收藏家追捧當代藝術 不再迷戀舊物

LONDON — The international art market is gearing up for a hectic autumn of auctions and fairs. Trading conditions could be challenging. Shanghai’s Composite Index of Shares has lost more than 35 percent of its value since June, destabilizing stock markets across the world. Slowing growth in China has depressed oil and commodity prices, tipping the Russian and Brazilian economies into recession.

倫敦——國際藝術市場正在爲繁忙的秋季拍賣與展會做準備。交易環境可能會面臨挑戰。自從6月以來，上海證券交易所綜合股價指下跌了35%還多，令全球的股票市場都產生動盪。中國經濟增長的放緩令油價與商品價格下降，推動俄羅斯與巴西的經濟走向衰退。

At the Frieze and FIAC fairs in October and at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips’s flagship auctions in New York in November, much attention is likely to be focused on whether the ultra-rich still want to spend millions on postwar and contemporary art. Larger or smaller telephone bids at those New York sales will be watched as a definitive indicator of whether the art market is still “booming” or not.

10月有Frieze與FIAC藝術博覽會，11月，佳士得、蘇富比和菲利普斯拍賣行都將在紐約舉行期間拍賣會，在這些活動中，關注的焦點很可能集中在那些超級富翁是否還願意斥資百萬，購買戰後與當代藝術品。紐約拍賣活動中的電話競拍金額多寡，將被視爲藝術市場是否依舊“繁榮”的決定性指數。

At the same time, the market for older, less-fashionable objects will again be tested by other dealers and auctioneers at several significant fairs and auctions.

與此同時，古老而不那麼流行的藝術品的市場如何，將在其他一些重要展會與拍賣上，由其他交易商和拍賣者做出檢驗。

Postwar and contemporary art was by far the biggest seller at Christie’s auctions in the first half of 2015, contributing 927.7 million pounds, about $1.4 billion, to total sales of 2.9 billion. First-half sales at Christie’s in the catch-all old masters category, which now includes 19th-century pictures and Russian art, were 71.1 million. Contemporary sales were up 16 percent and old masters down 32 percent, the London-based company said in a statement on July 20.

戰後與當代藝術是2015年上半年佳士得拍出金額最多的類別，共拍出9.277億英鎊，約合14億美元，而佳士得同期的總銷售額爲29億英鎊。佳士得籠統的“早期大師”類別，現在把19世紀的作品和俄羅斯藝術品也納入其中，上半年，這一類別拍出了7110萬英鎊。這家位於倫敦的拍賣公司在7月20日發佈的聲明中稱，當代藝術類的銷量增長了16%，早期大師類的銷量則下降了32%。

“It’s a different situation from 20 or 30 years ago,” said the Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. “There are now few serious collectors of antiquities. It’s kind of a pity. There are serious collectors of contemporary art, and I have benefited from them. There’s always a mixture of motives, but most of them are collecting for investment purposes.”

“這和二三十年前的情況不同，”日本攝影師杉本博司說。“現在已經沒有多少認真收藏古董的收藏家了。這有點遺憾。倒是有很多認真收藏當代藝術的藏家，我從他們身上受惠。他們的動機總是多種多樣的，但其中大多數人都是爲了投資的目的。”

Mr. Sugimoto, 67, has achieved international fame for his haunting, black-and-white landscape and figure studies made with a large-format, 19th-century-style camera. He is one of 10 postwar and contemporary artists featured in the exhibition “Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector,” which will open at the Sainsbury Center for Visual Arts in Norwich, England, on Sept. 12. The show debuted at the Barbican Center in London in February.

現年67歲的杉本博司使用大畫幅、19世紀風格的照相機拍攝黑白風景，進行形象研究，獲得了國際聲譽。9月12日在英國諾維奇的塞恩斯伯裏視覺藝術中心舉辦的“壯麗的迷戀：作爲收藏家的藝術家”(Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector)，涵蓋了10位戰後與當代藝術家，杉本博司是其中之一。該展覽於2月在倫敦的巴比肯中心(Barbican Center)首次開幕。

Mr. Sugimoto informs his photographic practice by collecting, among many other things, fossils (which he calls “pre-photographic time-recording devices”), medical instruments and Japanese Shinto religious art. Like his fellow featured artists, Andy Warhol, Peter Blake and Damien Hirst, Mr. Sugimoto evinces a historical eclecticism and intellectual curiosity that has become a rarity among today’s financially minded collectors.

