Previously on The Art of More...
Uzay killed Elizabeth and made it look like a carjacking.
Jesus.
We found this in Elizabeth's apartment.
It had your name on it. A gift, I imagine.
You cannot kick me off the board!
You're an unending tornado of drama.
You pussies.
I am concerned about him.
Miles was his choice to take over.
In light of his arrest,
can we really afford to have him be our face going forward?
- Please? - Belinda is dead.
If I could help you find her killer, I would.
They are Nigerian, looking to get into art.
I don't want to be an accomplice to your schemes.
NYPD.
You're not arresting me.
Not if you make it worth my while.
Where are you, Hassan?
I already went to the police, told them everything I know.
NYPD.
I could turn you over to them and they'd be happy to put you away for a long time.
And that's the way it's gonna be until you help me bring down
that terrorist-funding asshole Paul Rice, a.k.a. Al-Masrifi.
You got a week.
That hurt. Ow!
Listen, you never said that...
Hold still.
I do this long enough, you die.
You understand me?
No! No!
You move, you strangle yourself.
And I picked this one up back in '96, right after Valentin blew his brains out.
I knew his work would only go up after that.
Pain sells.
Whose pain? The artist's or his subjects'?
The viewer's.
I figure on some level, everyone likes to be abused.
Even the hypocrites who claim to be offended by this stuff.
I bet half of them get tied up every night.
I like this one.
Pleasure. Pain.
Look at her eyes.
She's not giving us anything.
Of course, the entire collection has a great deal of interest.
You better have more than interest.
The goddamn auction's in a week.
Where the hell is this big media blitz I was promised?
Controversial work like this has to be handled very carefully.
Yeah. That means skimpy. Thank God.
Brad. Good to see you.
I trust Roxanna and company are taking care of you?
I thought you were handling my account.
Well, it's a team effort around here.
Roxanna is excellent. I trust her implicitly.
Now, tell me about this one.
I hate making assholes money.
Maybe we should let Mr. Whitman handle him.
Doubt he'll have time with the board meeting.
What board meeting?
Hey, how you doing?
- Hey. - Well, what are you doing here?
My friend Uzay used to live here, I'm... I'm just trying to find him.
Look, he gave me... He gave me a key.
- No, no, no, no, no, no. - It's just a key.
- I didn't break in here. - I'm calling the cops.
You don't need to do that. Let me just go, huh?
Just stand back!
Yeah, I'd like to report a break-in.
128 Seneca Avenue.
I've seen a lot of fetishes in my day.
Your thing for jails really takes the cake.
What is it? The lights? The moldy odor?
My thing is for finding murderers.
Yeah, well, pulling your ass out of jail requires paperwork,
flags in the computers and phone calls,
and with every one of those comes a chance this investigation could blow up.
And if it does...
guess who's gonna be closest to the bomb?
If somebody killed your girlfriend, what would you do?
I'd kill them.
You're right.
Part of me wants to see you get the chance to take care of Uzay,
but this is bigger than you and me.
Now, we get you in to do a deal with Paul Rice,
we can take down a major source of terrorist funding.
I gave you a week to show me real progress,
now you've already pissed away two days of it.
Yeah, I'm trying.
I'm looking for a new cover job at another gallery.
Hey, you want to bait a whale, you don't sail around a lake.
Let's get you in one of those big auction houses.
That way Rice knows you can buy from him in scale.
DeGraaf's. You're friendly with the daughter there, right?
I don't want to involve her.
So don't.
Just get the goddamn job.
Pierson's not happy with anything and he's crossed over into verbally abusive.
Yeah, okay.
I have put up with a lot of shit in this business,
- but that guy... - Is an asshole.
What do you want me to do? Have him apologize and send you flowers?
Look...
Switch over to chasing the Descartes account.
We need that one.
- We don't have a shot. - Why not?
One of Parke-Mason's VPs, Todd Prescott, went to prep school with Descartes.
- It's essentially their account. - Shit, Alesha.
