2015年经济学人 艺术市场 相当流行

 

The art market

艺术市场

Fairly popular

相当流行

The rapid growth of art fairs is changing the way galleries operate

艺术品集会的快速发展正在改变画廊的运转方式

That won't fit in the living room

那并不适合放客厅里

SHORTLY after The Economist¹ went to press, about 25,000 people were expected to turn up at the London Art Fair. Your correspondent visited just before, as 128 white booths were being filled with modern paintings and sculptures. Dealers³ clutched mobile phones to their ears or gathered in small groups. They seemed nervous—as well they might be. “I can earn a year's living in one fair,” said one harried⁴ dealer² while stringing up a set of lights.

就在本期《经济学人》付印后不久，预计有两万五千人次参加伦敦艺术博览会。笔者之前参观过这个艺术博览会，现代画和现代风格的雕塑填满了128个白色展览位。商人们紧紧把手机贴在耳朵旁，或者三五成群。他们看上去神情紧张—也许事实也如此。一位忙碌的经销商一边忙着吊起组灯，一边说“一次博览会能让我挣足一年的生计”。

Before 1999 London had just one regular contemporary art fair, remembers Will Ramsay, boss of the expanding Affordable⁵ Art Fair. This year around 20 will be held in Britain, mostly in the capital. Roughly 90 will take place worldwide. The success of larger events such as Frieze⁶, which started in London, has stimulated⁷ the growth of smaller fairs specialising in craft work, ceramics⁸ and other things. Art14, which started last year, specialises in less well-known international galleries, showing art from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Korea and Hong Kong.

逐步壮大的平价艺术品展览会老板拉姆齐，犹记得1999年之前，伦敦只有一个定期开展的当代艺术博览会。今年，英国将开展20余场，大都聚集在首都伦敦。粗略估计，全世界范围内会开展约90个艺术博览会。一些大型博览会，如开办于伦敦的斐列兹博览会刺激了小型专业于艺术品、陶艺品之类博览会的成长。去年开办的Art14博览会专注于一些不知名的画廊，专门展出一些来自黑非洲、韩国以及香港的艺术品。

One explanation for the boom is the overall growth of the modern-art market. Four-fifths of all art sold at auction⁹ worldwide last year was from the 20th or 21st century, according to Artprice, a database. In November an auction in New York of modern and contemporary art made $691m (￡422m), easily breaking the previous record. As older art becomes harder to buy—much of it is locked up in museums—demand for recent works is rising.

艺术博览会的快速发展原因之一是全球当代艺术品市场的发展。据调研公司Artprice的数据，去年全球拍卖的艺术品中，有五分之四源于20世纪和21世纪。11月，纽约的一场现当代拍卖会创下了6亿9千1百万美元（约合4亿2千2百万欧元）交易额，轻松打破先前的记录。由于历史悠久些的艺术品变得难以购买（大部分都被锁在了博物馆里），所以对于近现代艺术品的需求有所上升。

London's art market in particular has been boosted by an influx¹⁰ of rich immigrants from Russia, China and the Middle East. “When I started 23 years ago I had not a single non-Western foreign buyer,” says Kenny Schachter, an art dealer. “It's a different world now.” And London's new rich buy art differently. They often spend little time in the capital and do not know it well. Traipsing around individual galleries is inconvenient¹¹, particularly as galleries have moved out of central London. The mall-like set-up of a fair is much more suitable.

伦敦的艺术品市场还尤其受来自俄罗斯、中国和中东移民浪潮推动。“23年前我刚开始入行的时候，我连一个非西方买主都没有”一名艺术品经销商沙克特说道：“世道变了”。而且伦敦的新富购买艺术品口味各异。他们很少花时间在成本上，对此了解也不多。漫步在个人画廊中很不便，尤其是当画廊都从伦敦市中心搬出去后。而商场式的集会设置就显得更为合适。

Commercial galleries used to rely on regular visits from rich Britons seeking to furnish their stately homes. Many were family friends. The new art buyers have no such loyalty¹². People now visit galleries mainly to go to events and to be seen, says Alan Cristea, a gallery owner on Cork¹³ street in Mayfair. Fairs, and the parties that spring up around them, are much better places to be spotted¹⁴.

商业画廊过去一向依靠那些英国富人的定期造访，他们寻求艺术品来装饰他们富丽堂皇的家。还有一些还是亲友。那些新兴艺术品购买者没有这么忠诚。梅菲尔区科克街的画廊主克里斯蒂说，人们现在造访画廊主要是去参加活动。他们的周围充斥着各种集市还有聚会，都是更值得去的地方。

Some galleries are feeling squeezed. Bernard Jacobson runs a gallery opposite Mr Cristea. The changing art market reminds him of when his father, a chemist, was eclipsed by Boots, a pharmaceutical¹⁵ chain, in the 1960s. Seven galleries in Cork Street relocated this month to make way for a redevelopment; five more may follow later this year.

一些画廊感受到了相当的压力。雅各布森经营的画廊就在克里斯蒂的对面。艺术品市场的变化提醒他，他的化学家父亲因上世纪六十年代的制药锁链而失败。本月，科克街的七家画廊为了再发展决定迁址；还有五家在今年末也会跟随他们的脚步迁址。

Yet the rise of the fairs means galleries no longer require prime real estate, thinks Sarah Monk¹⁶ of the London Art Fair. With an international clientele, many can work online or from home. Although some art fairs still require their exhibitors to have a gallery space, increasingly these are small places outside central London or beyond the city altogether. One gallery owner says few rich customers ever visit his shop in south London. He makes all his contacts at the booths he sets up at fairs, which might be twice the size of his store. “It's a little like fishing,” he explains. “You move to where the pike is.”

伦敦艺术博览会的芒克认为，艺术品集市的兴起意味着画廊再不需要黄金地带。有了国际顾客，许多画廊可以网上交易或者居家办公。即使一些艺术品集市仍然要求参展商拥有展示空间，伦敦市中心外或伦敦之外不断的有小型地皮出现。一名画廊主说，他在在南部伦敦的店很少有有钱顾客光顾。他把所有联系都放在了他集会的展位上，因为展位可能是他店的两倍大。“这有一点像钓鱼”他解释道“鱼上哪，你上哪。”

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 harried   

v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰

参考例句：

• She has been harried by the press all week. 整个星期她都受到新闻界的不断烦扰。
• The soldiers harried the enemy out of the country. 士兵们不断作骚扰性的攻击直至把敌人赶出国境为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 frieze   

n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带

参考例句：

• The Corinthian painter's primary ornamental device was the animal frieze.科林斯画家最初的装饰图案是动物形象的装饰带。
• A careful reconstruction of the frieze is a persuasive reason for visiting Liverpool. 这次能让游客走访利物浦展览会，其中一个具有说服力的原因则是壁画得到了精心的重建。

7 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

8 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

9 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

10 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

11 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

14 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

15 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

16 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。