評(píng)論
打印
Business
商業(yè)報(bào)道
Selling art online
網(wǎng)售藝術(shù)品
Enter Amazon
點(diǎn)擊亞馬遜
The internet giant's fine-art venture is unlikely to sell many masterpieces
互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨頭的藝術(shù)冒險(xiǎn)，看樣子賣(mài)不出幾件珍寶
WITH a mouse click you can add Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis: Package from Home to your Amazon shopping cart.
只需輕輕點(diǎn)擊鼠標(biāo)，你便可以把諾曼·洛克威爾的名畫(huà)《威利·吉利斯：從家打包》加入你的亞馬遜亞馬遜購(gòu)物車(chē)。
But you will need boldness and a bulging bank account to proceed to checkout: it costs 4.85m.
但是，你還需要足夠的膽量和充足的資金去結(jié)算：該畫(huà)價(jià)值485萬(wàn)美元。
The oil painting went on sale in August, when Amazon splashily announced that it would add fine art to earth's biggest selection of consumables.
八月，這幅油畫(huà)開(kāi)始在網(wǎng)上銷(xiāo)售，當(dāng)時(shí)亞馬遜高調(diào)宣布將會(huì)向其 世界上最齊全的消費(fèi)品中加入美術(shù)作品。
But it will not be easy to sell art alongside books and barbecues.
但是，銷(xiāo)售書(shū)籍和烤肉架容易，賣(mài)美術(shù)作品就難了。
Amazon's arty initiative is not revolutionary.
亞馬遜銷(xiāo)售美術(shù)作品的點(diǎn)子并非首創(chuàng)，
Hundreds of dealers already sell art online, swarming into every niche and bristling with gimmicks.
成千上萬(wàn)的經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商已經(jīng)在網(wǎng)上買(mǎi)美術(shù)作品了，其勢(shì)頭可謂無(wú)孔不入，賺足了噱頭。
Sedition sells digital works, some by famous artists.
還有炒作銷(xiāo)售數(shù)碼作品者，其中部分出自名家之手，
Artsy figures out buyers' tastes from their browsing activity.
而那些偽藝術(shù)家則從買(mǎi)家的瀏覽記錄中揣摩其需求。
Artnet, the self-proclaimed market leader, auctioned 15m-worth of art last year and provides online exhibition space to 1,700 galleries.
去年，自稱行業(yè)領(lǐng)跑者的Artnet拍賣(mài)出了價(jià)值1500萬(wàn)美元的美術(shù)作品，在其網(wǎng)站上陳列了1700個(gè)畫(huà)廊。
Christie's and Sotheby's, the best-known auction houses, have long accepted online bids as an extension of their traditional sales.
最負(fù)盛名的兩家拍賣(mài)行佳士得、蘇富比早已將網(wǎng)上招標(biāo)作為其傳統(tǒng)銷(xiāo)售的延伸部分。
So far, all this has made little impression.
迄今為止，效果并不理想。
Online art sales were 870m in 2012, less than 2% of the 56 billion global art market, according to a report published by Hiscox, an insurer.
希思可保險(xiǎn)公司的報(bào)告顯示，2012年網(wǎng)上藝術(shù)品銷(xiāo)售成交額僅為8.7億美元，不到全球美術(shù)作品市場(chǎng)成交總額560億的2%。
Assuming that art will progress online at the same rate as luxury goods, the report predicts that sales will more than double to 2.1 billion by 2017.
該報(bào)告預(yù)測(cè)假設(shè)網(wǎng)上銷(xiāo)售藝術(shù)品的增長(zhǎng)速度同奢侈品一樣，到2017年其銷(xiāo)售總額將會(huì)翻一番達(dá)到21億美元。
Even then, online's share will still be modest.
即便那時(shí)，網(wǎng)上藝術(shù)品銷(xiāo)售總額仍是微不足道。
Pure online art sales, in which anyone can buy and deals are struck on a website, happen mainly on the blurry boundaries between art, craft and mass production.
純粹網(wǎng)上所銷(xiāo)售的是一些介于美術(shù)作品、手工藝品及其他批量生產(chǎn)的藝術(shù)品，任何人都能在網(wǎng)上購(gòu)買(mǎi)、交易。
Jonas Almgren, the boss of London-based Artfinder, sees his site as a painterly version of Etsy, a successful American portal for selling handmade wares.
公司Artfinder的老板喬納斯阿姆格倫將自己的網(wǎng)站比作美術(shù)版的Etsy—一家成功的美國(guó)手工藝品網(wǎng)絡(luò)商店，
Both cater to a popular craving for one-of-a-kind goods.
二者均迎合了部分人對(duì)絕無(wú)僅有商品的渴望心理。
Artspace sells mainly limited-edition prints and photographs.
它主要銷(xiāo)售限量版的復(fù)制品及照片。
The lower end of the art market will largely shift online, predicts Skate's, an art-market research firm.
藝術(shù)市場(chǎng)調(diào)查公司Skate預(yù)測(cè)，低端藝術(shù)品市場(chǎng)將會(huì)主要轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
Higher up, things get more complicated.
至于高端市場(chǎng)，情況則更加復(fù)雜。
Artists yearn to exhibit in real galleries; collectors want to experience first-hand a work's scale and texture.
藝術(shù)家們期待真正的美術(shù)展，收藏愛(ài)好者希望直接體驗(yàn)藝術(shù)作品的尺寸、質(zhì)感，
In the secondary market the spectre of forgery makes them wary of dealing with virtual vendors.