How about you bring me some good news, huh?
Dad? Dad?
I'm not sure what Howard said, but...
You know damn well what he said.
Roxanna?
Would you step in, please?
I think you know everyone here.
Ash has officially stepped down.
And the board,
by a very narrow margin,
has voted to appoint you interim CEO.
- Congratulations, Roxanna. - Thank you.
Thank you.
- Thank you. Thanks. - Congratulations, Roxanna.
I'm, uh, sorry about the interim designation,
but that's the deal.
You have the next two quarters to right the ship.
We want to see a billion in revenue by the end of the year.
You hit that, you stay.
If not,
you take the same walk your dad just did.
Jesus, say something.
Thank you. This is the right move.
Kippenberger.
Excellent investment.
Well, how excellent?
Fifteen.
Ah! Burning Gas Station.
Ruscha has never been hotter.
Last year at DeGraaf's...
"Smash" went for 30 million. I know, I was there.
But there's a wide range on Ruscha. Nothing else has sold for more than seven.
Oh, "Smash" has changed all that.
I had an offer on this for 10 million.
Well, you should have taken it, Michel.
I have a client in Croatia.
He's very low-profile. He might be willing to make a cash deal.
I can work with that.
Nine million for your shy client.
Well, I was thinking closer to seven, Michel.
I can't do it.
Okay. Always a pleasure.
Eight.
If you can have the cash here by tomorrow.
I'll see what I can do.
Joseph. Arthur Davenport.
I found a wonderful piece.
A Ruscha.
Twelve million Euro.
Well, he wanted 15, but I got him to go down.
You can't do better than that.
Don't be a fool, Tommy.
Their lives only seem perfect.
Still more than we got, huh?
Have you seen him?
Uzay?
No.
I figured you might be running low on essentials.
Thank you.
So where the hell were you for three weeks? I thought you were dead.
I turned off my phone.
You told me and Luis not to contact you.
He's back upstate.
I'm sorry about Elizabeth.
You know, I knew Demir since I was 12 years old.
We used to play football together.
He always wanted to play for the national team.
Demir would have killed us if you hadn't killed him.
Maybe.
They made their choices.
So did we.
Elizabeth's death is not your fault.
You know a guy named al-Masrifi?
Tommy,
what are you doing?
What have you heard?
That despite his nickname, he's really an American named Paul Rice
and he's a broker for the SICA.
And somebody I need to do a deal with.
You must be joking. After everything that's...
I don't have a choice.
After you and Luis left that night, I went to the FBI.
I wanted to do something good. Tell them the truth.
- Did you tell them about me? - No.
- Did you bring them here? - No, no, no. Sit down. No.
They don't know we're still in contact. Sit down.
Hassan, if I can help the FBI in their sting,
we'll both be in the clear.
But right now, I can't get to this guy
and I'm running out of time.
I need your help. Please.
Hassan.
Shit.
It has been a great privilege
to run this company for the last 22 years.
And I will miss all of you
more than I can say.
But life goes on.
Beginning today, Roxanna will be taking over as interim CEO,
until a more permanent selection can be made by the board.
No one wants to overstay their welcome, do they?
So, thank you, everyone, for everything.
- Uh, I'd just like to say... - You know, I almost forgot.
I will be holding a party tonight at Bemelman's,
and I would like very much for all of you to come.
Drinks are on me.
Now get back to work. Go! Go!
I can't believe that peckerwood, Roger Marshall
still has you as assistant curator.
I mean, you ought to be running the Schroeder.
Is that why you invited me to lunch? So you could get the dirt on Roger?
Oh, forget about him. Can't I just be impressed by you? Hmm?
Because I am. And, uh, I don't know, maybe there's some way I can help you.
That's very flattering, but I think I'm doing okay for myself.
Here's what I think you should do.
You need to get yourself a publicist who will tell the world
how you're really the brains behind the Schroeder's success.
And then, some other museum is going to come along
and try to scoop you up for twice the money,
and that will wake Roger up.
