私人藏家改變藝術界權力規則
The balance in the art world is shifting. As the world’s richest private collectors get richer, publicly financed museums are, by and large, getting poorer.
藝術界的平衡正在被打破。世界上最富有的私人藏家變得更富有，而公共資助的博物館總的來說變得更窮。
Last week, critics made their first assessments of The Broad, the 120,000-square-foot private museum in downtown Los Angeles to showcase the contemporary art collection of the billionaire philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. The museum has an endowment of more than $200 million, and additional funds for acquisitions.
上週（9月6日至9月12日），洛杉磯市中心的布羅德博物館(The Broad)成爲評論家們關注的焦點。這傢俬人博物館室內面積爲12萬平方英尺，將展示億萬富翁兼慈善家埃利和埃戴絲·布羅德(Eli and Edythe Broad)的當代藝術藏品。這家博物館獲得了兩億多美元的捐款以及用於採購藏品的額外資金。
Also last week, four other collectors were displaying their art in a very different showcase that could be seen as an alternative model for private collectors. Four museums and a church in Sheffield, a town in Yorkshire in northern England, famed in Victorian times for its steel-making, opened their own exhibition of contemporary art, running through Dec. 12.
也是在上週，其他四位藏家在一個迥然不同的場合展示自己的藝術藏品，它可以被視作私收藏家展示自己藏品的另一種模式。謝菲爾德(Sheffield)是英國北部約克郡的一座小城，在維多利亞時代以鍊鋼聞名。這裏的四座博物館和一座教堂正在舉辦自己的當代藝術展，將持續至12月12日。
Squeezed by the British government’s austerity program, Sheffield City Council now finances its local museums to the tune of 1.5 million pounds a year, about $2.3 million, a reduction of more than 30 percent since 2009. The acquisition fund stands at just 70,000. That doesn’t go very far in today’s art market, and any purchases by British regional museums have to be supported by financing from public bodies like Arts Council England and private donations. A show supported by private collectors, therefore, can be a boon to the museums, and to the collectors themselves.
近些年，由於受到英國政府緊縮政策的影響，謝菲爾德市議會每年資助當地博物館150萬英鎊，約合230萬美元，比2009年減少了逾30%。藏品購買費僅爲七萬英鎊，在如今的藝術市場，這些錢買不到太多東西。而且，英國地方博物館不管購買什麼藝術品，都必須得到英格蘭藝術委員會(Arts Council England)等公共機構和私人捐款人的資助。所以，對博物館和藏家來說，私人藏家支持的展覽是一個雙贏的辦法。
“Private collectors have a lot of money and buying power that has driven growth in the art market,” the Berlin art adviser and writer Marta Gnyp said in a phone interview. Her book on the subject, “The Shift: Art and the Rise to Power of Contemporary Collectors,” was published on Aug. 4.
“私人藏家財力雄厚，購買力強，拉動了藝術市場的增長，”柏林藝術顧問兼作家瑪爾塔·吉尼普(Marta Gnyp)在電話採訪中說。她寫了一本關於這一主題的書，名叫《變化：藝術與當代藏家權力的上升》(The Shift: Art and the Rise to Power of Contemporary Collectors)，今年8月4日出版。
“Public museums have financial restraints,” she added. “But they are still attractive to private collectors. Public institutions give a quality stamp and visibility to collections.”
“公共博物館財力不足，”她補充說，“但它們對私人藏家依然具有吸引力。公共機構能證明這些藏品的品質，也能讓更多觀衆看到它們。”
Museums Sheffield is using the exhibition project, called “Going Public,” and a conference at Sheffield Hallam University on Oct. 12 to examine how cash-strapped public galleries and wealthy private collectors can cooperate more effectively.
謝菲爾德博物館(Museums Sheffield)正通過一個名爲Going Public的展覽項目和10月12日在謝菲爾德哈勒姆大學(Sheffield Hallam University)舉辦的會議，來探討缺乏資金的公共畫廊和富有的私人藏家如何更有效合作的問題。
“Going Public” is the first time that four major international collectors of contemporary art have collaborated on a regional museum show in Britain. As part of the joint show, recent Chinese video and digital art from Dominique and Sylvain Levy’s DSL collection in Paris are on display at Sheffield’s SIA and Site galleries. At the Millennium Gallery, eight works of Minimalism — including the classic 1967 Sol LeWitt white-painted aluminum sculpture “Serial Project #1, A6” — have been lent by the French collector Nicolas Cattelain in London. Marcel Duchamp’s 1952 “La Boite-en-valise” (Box in a Suitcase) is among 35 Surrealist works being shown by the Berlin collector Egidio Marzona in the Art Deco Graves Gallery museum.
Going Public是四位重要的國際當代藝術藏家首次聯合在英國的一個地方博物館展出藏品。多米尼克和西爾萬·萊維(Dominique and Sylvain Levy)在法國創立了DSL收藏公司。該公司收藏的中國近年視頻和數字藝術作品正在謝菲爾德的SIA和Site畫廊展示。法國收藏家尼古拉斯·凱特萊(Nicolas Cattelain)把八件極簡主義作品借給了倫敦的千禧畫廊(Millennium Gallery)，包括索爾·萊威特(Sol LeWitt)1967年創作的經典作品——白漆鋁製雕塑《系列作品1號A6》(Serial Project #1, A6)。柏林藏家埃吉迪奧·馬爾佐納(Egidio Marzona)正在藝術裝飾風格的格雷夫斯畫廊(Graves Gallery)展示35件超現實主義作品，包括馬塞爾·迪尚(Marcel Duchamp)1952年創作的《手提的盒子》(Box in a Suitcase)。
And unsettling installations — like a 1996 Chapman Brothers corpse hanging upside down over a vat of blood and a 2009 tapestry by the Polish artist Goshka Macuga of London foretelling today’s migrant crisis — are transforming the medieval interior of Sheffield Cathedral, courtesy of Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, who has a private museum in Turin.