而來(lái)自二級(jí)市場(chǎng)的山寨貨則讓他們對(duì)虛擬供應(yīng)商有所忌憚。
When the price of an artwork tops 5,000, you want a relationship with a client, says Steve Lazarides, a specialist in urban art who runs both physical galleries and an online shop.
當(dāng)某件藝術(shù)作品的價(jià)值最高達(dá)到5000英鎊時(shí)，你希望同客戶建立一定的業(yè)務(wù)關(guān)系，斯蒂夫拉扎里迪斯說(shuō)道；斯蒂夫是都市藝術(shù)方面的專家，他即開(kāi)了實(shí)體畫(huà)廊，還開(kāi)了一家藝術(shù)品銷(xiāo)售網(wǎng)店。
The priciest bargains are struck between dealers and coteries of collectors they know well.
最為昂貴的交易往往在經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商及其圈子內(nèi)熟知的收藏者之間達(dá)成，
The terms are almost always secret.
這種交易通常都是秘密進(jìn)行的。
With living artists, relationships matter even more.
對(duì)于那些仍在世的藝術(shù)家，人際關(guān)系就更加重要了。
Dealers are expected to nurture their careers, which means managing prices, too.
經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商希望完善其職業(yè)，這也就意味著控制價(jià)格。
It is an unwritten law that they must never fall, says Friederike Hauffe, who teaches a course in art marketing atBerlin's Free University.
弗里德里克哈菲表示有一條不成文的規(guī)則，即經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商不能失敗，哈菲在柏林的一家自由大學(xué)教授藝術(shù)市場(chǎng)課程。
Some dealers discourage collectors from selling the work of an artist they represent; if one comes up for auction they might bid up prices. To fail to sell an item at auction is to burn it.
部分經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商不讓收藏者出售他們持有的某位藝術(shù)家作品，如果這些收藏家再度競(jìng)標(biāo)他們會(huì)抬高這些作品的價(jià)格，而一旦某件拍賣(mài)品未中標(biāo)，該作品就會(huì)被燒掉。
That does not mean that online marketing plays no role at the top end.
這并非意味著網(wǎng)絡(luò)銷(xiāo)售市場(chǎng)在高端藝術(shù)品層面無(wú)關(guān)緊要，
Swanky galleries have long e-mailed images to potential buyers.
積極的畫(huà)廊早就開(kāi)始向潛在的客戶發(fā)郵件。
Many exhibit art online to attract global interest but conduct transactions in cosier settings.
許多畫(huà)廊在網(wǎng)上開(kāi)展覽以吸引全球顧客，但進(jìn)行交易卻在實(shí)體店中。
Nearly four-fifths of galleries insist on some direct contact with buyers, according to the Hiscox report.
希思可保險(xiǎn)公司的報(bào)告稱，將近五分之四的畫(huà)廊堅(jiān)持直接同賣(mài)家聯(lián)系。
Most online sales above 100,000 happen via the electronic bidding channels of auction houses such as Christie's.
大部分在網(wǎng)上銷(xiāo)售的價(jià)值超過(guò)10萬(wàn)美元的美術(shù)品都是通過(guò)諸如佳士得拍賣(mài)行的電子招標(biāo)渠道實(shí)現(xiàn)的。
But this may be changing. The prices collectors are willing to pay online are creeping up.
但是，情況或許會(huì)改變。收藏家愿意在網(wǎng)上購(gòu)買(mǎi)的藝術(shù)品的價(jià)格在不斷上升，
Friendships with dealers are beginning to seem less vital.
同經(jīng)銷(xiāo)商的關(guān)系似乎開(kāi)始不那么那么重要了。
Christie's launched online-only sales in 2011 with an auction of Elizabeth Taylor memorabilia.
2011年，佳士得舉行了唯一一次網(wǎng)絡(luò)拍賣(mài)，該拍賣(mài)會(huì)拍賣(mài)的是為伊麗莎白·泰勒的珍藏品。
Saatchi Online thrusts itself into the heart of the new-art nexus: it represents artists directly, bypassing galleries, and is happy to sell to all kinds of people, says its chief curator, Rebecca Wilson.
薩奇在線的總策展人麗貝卡威爾遜稱，薩奇在線則來(lái)勢(shì)洶洶，直擊新藝術(shù)銷(xiāo)售要害：跳過(guò)畫(huà)廊直接代表藝術(shù)家，并且樂(lè)意同任何群體做生意。
Amazon is not in the business of managing artists' careers. You can buy a Jeff Koons print on the site for 33,750 but are unlikely to find his giant steel Tulips.
亞馬遜不是經(jīng)營(yíng)藝術(shù)品的行家，你可以在上面買(mǎi)到杰夫·昆斯價(jià)值33750美元的雕塑，但不大可能買(mǎi)到其巨型鋼鐵雕塑《郁金香》。
Mr Almgren thinks Amazon will struggle to sell even more modest works.
阿姆格倫認(rèn)為亞馬遜將會(huì)努力銷(xiāo)售更多的中檔藝術(shù)品，
There is an enormous mismatch between Amazon's utilitarian website and the inspirational approach you need to sell art, he thinks.
他認(rèn)為亞馬遜的功利主義性的網(wǎng)站和銷(xiāo)售藝術(shù)品最鼓舞人心的途徑有些背道而馳。
Perhaps that is why, as late as September 18th, Willie Gillis was still for sale.
或許這就是《威爾吉利斯》到九月十八日還無(wú)人問(wèn)津的原因。
