VOA常速英语:Want to Own a Piece of a Painting? NYC Startup Lets You Do It

Investing in art is something beyond what many people can afford.
投资艺术是许多人负担不起的事情。
But that may no longer be the case thanks to New York startup called Masterworks.
但由于纽约的初创公司Masterworks，情况可能不再是这样了。
Very simply investors can come to our website.
很简单，投资者可以来我们的网站。
They can view different works of art that we have available for investment.
他们可以看到我们可以投资的不同的艺术品。
And they can invest amounts as small as 500
他们可以投资500美元
or as large as thousands of dollars in a particular painting.
或者一幅画上几千美元。
Scotland, a collector who in 2017 founded the startup called masterworks,
苏格兰是一位收藏家，他在2017年创办了这家名为“杰作”的初创公司，
says the concept of fractional ownership gives people lots of opportunities
他说，小数所有权的概念给人们带来了很多机会。
that used to only be available to the super rich.
以前只有超级富豪才能买到。
Its part of a new trend on the market called the democratization of luxury.
这是市场上一种叫做奢侈品民主化的新趋势的一部分。
But Lynn says part of his job is to look out for investors without that much money.
但林恩说，他的部分工作是在没有这么多钱的情况下，照顾投资者。
For example, many people use IRA or retirement accounts to invest in these paintings.
例如，许多人使用IRA或退休帐户投资于这些画。
So we want to make sure that the returns are as as predictable as possible
因此，我们希望确保回报尽可能可预测。
and the risk is reasonable.
风险也是合理的。
When a masterpiece is sold at an auction to a collector,
当一件作品在拍卖会上卖给收藏家时，
it usually disappears from the public sight.
它通常从公众视线中消失。
But in case of fractional ownership the art piece continues its journey from one museum to another.
但是，如果有部分所有权，艺术品继续从一个博物馆到另一个博物馆的旅程。
We like the idea of once we purchase these paintings
我们喜欢一旦买了这些画
and then sell them off to investors to reload them out to museums,
然后把它们卖给投资者再把它们装进博物馆，
so they can they can be seen in the public.
所以他们可以在公众面前看到他们。
The coronavirus inspired quarantine has amplified the investors appetite for art.
由冠状病毒引发的隔离措施扩大了投资者对艺术品的兴趣。
Since the pandemic hit the us in mid-march,
自从3月中旬流感大流行袭击美国以来，
Masterworks has been attracting over 10,000 new investors a month.
杰作每月吸引了10000多名新投资者。
All in all,people have invested over 30 million dollars in 15 world masterpieces.
总之，人们已经投资了超过3000万美元在世界上的15件杰作。
In the last two years,only five works of art have been purchased.
在过去的两年里，只购买了五件艺术品。
In Masterworks, our perspective has been that art is an uncorrelated asset class
在MasterWorks中，我们的观点是艺术是一个不相关的资产类别。
meaning that it doesnt necessarily go in the same direction
意味着它不一定朝着同一个方向
as the stock market or or other asset classes.
股票市场或其他资产类别。
So what we what weve seen with COVID is that
所以我们在疫情期间看到的是
although theres been a large decrease in the total volume of sales by by roughly half,
虽然总销售量大幅度下降了一半，
weve actually seen our prices increase.
我们实际上看到我们的价格上涨了。
And I think in June alone,we saw 22 artists that set price records.
我认为仅在六月，我们看到22位艺术家创造了价格纪录。
Oil and gold prices as well as company shares are prone to ups and downs
石油和黄金价格以及公司股票都容易涨跌。
depending on the situation in the world and changing politics.
取决于世界形势和政治变化。
But even the Dow Jones Index is powerless,when it comes to world masterpieces.
但就连道琼斯指数也无能为力，当提到世界名著的时候。
Vladimir Lenski in New York Anna Rise VOA News
弗拉迪米尔·伦斯基纽约安娜·伦斯基美国之音新闻