Konrad smiled. As soon as he saw Sławek's sculpture, he knew that it was beautiful and exceptional, that the author had talent, but he would not dare to say that it was a genius. Well, but he himself had only a cursory education in art. He knew what people liked through the ages and what he liked, but when dealing with something new, he couldn't tell if it was good or bad.
"You give a lot of money for a finished pieta" he said. "It's hard to believe it's worth so much."
"Even more. Works of art sell for hundreds of millions of dollars, but the author's name or legend is more important than the artwork itself. This is what Sławek lacks. Once he has them, he can become a millionaire. Then this pieta will be worth hundreds of thousands. Unfortunately, it's not easy to enter the market and show yourself well. And you care about time."
"We don't have much choice."
"How much time do you have?"
"A month."
"A month. Hmm, it's really not much ..."
At that moment, Sławek entered the kitchen, carrying a large, clearly heavy cardboard box. Kowalski came over to help him carry it and set it on the floor.
"I will show them to you" said Domejczuk "because we do not know each other and you are not from here and I really need this money, but I am asking you to do without stupid comments."
It seemed that for some reason it was important to him. Perhaps artists are, for some reason, more sensitive than normal people. Sensitive or oversensitive. Konrad did not really understand where it comes from, are they born with it, or do they acquire it with age? However, he sincerely wanted to help Sławek, so he solemnly promised himself that whatever he saw, how weak Domejczuk's works would turn out, he would refrain from stupid comments, in line with his request. After all, it was important for Sławek.
The boy set the box down and stepped away as if he didn't want to have more to do with it. Perhaps he didn't want to see their reactions very well, so he keeps his distance, Skalski thought, and he felt a little uncomfortable. For even a second he hesitated if he should even look inside the box, but curiosity won. Kowalski leaned over the cardboard first and froze. Konrad moved a little closer to see, but the art dealer leaned more and blocked his view.
"My God," he heard him whisper. No, he was really curious now. He looked over Kowalski's shoulder and immediately looked away, blushing.
He certainly did not expect such a view!
For a moment he wondered if he had seen it correctly, and finally decided that he must have been wrong. So he decided to take another look. He looked at the contents of the carton with pounding heart and saw the art dealer animatingly taking more copies out of it, examining them carefully and setting them on the floor. Konrad blushed at the sight of every one of them, but he had to admit that there was something attractive, magnetic about them. Not in the subject matter itself, but in the manner of execution. Although the subject matter was also… intriguing.
It seemed that Sławek specialized in intimate acts and scenes of couples not only of the opposite sex. It even looked as if he was paying particular attention to the anatomy of men.
"Sławek, where did you get your inspiration from?" Kowalski asked, not taking his eyes off the sculptures. He sounded deep in thought.
"From the manga. And from the anime. Once, by accident, I got my hands on something of this genre and somehow ..."
"Sure!" Konrad exclaimed, feeling that a light bulb was lit above his head. "Big eyes full of emotions, always blowing hair and clothes ... But these sculptures are different, more ... natural ..."
"Well, yes," agreed Sławek. "I take inspiration from anime, but I try to portray people, not dolls, so I make noses and lips like a normal human have."
"Sławek, I think that I will find buyers quickly for some of your works. It is true that I have no knowledge of the market for this type of art, so I will not promise you details, but I am sure you will get a few thousand."
"But ..."
"I know you need more. I just don't know how quickly I can find a suitable buyer."
"No, that's not the point." The boy seemed indecisive.
"Are you especially attached to them?"
"No! Of course not! It's just… They are so… indecent."
"No, Sławek" Kowalski replied with complete calmness in a soft, pleasant voice "there is nothing indecent about them. On the contrary. There is nothing indecent about nudity presented so naturally and innocently despite the subject matter. Remember the sculptures of Phidias, Michelangelo and other classics. Did you know that Donatello's David, one of the flagship works of the Renaissance and the pride of Florence, was considered outrageously indecent? Apart from the legend surrounding the sculpture and its model, David shows the perfect beauty of the human body not because of its physical perfection, but because of its natural imperfection. In purity of lines and fidelity to details, you resemble the most perfect sculptors, but you work with wood, which is not as easy to work as it may seem. In addition, you combine the classicism of the West with the romanticism of the East, which gives a truly unique effect. How old are you anyway?"
"Eighteen," he admitted.
"Eighteen? Just eighteen?! Incredible! Such artistic maturity at such a young age! You must have a very old soul!"
"What does it mean?" asked Konrad, who, after Kowalski's monologue, began to look at the intriguing sculptures of Domejczuk with greater interest and appreciation.
"According to the genesis concept, after the death of a person the soul can come back to earth to develop through experiences. Man does not remember past lives, but the more he has gone through, the more mature and wiser he is. If someone has wandered like this for a long time, at some point, despite his physically young age, he shows the wisdom and understanding of the world that is typical of someone very experienced. The person is then said to have an old soul. But you, Sławek, do not seem surprised. Have you heard that about yourself?"
"Yes," he admitted, blushing.
Kowalski was looking at him carefully, but the boy clearly wasn't going to elaborate on his speech.
"You may or may not believe in a journey of souls, but it's a beautiful sounding theory," added Henryk Kowalski. "It suits some man perfectly."
Konrad smiled at Sławek.
"Yes, she really is beautiful. And it fits perfectly."
Konrad hardly knew Sławek at all, but he had the impression that he was extraordinary. Now, when he heard this theory, he decided that Sławek confirmed it, although there was something embarrassing in Kowalski's words.
Domejczuk looked at him and both, confused, looked away. Konrad felt his heart beat faster. He wanted to help him even more.
"I would like to take these sculptures with me" Kowalski pointed to a certain group. Only now did Skalski realize that an art dealer was making a selection while watching them. He was surprised that most of the sculptures he chose depicted very erotic, almost exclusively homosexual scenes.
Despite the fact that the subject of the works was, to put it mildly, bold, Konrad looked at them more and more often and more and more clearly saw their uniqueness. They attracted like magnesium, beautifully made, with attention to detail, and they expressed intense emotions that affected the viewer. Passion, longing, thirst, sadness ...
"But they are…" defended Sławek
"Beautiful," Konrad blurted out without thinking. "Really ..."