睁眼看世界: 国外拍卖界争夺中国市场

Christie’s seemed to have lost pace against Sotheby’s in the race to get into the Chinese market. But it has powered back and now obtained a licence to operate auctions in the mainland; the first sale will be held this autumn in Shanghai. Unlike Sotheby’s, which is in partnership with the government entity GeHua, it has an independent “comprehensive auction licence”. But what the firm will not be selling is “cultural relics” – there are tight controls on antiques and antiquities such as jade, ceramics and ink paintings – which are the most high-priced works in the market.
在昔日进军中国市场的竞争中，佳士得(Christie’s)的步伐似乎落后于苏富比(Sotheby’s)。但如今它已然强势回归，获得了在中国大陆独立举办拍卖会的执照。首场拍卖会将于今秋在上海举行。与入股中国国有企业歌华集团(GeHua)的苏富比不一样的是，佳士得获得的是单独“拍卖综合执照”。但公司不会竞拍“文化遗产”——中国严格控制玉器、陶瓷以及水墨画等文物与古董的拍卖——它们是目前市场上价位最高的艺术品。

However, international works of art, wine and jewellery will be offered and, says Asian president François Curiel, “We will also be able to make private sales ... We are hoping to access Chinese collectors who do not necessarily travel abroad so much.” Asked whether this means the end of Hong Kong as a sales centre, he says: “Not at all, I don’t think it will cannibalise it at all, the market is big enough for everyone.”
但是，国际艺术品、洋酒以及珠宝将会进入拍卖名录，佳士得亚洲区总裁高逸龙(François Curiel)说：“我们也有能力举办私人拍卖会……希望能够接洽到中国藏家，他们不太出国旅游。”当被问到这是否意味着香港作为拍卖中心地位的终结，高逸龙答道：“完全不是，我觉得上海根本不会挤占香港的中心地位，如今的市场规模特别庞大，每家都有生存空间。”

Still in Asia, Sotheby’s spring sales season in Hong Kong concluded with a solid grand total of US$280m, against expectations of US$220m-US$295m (pre-sale estimates don’t include commission; results do). These figures are far from the record of US$447m set for the same series in 2011, but since then the Chinese market has cooled quite dramatically, due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy.
还是在亚洲市场，香港苏富比今春拍季完全出乎之前2.2亿美元-2.95亿美元的预估（竞拍前的预估成交额并不包括佣金，但最终成交额中包括相应的佣金），最终的总成交额为2.8亿美元，远低于2011年同期创下的4.47亿美元记录。2011年以后，由于中国经济减速，中国拍卖市场行情急剧萎缩。

At Sotheby’s, the traditional fields did well, with a tiny 17th-century ruby-red tea bowl, sold by the collector Alice Cheng, making a tidy US$9.6m. However there were some hiccups in the sale of contemporary Asian art, which made US$16.7m. According to the local art dealer Jean-Marc Decrop, “In some cases estimates were too high, and because the market has been weaker, vendors were holding off consigning. But the good things did very well: as an example, a Fang Lijun painting, “Series 1, No 4” (1990-91) made US$2.3m, despite being black-and-white, so not necessarily as immediately appealing as his more colourful works.”
在苏富比，传统物件的拍卖行情仍然不错，藏家张永珍(Alice Cheng)雅藏的一只17世纪宝石红小茶碗，依然拍出了960万美元的高价。但在总成交额1670万美元的亚洲当代艺术拍卖会上，小问题不断。香港本地艺术商让•马克•德克洛普(Jean-Marc Decrop)说：“某些拍品的预估价过高，因为行情持续走低，各大卖家都在拖延委托代售。但上乘拍品的行情十分火爆：举个例子，方力钧(Fang Lijun)创作于1990-1991年的画作“Series 1, No 4”,成交价高达230万美元， 尽管只是一幅黑白色作品，当初，这幅作品与他所创作的那些色彩艳丽的作品相比，并不被各路藏家追捧。

Still on the subject of Chinese art, a new website is being launched on Monday: Artshare.com. It will focus exclusively on modern and contemporary Asian art, and each month will present a curated exhibition of 10 works: the first will feature paintings by, among others, Yu Youhan (US$200,000) and Li Shan (US$150,000). An influential advisory committee includes Johnson Chang of Hanart TZ gallery, Pearl Lam and collectors Dominique and Sylvain Levy. China specialist Philip Dodd, who is also on the committee, says that the site “should plug into a global constituency of collectors who can’t get to Beijing.” Prices start at US$10,000 and there is a “private sales avenue” for transactions above US$100,000.
还是说说中国艺术这个话题。新网站Artshare.com正式上线，它将专注于现当代亚洲艺术，每个月将策展10幅作品：除了其他画家外，第一个月将专门展出余友涵（Yu Youhan，价位20万美元）与李山（Li Shan，价位15万美元）的作品。大名鼎鼎的咨询委员会中，就包括了香港汉雅轩画廊(Hanart TZ Gallery)老板张颂仁(Johnson Chang)、林明珠(Pearl Lam)以及收藏家西尔万勒维夫妇(Dominique and Sylvain Levy)等众多大腕。中国艺术方面的专家菲利蒲•多德(Philip Dodd)同样是委员会成员，他说该网站“应该深入接洽那些无法亲临北京的国际藏家。”网站的拍品起价1万美元，此外还设有一个“私人买卖区”，交易的艺术品起价为10万美元。

Speaking of private sales, Christie’s has a new wheeze – a nomadic “sculpture garden” to display works outside real estate developments in New York. The first is close to the firm’s Rockefeller Center headquarters at Madison and 54th Street, where the firm has placed Claes Oldenburg’s huge “Typewriter Eraser” (1976), which is being sold by private treaty. I thought the point of these transactions was confidentiality, but not so here – the piece is being touted very publicly. Christie’s explains that some transactions “we don’t communicate” and others are “open to the public”. The price is also confidential – Alexis Klein of Christie’s assures me this is legal – but hints that it is above $2.2m, which is what the piece fetched when it last sold in 2009.
谈及私人交易，佳士得推出的新举措匠心独运——在纽约各大地产建筑（经常更换展场）外设立 “雕塑园”，以展出相关雕塑作品。首次“雕塑园”活动就设在佳士得公司总部大楼外，展出克拉斯•奥尔登堡(Claes Oldenburg)创作于1976年的巨幅雕塑“打字机橡皮擦”(Typewriter Eraser，见右图)，如今该作品正通过私下协议进行销售。佳士得公司总部位于麦迪逊(Madison)与54大街(54th Street)交汇处的洛克菲勒中心(Rockefeller Center)内。我觉得这类交易的关键是信息保密，但在此处并非如此——该雕塑作品在大庭广众之下兜售。佳士得解释说有些交易内幕“不能透露”，但有些交易会“向公众公开”。具体成交价也是秘而不宣——佳士得的阿历克斯•克莱恩(Alexis Klein)一再向我保证这合乎法律——但暗示说“打字机橡皮擦”的价位肯定超过220万美元，这是2009年它上次拍卖时的价位。