You know, my mom used to always yell at me and tell me,
"Isabel, slow down. You're running too fast!"
Hmm.
But in some things, I've learned to slow down.
And if I leave the Schroeder now, I'm gonna miss out.
On what?
- The annex. - The annex?
Oh, I thought you knew.
Um, forget it.
No, I don't forget.
I mean, you might as well tell me.
Because if you don't, I'm going to find out from somebody else anyway.
- They found a building on West 84th Street. - Mmm-hmm.
They want to open a new modern art annex, displaying people like Gursky and Richter.
Yeah. They've wanted to do that for years.
West 84th. Hmm.
- Hey! - Hey.
Uh, sorry to just show up.
You got a second to talk?
I'm actually headed somewhere.
Like on a date somewhere? Like a hot date?
Okay. The floor is yours.
Uh, I think you're right. I thought about what you said,
and, uh, yeah, I think we need to look out for each other.
- Stick together. - Meaning what?
Meaning I want to come work at DeGraaf's.
I was warned every person would come knocking down my door for a job.
What are you talking about?
I was just named CEO.
Shut up. What?
Roxanna, that's great!
- Congratulations! - Thanks.
Sorry.
My hot date tonight is my dad's retirement party.
I pushed him out of the company.
You're gonna go?
He doesn't want me there.
But, uh, I have to talk to him.
To explain everything.
Fuck him.
He treated you like shit for years.
If you want to right your karmic balance, you gotta hire somebody...
Like me.
- And why would I do that? - I don't know. Let me think.
You're going to have a lot of pressure on you.
- Mmm-hmm. - You're going to have to show results.
Now, you know that I get results.
I know how you get them.
Just give me one shot, okay?
Let me prove myself.
I'm chasing Hugo Descartes.
Hedge fund asshole with a hundred million dollar collection.
It's Parke-Mason's to lose.
Okay. Then they'll lose. I'll get you the account.
I'm not making any promises.
I am.
Thank you.
Get up. Turn around. Nice and slow.
Do you think I would shoot you?
- I'd never see my family again. - And don't you ever forget that.
Give me this week's envelope.
Really?
Feels a little skimpy.
- Where's the rest of it? - I haven't been able to sell anything.
How do I know my family is all right?
Where is the photo you promised me?
And where's the money you promised me?
Or do I got to tell my buddy back at ICE
to send them back to Iraq?
Then there wouldn't be any reason to keep you out of jail anymore either.
Now, you do exactly as I tell you
and everything is going to be fine.
Sorry for interrupting your dinner.
You got great technique. Muay Thai?
Sanshou. If you want an interview, call my office.
Nah, there's plenty out there about you already.
Your hedge funds, your racing, your MMA.
Everything except your art collection.
That's what I should be seeing more of, huh?
Considering you've got $150 million collection going up for auction.
A hundred million.
Is that what Parke-Mason told you?
It's what my own team of appraisers told me.
Because they don't want to stick their necks out.
They're playing a defensive game.
I play an offensive game.
- The ring is for fighters. - Yeah?
Why don't I put on a pair of gloves and we can keep talking?
You think you could last a round with me?
No. I could go three rounds.
- Just to keep talking about my account? - Not just talking.
Three rounds UFC rules. If I win, you sign with DeGraaf's.
Gamble on a $100 million account?
Come on, you're not gambling.
Either way you make out. With us, you just make more.
Noon on Thursday.
Deal. I'll bring the contract.
Bring a medic.
Ruscha is the most compelling of all '60s pop artists,
more so than Warhol or Lichtenstein.
His work is emotional rather than just clever.
And his market value bears that out.
Last year one of his pieces sold at DeGraaf's for 30 mil.
Yes.
And you were able to get this for 12 million?
I know, a remarkable price.
And being a good friend of the seller, we were able to do it in cash.
Which helps us avoid all those boring things
like duty fees and import taxes, which add up.
You have the bill of sale?
Yes, of course.
You didn't put up any collateral for the painting?
