was the first time I was buying something from a private gallery as a business. It was serious money, it was a very good painting and all those factors had to be taken into account before my second visit to the gallery with the plan to buy the painting, there and then.
Pay 50% of the Actual Value
I was taken by the exquisite pastel drawing. It was a small gem, which I felt could sell for about 2000 pounds at auction in London. I could not afford to spend more than 1000.00 pounds. I had to be very strict with my purchases and how much I paid for them. It was a matter of survival, it was good business.
I slept over the issue of buying the Galanis pastel. I gave it a good thought in the morning and by 12.00 I was in central Athens at the shop in Sophocleus Street. I had a little time for a chat but really, I was in a rush to buy and get back to London the following day. Time is money and for me it was indeed.
The owner recognised me and he immediately came to me. I was staright forward with him. I like the painting, I said, and I came to have a second look. I looked at it again and then without much hesitation I started baragaining.
What’s the last price on this?
I am not sure, he stated calmly, but we can ask. I am sure a 10% discount is in line.
I looked at him straight in the eye and …
I have very little time as I am going back to London tomorrow, which was true. I have 1000.00 in sterling for the painting. I can pay now, collect and go.
He screwed his eyes, he groaned a little and then,
Let me make a call, please.
The call was made, the conversation was over and he was back with m soon.
Are you paying in pounds? Yes, I said.
It’s a deal, he declared smiling.
Well, well, well! I did not expect it to be so easy but I was happy. I was very happy with my new purchase. Reward for the trip, I guessed.
The painting was wrapped, I paid for it and I was on my way out of the shop, when the owner asked me,
Can I ask for a big favour, if you allow me?
Yes, by any means, if I can help.
Help if you can and it nearly always benefit you too!
I need a check of three hundred pounds for something I am buying in London. Can you help me?
But of course, I replied. No problem. I wrote the check and he was ready to give me the equivalent in drachmas.
No, no need for that, I said. Next time I visit Athens I might buy something else from you to settle this.
He was gob -smacked, by my remark. He took his glasses of, he looked at me for a few seconds and then he declared shakily:
Listen, he said. I have been in this business for thirty years. Nobody ever gave me money without a guarantee. My shop is yours from now on. Anything you buy, take it and go. You can pay me anytime you want and can.
What a turning point and what an event! It is twenty –three years since then but it is so fresh in my mind.
I made a valuable friend, who stood by his word and our business relationship was one of gentlemen helping each other.
Buy privately but know your business!
I wasted no time with the Galanis pastel. Sell and reinvest was the idea. I entered it for sale at Sothebys immediately I was back from Athens. The pastel sold for 2500 pounds in the Impressionists secondary sale in February 2008.
Doubling my money within four months was super and I was ready for some more investments.
Could I buy something special?
The 1987 stocks crash was still reverberating and taking its toll in all areas of economic activity and art was No exception. There were opportunities but not the one I was looking for!
Will I get one chance to invest big in order to have big retruns?