杉本博司說，自己的攝影活動始於收藏化石（他稱之爲“攝影發明之前的時光記載裝置”）、醫療用品和日本神道教藝術品。和這次展覽中的其他藝術家，如安迪·沃霍爾(Andy Warhol)、彼得·布萊克(Peter Blake)和達米安·赫斯特(Damien Hirst)一樣，杉本博司展現出一種對歷史的兼容幷蓄，以及睿智的好奇心，在當今收藏家都以經濟爲優先考慮的背景下，這是極爲罕見的品質。

But why have tastes narrowed? Is it just that works by an international “brand” artist like Mr. Sugimoto are perceived as a better investment?

但是人們的品位爲什麼變得狹隘？杉本博司這種具有國際“品牌效應”的藝術家的作品是不是隻被當做更好的投資？

“People like certainty above knowledge,” said Norman Rosenthal, the former exhibitions secretary at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, who is organizing a new “Collections” section at the Frieze Masters fair, whose fourth edition will be held from Oct. 14 to 18 in London’s Regent’s Park. “And they go to museums and just don’t know these sorts of things are available.”

“人們喜歡確定性多於喜歡知識，”位於倫敦的英國皇家美術院(Royal Academy of Arts)的前展覽祕書諾曼·羅森塔爾(Norman Rosenthal)說，他在Frieze大師博覽會上組織了一場新的“收藏”展活動，第四次展覽將在10月14日至18日在倫敦攝政公園舉辦。“他們去美術館，完全不知道這些東西也是可以得到的。”

The new Frieze Masters section will feature eight dealers presenting museum-style displays of neglected collecting fields, such as Italian Renaissance ceramics (Bazaart, London); Japanese netsuke (Sydney L. Moss, London); German Expressionist prints (Simon Theobald, London); and ancient Egyptian wood sculpture (Sycomore, Geneva).

新的Frieze大師展中有八名交易商，以博物館展覽的形式展示受人忽略的收藏領域，諸如意大利文藝復興時期的陶藝（Bazaart，倫敦）、日本墜子（Sydney L. Moss，倫敦）、德國表現主義版畫（Simon Theobald，倫敦）與古埃及木雕（Sycomore，日內瓦）。

A century ago, when wealthy bankers and industrialists bought art across a range of historical periods and cultures, Italian tin-glazed pottery, or maiolica, from the 15th to 17th centuries was one of the great prestige purchases. In 1912, for example, the London dealer Duveen, bidding on behalf of the American financier John Pierpont Morgan, bought a 1524 dish by Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio at auction for 2,835, or about $330,000 in today’s money.

一個世紀以前，當富有的銀行家與工業家購買各種歷史時期、各種文化的藝術品時，15世紀到17世紀的意大利釉彩陶器“maiolica”就是人們搶購的對象。1912年，倫敦交易商杜維恩(Duveen)代表美國金融家約翰·皮爾龐特·摩根(John Pierpont Morgan)，以2835英鎊（約合如今的33萬美元）拍下一個1524年由古比奧的喬治·安德利奧利大師(Maestro Giorgio Andreoli)製作的盤子。

If inflation calculators are to be believed, auction prices for maiolica are now in fact higher — a 1525 figural and armorial dish attributed to the workshop of Nicola da Urbino was sold for $1.7 million by Christie’s in 2009 — but it has become a niche market whose top-level prices have been sustained by a handful of specialist collectors, such as the German businessman Bernd Hockemeyer.