Well, Michel and I go way back. He values my business and my reputation.
This sort of thing goes on in the art world far more than you can imagine.
My family's company was built with its share of cash transactions.
Sometimes that is how good business gets done.
I couldn't agree with you more. So...
What do you think?
I love it.
- Nice doing business with you. - Hmm.
Mr. Connor's here, Mr. Brukner.
Yes, I can see that, Nicole. Thank you. Would you shut the door on your way out?
You send a guy in a black SUV to my mother's house?
You know what that means in my neighborhood?
Is it my fault that you moved back in with Mommy?
Yeah, I thought I'd spend more time with my family
since some asshole got me fired from my job.
You want to tell me why you keep bothering me?
Did you find out anything else about Belinda?
Or your buddy, Nazari?
I told you that when I did, I'd come to you first.
But you didn't tell me that you called Belinda the night before she was killed
and you warned her to stay away from that deal!
I got a source in the NYPD,
and he tells me when they go to question you about this voice mail,
they're told by the FBI to back off Connor.
What kind of a deal did you make with them?
You mean what kind of big fish did I give them?
Like some billionaire douche bag
who sent them the Statue of Gudea just to fuck me?
Always take care of your enemies. Isn't that what you taught me, Sam?
Just wait till you find out what a good student I am.
You gotta be out of your mind. This guy's ranked welterweight.
Amateur welterweight. Hold the bag steady.
I boxed in the army, you know.
Maybe you ought to see a therapist.
You know, I started going to one as part of my rehab.
Yeah, deal with it.
I'm just trying to win an account.
Yeah, and last week, you were on some crazy Middle Eastern goose chase.
I wasn't thinking straight. I've moved on.
You've never moved on in your life, Tommy.
- Therapy. You should give it a shot. - Shut up. Hold the bag.
I'm here to see my father, Ash Whitman.
Come here.
You know this is a private club.
I've been trying to speak to you all week.
You don't return my calls. You're not at the house when I come by.
What am I supposed to do?
Sit around there all day with your mother, watching PBS?
Does she know why?
She knows I've suddenly had an epiphany.
Realized life's too short, etcetera, etcetera.
And I don't want her to hear anything different.
Are you going to tell me why?
You were never going to give me a shot.
You made that quite clear.
Ah, the old Roxanna plan.
Do whatever the hell you want then rationalize it when things get ugly.
Things got ugly years ago. You just didn't want to see it.
Oh, well, I suppose I got tired of seeing the images of my daughter
in a wrecked SUV, or a courtroom, or a hospital bed.
Hmm.
I would have thought years of playing the perfect employee
would have replaced some of that.
Yeah. See, that's it, though.
You were just playing, as it turns out, Roxanna.
You're a goddamn snake in the grass.
The company is fucked.
The board saw it.
They saw your great hope, Miles, was no better and they picked me.
See, they have faith in me.
Which you never did.
Hmm.
So you can't make me feel like shit about this anymore.
Which is it, your professional
or your personal problems that are behind this now?
Right there. You just proved what I'm saying.
You're not ready to be CEO.
My Syrian contact in Canada knows al-Masrifi.
He will arrange for you to meet.
Why the change?
You were right.
There's too much at stake to let personal feelings interfere.
Tommy...
My family is not in Iraq.
What are you talking about?
They're in an immigration holding center here
in New York City.
What do you... What do you mean? Since when?
Since two months ago.
You mean all that time we were working together?
"Help me, Graham. My family's going to die
"if I don't get them out of Iraq?"
And they would have!
- All that fucking time? - They would have, Tommy.
Trust me, you helped me get them this far.
I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.
And if I told you the truth back then,
you would not have wanted to continue working with me.
I didn't want to get you involved, Tommy, but...
So, what now? What do you want?
There is a man I have to pay.
What man?
A cop.
Cop?
Thirty years of collecting wrapped up into one night.
This idiot has to call me back when I call.
Your security guard gave me a hard time.
Ash is just MIA. Goddamn!
