NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR — Sutradara Simon Wallon merilis film dokumenter The Hammer yang tayang perdana di Zurich Film Festival, mengangkat sosok Simon de Pury, mantan chairman Sotheby's yang dijuluki "Mick Jagger of Auctions". Film ini diproduseri sejumlah rumah produksi termasuk Kiss & Kill, AIG, dan Formapro Films. Dokumenter tersebut menampilkan sisi lain de Pury yang dikenal pemalu namun bersinar saat memimpin lelang.
Simon de Pury bukan nama asing di dunia lelang seni internasional. Pria yang pernah menjabat chairman Sotheby's itu dikenal lewat gaya memimpin lelang yang energetik dan penuh karisma. Namun di balik sorotan panggung, ia menyimpan sisi yang jarang terekspos.
Film dokumenter terbaru berjudul The Hammer coba membuka lapisan tersebut. Karya ini disutradarai Simon Wallon dan tayang perdana di Zurich Film Festival.
Wallon mengaku tertarik pada kontras yang melekat pada de Pury. Menurutnya, ada ketegangan menarik antara sosok pemalu dan penampilan panggungnya yang memukau.
"He's in the shadows but also in the spotlight. It's precisely this contrast that fascinates me and makes him a good character for a film: someone who's reserved and almost shy at times but then becomes the 'Mick Jagger of auctions.' This nickname suits him well," ujar Wallon.
Julukan tersebut ternyata bukan hal baru bagi de Pury. Ia mengingat bagaimana penulis Bob Colacello memperkenalkannya dengan sebutan itu puluhan tahun lalu.
"Decades ago, [writer] Bob Colacello introduced me this way. Other monikers mentioned 'Leonard Bernstein or [conductor] Herbert von Karajan of the auction world,' but it's the Mick Jagger one that stuck," kenangnya.
Sebagai penggemar berat The Rolling Stones, de Pury mengaku tidak keberatan dengan julukan tersebut. "As an unconditional admirer of the Rolling Stones, I have, of course, done nothing to dissuade anyone from saying it."
Meski dikenal sebagai maestro lelang, de Pury tetap punya prinsip sederhana saat melatih calon auctioneer muda. Ia menekankan pentingnya menjadi diri sendiri.
"Whenever I train young auctioneers, I tell them: 'Don't try to imitate anyone – be yourself.' The style of the auctioneer I've most admired, Peter Wilson [the chairman of Sotheby's from 1958 to 1980], could not have been more different from mine," ujarnya.
Ia juga mengaku masih merasakan demam panggung sebelum setiap lelang. "I have extreme stage fright before every single auction," aku de Pury.
Baginya, setiap lelang adalah pertaruhan besar. "The responsibility of any auctioneer is to obtain the highest possible price. At Sotheby's or Phillips, an important part of their yearly [revenue] can be decided within an hour during the big evening sales. For a charity, their yearly budget can depend on it."
"For me, every auction I conduct is the most important one I've ever done. Being good at the last one doesn't mean you'll automatically be good at the next one. It requires maximum mental and physical concentration."
Film The Hammer diproduseri sejumlah rumah produksi, termasuk Kiss & Kill, AIG, Formapro Films, On a Whim Films, Lazy Mike Gallery, dan Black Square Magazine. Wallon sendiri sebelumnya dikenal lewat film Bonnie tentang casting director Bonnie Timmermann.
Dalam dokumenter ini, sejumlah seniman ternama seperti Chloe Wise, Lou Zhenggang, Jeff Koons, dan Marina Abramovi? turut memberikan pujian untuk de Pury. Film ini juga menyoroti momen lelang di Moskow yang digambarkan Wallon sebagai peristiwa bersejarah tempat komunisme dan kapitalisme bertemu.
Menurut de Pury, film ini membuka jendela ke dunia yang tidak mudah diakses publik. "It also demonstrates that passion and curiosity for art ultimately bring everyone in the art world together," ujarnya.
Wallon melihat semangat bermimpi sebagai kunci energi de Pury. "In the film, Simon says that he never stops dreaming, just like when he was a kid. And that the minute you stop dreaming, it's the end. I couldn't agree more," tuturnya.
Ia menambahkan, "Dreaming gives you that energy – dreaming in the sense of wanting to achieve things and believing it's possible. The difficulty lies in keeping that up for as long as possible, and Simon has managed to keep that little flame lit through the years."
Dokumenter ini menjadi salah satu penampilan perdana di Zurich Film Festival dan menambah daftar karya yang mengangkat sosok di balik layar industri seni global.