如果考慮通脹因素，意大利釉彩陶器的價格如今實際上上漲了——一個尼古拉·達·厄爾比諾(Nicola da Urbino)工作室1525年出產的人像與盾形徽章盤子在2009年的佳士得拍賣會上拍出了170萬美元，但這成了一個小衆市場，最高價格由幾個專家收藏者把控，如德國商人貝恩德·霍克梅爾(Bernd Hockemeyer)。

“It is a sophisticated taste,” said Justin Raccanello of Bazaart, who will be trying to widen interest in maiolica at Frieze Masters with a display of about 40 pieces. A 1528 plaque of the Holy Family, newly attributed to Nicola da Urbino, is priced at 275,000. “But it’s one of the few Renaissance art forms that retains its original colors, and in a modern environment one or two pieces wouldn’t look amiss next to a Richter.”

“這是一種精妙複雜的風格，”Bazaart博物館的賈斯汀·拉卡尼羅(Justin Raccanello)說，他將在Frieze的大師展上展覽40件意大利釉彩陶器，試圖發展人們對這一領域的興趣。一件1528年的神聖家族徽章最新被鑑定爲由尼古拉·達·厄爾比諾所創作，標價爲27.5萬英鎊。“但這是少數幾種保持着原有色彩的文藝復興時代的藝術形式，在現代環境下，即便放在里克特(Richter)的作品旁邊也不會顯得不協調。”

Such is the understandably wishful, if not magical, thinking that dealers in historic items can sometimes fall into as they watch Nike-shod contemporary collectors hurry past their booths.

對於歷史物品的交易商們來說，這種一廂情願，有點像施魔法的想法是可以理解的，畢竟他們要經常看着那些腳穿耐克鞋的當代藏家們匆匆走過自己的展位，看也不看一眼。

Frieze, like Christie’s and Sotheby’s, is eager to promote the concept of “crossover” collecting. But few of today’s wealthy art buyers are willing to mix and match with the connoisseurship and commitment that characterized collecting in the early 20th century.

Frieze博覽會也同佳士得和蘇富比一樣，熱衷推出“跨界”的收藏概念。但是如今富有的藝術買家們卻很少願意像20世紀初的收藏家們那樣，以自己的藝術鑑賞力和責任心，進行各種混搭收藏。

The French financier David David-Weill (1871-1952), for example, had a taste for Art Deco and 18th-century furniture, Impressionist and old master paintings, Baroque sculpture and Byzantine objects. He also amassed a pioneering collection of early Chinese art, whose finest bronzes were eventually bequeathed to the Musée Guimet in Paris.

比如法國金融家大衛·大衛-維爾(David David-Weill，1871-1952)，對裝飾藝術(Art Deco)、18世紀傢俱、印象派畫家和早期大師作品、巴洛克雕塑和拜占庭藝術品都有涉獵。他還是中國古代藝術品收藏領域內的先驅，那些精美的青銅器後來被捐獻給了巴黎的吉美博物館(Musée Guimet)。

His collection was plundered by the Nazis during World War II. After his death, most of what remained of the collection was sold at auction in the early 1970s. The family will offer a final residue of about 56 lots of archaic Chinese jades and bronzes at Sotheby’s in Paris on Dec. 16.

“二戰”期間，他的藏品遭到納粹掠奪。他去世後，大部分保存下來的藏品都在70年代初的拍賣會上賣掉了。他的家人將於今年12月16日在巴黎蘇富比拍賣他的最後一批藏品，包括56件中國古玉和青銅器。

Estimated at 1.2 million to 1.8 million euros, about $1.4 million to $2.1 million, the auction will include a 1200 B.C. Shang dynasty bronze ritual food vessel, valued at ㄠ50,000 to ㈠50,000, and a large jade notched disc, dating to as early as 2000 B.C., valued at 80,000 to ㄠ20,000.

這次拍賣包括一件公元前1200年商朝的青銅祭祀食器，估價15萬到25萬歐元，還有一件大型玉玦，時間大約在公元前2000年，估價在8萬到12萬歐元，拍賣品總估價在120萬到140萬歐元之間，約合140萬到210萬美元。

The Chinese economy might be in a febrile state at the moment, and most of the pieces in the sale might be less than museum quality, but the prestige of the David-Weill provenance should ensure bidding from Asia. What, then, can be expected from Western “crossover” buyers?