Can you just get your people to do their damn jobs?
It can be hard to let go, Mr. Pierson.
- What? - Especially when you're invested this much.
But tomorrow night, we will sell the entire collection,
and we will sell it for above estimate.
That said, I encourage you to focus on the next set of owners,
and the pleasure the Valentin paintings will bring them.
Like paying it forward to a new set of masochist pricks.
Maybe they are not masochists.
Maybe they're just looking for a way to understand the pain.
Now, you have my number. Please feel free to call me with any problems.
You better know what you're doing.
Oh, I do.
What do you think of that, huh? Huh?
Am I supposed to be proud of you?
Well, yes. And maybe even happy, or grateful.
Look, while you were frolicking on the Dalmatian coast,
I was busy making a four million Euro profit.
I told you I didn't care about the money.
And obviously not about solving my problems either.
Somehow I doubt they're solved!
I'm going to ignore that last comment because I'm sure you meant nothing by it.
Did you mean what you said earlier?
About why you think I'm with you?
Mmm... No.
Oh, come on, relax, Silas.
You're so serious.
Uh, I need more champagne.
You need a wake-up call, Arthur.
Great. Make it for 11:00. I plan to be hungover.
In 1977,
she worked a lot with acrylics.
And then later in her career, she preferred doing oils.
- And she... - I have been trying to reach you.
I'm busy.
Do I have to make a scene?
Excuse me.
Everything is a joke to you, isn't it?
That was my career you ruined.
What are you talking about?
You bought the building on West 84th Street.
Yeah. It was a great investment.
Bullshit! You sat there at lunch pretending to offer me advice,
but you were just looking for ways to screw the museum.
And did you stop for one second to think about how that would affect my life?
You're missing the point.
Let me ask you a question.
Would you rather run a wing, or run the entire museum?
What are you talking about?
I have $750 million that I needed a shelter for.
I tried to build a hospital, but that didn't work out.
So, I'm going to build The Brukner Museum of Contemporary Art.
Are you joking?
Oh, I don't joke about anything with my name on it.
And I want you to be my curator.
So, do you want to come with me and run,
or do you want to just stay here and take it slow?
You sure you know what you're doing?
All right, boys. We're using UFC rules.
No head butts. No eye gouging.
No downward elbows, no strikes to the back of the head or the spine.
If I tell you to go back, to your neutral corners, do so immediately.
When you hear the bell come out, give us a good clean fight.
Let's go.
Motherfucker!
This is not a game Don't take me lightly
Brain cells from the same bring the pain I am nothing nice
The last thing you see when you're falling asleep
Shooting down your whole city
Now, who's messing with me? Nobody
You want it, you got it Then good, I get it
Break at your body Fuck it, I live it
Messing around I get two fists for Christmas
I don't play, doing weed and getting away with no scrapes like I told ya
Yeah, come on, get him!
Riding Riding, riding reckless
I'm about this money putting checks in my checklist
Might check your necklace
Come on, Tommy, you got this. Get up, Tommy, get up!
We go harder
Gorilla, gorilla Gorilla, gorilla
Get up, dude, get up! Get up, Tommy!
Like I'm King Kong
Gorilla, gorilla Gorilla, gorilla
Banging on my chest like I'm King Kong
I thought you were on leave.
How could I not be here to celebrate with you?
I got you a gift.
Close your eyes.
You're no fun.
You know, I asked myself
what do you get someone who suddenly has everything
they've been scheming for?
You need to go.
Whatever you say.
Oh, I thought you'd be happy to hear that my lawyers expect
the bogus charges against me to be dropped any day now.
So now, I can give DeGraaf's my full attention.
You don't seriously think I'll keep you around?
You don't seriously think we're going to let you control this place, do you?
I'll be in my office if you need anything.
Come, on. Knock him out! Knock him out!
You got him! You got him! Come on!
Get out of there, come on. Come on. Hit him! Hit him!
Hey, you did it, man. You went two rounds.
It's three rounds.
Something's wrong with you, man.
Or you're crazy.
What, you're giving up?
I've got a photo shoot tomorrow.
I can't go in there looking like Rocky Balboa.
So can I make you some money now?
Uh...
Hello. This is Silas. Leave a message.
Well, if it isn't Toni Kukoc.
Am I supposed to know who that is?
Never mind.
I saw that you called. I meant to get back to you sooner.
That's no problem.
Heard about Elizabeth.
I should have called sooner.
How's life in Club Med?
Oh!
Future has never looked brighter.
Well, I just wanted to let you know, if you get homesick,
I cleared everything up with the FBI.
What do you mean, cleared everything up?
I can't get into it over the phone, but
your file's closed. You can do whatever you want.
Oh, that's marvelous.
Must go now. Party to get back to.
All right. One second.
Is this usually how you start all your business meetings?
Well, I do, when I have something to celebrate.
And, uh, I assume
that this is going to be good news.
I decided to reject your offer
and make you a counter offer.
I don't want this to simply be another contemporary art museum.
- I mean, there are so many in New York. - Then what?
The most exciting art being done right now,
is by people who are working outside the establishment.
Artists who aren't getting the recognition they deserve
because they don't have the formal training, the pedigree, the big names backing them.
And I say, screw that!
I want to create the first ever
contemporary museum dedicated to outsider art.
Art from the streets.
Not from the big studios.
So this is a museum that's
dedicated to people that nobody's ever heard of.
That's your pitch?
This is a real movement set to break through.
Everyone will talk about this.
Everyone will be jealous that you beat them to the punch.
You'll thank me.
Oh, I will, will I?
Yes.
You'll start by giving me my own publicist
and a seat on the board.
Hmm. I liked my offer better.
Those are my terms.
Screw the establishment.
Oh, um, I've got to run. I have to meet my husband.
But I'll call you tomorrow.
I have so many ideas.
I'm really excited.
I hope you've got a good reason for this shit.
I'd have been fine at a Starbucks.
This was Anton Valentin's studio.
He painted here for 15 years.
Think of all the things this room has seen.
No thanks.
And yet, you'd never know.
It's just a room.
I brought the signed contracts from Descartes.
You really did get in the ring with him.
Yeah. You said, "Do whatever it takes." So...
Why do you want to work for me?
Don't flatter yourself.
It's not about you.
Obviously, you know there's...
Come on, we can skip the formal interview.
Really.
What I mean is,
why not take more time?
A hunter hunts.
A painter paints. It's what I do.
There are a lot of things you could do.
I guess I just like winning.
Why do you like this guy's paintings?
See you tomorrow.
Don't be late.
I wouldn't dream of it.
The Roxanna Whitman era begins.
You'll find shareholder data, current P&Ls
and projected revenue for the year.
Of course this was before my sister-in-law took over.
Early guesses are that this will cause revenue
to fall by at least 10%.
Which will lower shareholder value.
Temporarily.
Allowing Jianwun Corporation to buy a controlling interest
at a discounted price.
Once you get a voting majority,
you fire Roxanna,
put me in charge
and begin seeing the upside.
Mr. Whitman owns 20%.
It will be hard to get a majority without him.
Leave Mr. Whitman to me.
I assure you, he'll be very sympathetic to our cause.
My friend Uzay recommended these. Raved about 'em.
You might know him, actually.
Comes in here all the time. Uzay? About my age.
I see so many people, sir.
$4.69, please.
Yeah, of course. Keep the change.
Yeah, I just mentioned it 'cause, uh...
'Cause I haven't seen him in a while, you know.
Have a good day.
Khalid...
Your American was at my friend's shop
asking about you.
I told you he'd come looking for me.
I promised your father I would look after you.
I'll look after myself.
We'll wait till things cool down.
We sell the jar, then we get you out of the country.
There's enough money there to carry you for a long time.
Before I leave the country,
I will kill him.
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll August 2017
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll Released on www.Addic7ed.com