中國經濟可能目前正處於動盪時期，拍賣會上的大多數物品可能低於博物館收藏的質量，但大衛-維爾的聲望肯定會吸引來自亞洲的買家。然而西方的“跨界”買家們又能期待什麼呢？

“We exhibited some highlights in Paris in June and some collectors of pre-Columbian art were impressed with the jades,” said Caroline Schulten, Sotheby’s senior specialist in Chinese art in Paris. “But it’s difficult to get younger collectors engaged with the decorative arts. It’s all about contemporary.”

“6月，我們在巴黎做了一些重要展覽，有些前哥倫布藝術(pre-Columbian)的收藏者對那些玉器非常感興趣，”蘇富比中國藝術高級專家卡洛琳·舒爾騰(Caroline Schulten)在巴黎說，“但是要令年輕收藏家對裝飾藝術感興趣是非常困難的，他們都收藏當代藝術。”

Perhaps something like Sven Gahlin’s 160-lot collection of Indian miniatures, which Sotheby’s is selling in London on Oct. 6, might be easier to engage with, both visually and financially. Dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, these vivid gouache-on-paper studies, mainly of Mughal, Deccani and Rajput courtly life, had been acquired by Mr. Gahlin, a London dealer and collector, since the 1960s.

10月6日，蘇富比將在倫敦拍賣斯文·加林(Sven Gahlin)收藏的160件印度微型畫，這樣的活動或許從視覺上與經濟上更容易吸引人們的興趣。這些畫來自16世紀到19世紀，是栩栩如生的紙面水粉畫，主要描繪莫臥兒、德感與拉其普特王朝的宮廷生活，加林先生是一位倫敦交易商，從20世紀60年代開始相關收藏。

Indian miniatures have long been admired — the British abstract painter Howard Hodgkin owns a collection featured in the “Magnificent Obsessions” show — but because few works can be ascribed to individual artists, values remain reasonable compared with much contemporary art. The best of Mr. Gahlin’s examples are mostly estimated in the 30,000 to 60,000 range.

印度微型畫一直爲人們所喜愛——英國抽象畫家霍華德·霍奇金就收藏了許多，並在“壯麗的迷戀”上展出——但是這些作品大都無法歸功於個人藝術家，和許多當代藝術作品相比，它們的價格比較公道。加林的收藏品中，最好的作品估價在3萬到6萬英鎊。

The market for Indian miniatures, like that for Italian maiolica, archaic Chinese bronzes and almost everything made before 1900, has a far smaller client base than that for international contemporary art.

印度微型畫的市場和意大利釉彩陶器、中國古代青銅器以及各種1900年之前物品的市場一樣，購買者要比國際當代藝術的購買者少得多。

“When I started, there were only two contemporary galleries in London,” said Mr. Rosenthal, who co-curated the Royal Academy’s controversial 1997 “Sensation” exhibition of Young British Artists. “Now art has become an industry. It’s vast.”

“我進入這個行業時，倫敦只有兩家當代藝術畫廊，”羅森塔爾說，1997年，他曾爲皇家藝術院極具爭議的，旨在推出年輕英國藝術家的“感知”(Sensation)展擔任聯合策展人。“如今藝術已經成了一種工業。非常龐大。”

“The Slump of the Old,” as the critic Robert Hughes might have called it, is a complex cultural phenomenon. The digital age’s totalitarian sense of “now” might have something to do with it, as might the pecuniary prestige of brand-name contemporary art and the horror of clutter and financial risk.

評論家羅伯特·休斯(Robert Hughes)可能會稱之爲“舊物的暴跌”，這是一種複雜的文化現象。數字時代“當下”的暴政也與此有關，此外的影響因素還有當代藝術中品牌藝術家的金元聲望，以及對混亂與金融危機的恐慌。

But at least one group still possesses the curiosity and imagination to collect earlier art without worrying about investment outcomes. Artists.

但是至少有一個羣體仍然對收藏早期藝術抱有好奇和想象，並不擔心投資的前景，那就是藝術家們。