一些令人不安的裝置作品正在改變謝菲爾德大教堂(Sheffield Cathedral)的中世紀風格內部空間，比如查普曼兄弟(Chapman Brothers)1996年創作的倒立懸掛屍體，下面是一大桶血，還有倫敦的波蘭裔藝術家戈舍卡·馬庫加(Goshka Macuga)2009年創作的掛毯，它預言了今天的難民危機。這些作品是帕特里齊婭·桑德里託·雷·裏保丹戈(Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo)提供的，她在都靈有個私人博物館。
“They’re all true believers,” Sebastien Montabonel, an art consultant in London, said of the collectors who contributed work to the shows. He originated the project four years ago with Mark Doyle of the Contemporary Art Society in London. “They understand art is getting expensive and that their role is important.” He added: “Two or three collectors can make a huge impact, and being a big fish in a small pond is a good selling point.”
“他們都是真正的信徒，”倫敦藝術顧問塞巴斯蒂安·蒙塔波奈(Sebastien Montabonel)提到那些給展覽提供作品的收藏家時說。四年前，他和倫敦當代藝術協會(Contemporary Art Society)的馬克·多伊爾(Mark Doyle)發起了這個項目。“他們知道，藝術品越來越昂貴，他們的角色很重要。”他補充說，“兩三位收藏家能產生巨大的影響力，小池塘裏的大魚是個很好的賣點。”
These selections from four serious collectors will give residents of and visitors to Sheffield a distinctive overview of some of the more interesting things international artists have been doing over the past 100 years. But can this model be repeated at other regional museums?
四位嚴肅藏家精選的這些作品將給謝菲爾德的居民和遊客提供獨特的視角，以瞭解國際藝術家們在過去一百年裏做的一些更有趣的事情。但是其他地方博物館能效仿這個模式嗎？
In February 2014, Mr. Marzona, one of the participating collectors in “Going Public,” transferred ownership of 372 pieces of 20th-century avant-garde art to the city of Berlin, having already given a substantial proportion of his collection to the city’s museums in 2002.
2014年2月，藏家馬爾佐納（他是Going Public項目的參與者之一）把自己收藏的372件20世紀先鋒藝術品轉讓給了柏林市政府。2002年，他已經把自己收藏的很大一部分藝術品贈送給了柏林的多個博物館。
But nowadays, as Ms. Gnyp notes in “The Shift,” the private museum owned by a collector or an associated foundation has become the model, rather than donations to public institutions, despite the tax advantages that can accrue from such gifts. Ms. Gnyp writes that no fewer than 125 museums were created worldwide from 2006 to 2013, as opposed to just 25 in the 1990s. Wealthy individuals like Mr. Broad and Ms. Sandretto Re Rebaudengo want to keep control of their collections and play a more proactive role in the art world.
吉尼普在《變化》中提到，現在流行的模式是藏家或聯合基金會創立私人博物館，而非向公共機構捐贈藏品，儘管捐贈能積累很多稅收優惠。吉尼普寫道，從2006年至2013年，世界範圍內至少開設了125家博物館，而20世紀90年代僅開設了25家。布羅德和桑德里託·雷·裏保丹戈等富有的藏家希望繼續控制自己的藏品，在藝術界發揮更積極的作用。
“I want to show my collection and share it with other people,” said Ms. Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, who began buying art in 1992 and now has more than 1,000 works. “But private collectors can do so much more. They can be involved in the production of art and in education.” For example, for the 2009 Venice Biennale she commissioned the Macuga tapestry hanging in Sheffield Cathedral. She said that “Going Public,” with its expansive use of loans, could prove a model for future collaborations between art’s public and private sectors.
“我想展示我的收藏品，和其他人分享，”桑德里託·雷·裏保丹戈說。她從1992年開始購買藝術品，現在擁有1000多件藏品。“但是私人藏家可以做得更多。他們可以參與藝術創作和教育。”例如，她委託馬庫加爲2009年威尼斯雙年展創作了現在懸掛在謝菲爾德大教堂的那件掛毯。她說，Going Public項目所借的藝術品來源廣泛，可以成爲未來公共和私人藝術界的合作模式。
But as private museums have grown in power and influence, so too has the fixation on contemporary art as an investment. Media reports of spectacular price rises for fashionable artists have attracted droves of newcomers to the market.
但是隨着私人博物館勢力和影響力的增長，當代藝術品越來越被視爲一個投資方向。媒體對熱門藝術家作品價格大幅上漲的報道吸引很多新手進入這個市場。
“There are probably no more than 200 or 300 real collectors who have a vision and have proper curation,” Mr. Montabonel said. “The others are just buyers. Their ‘collections’ will be forgotten in 10 years’ time.”
“很可能只有兩三百位真正的藏家，他們有遠見，也有合適的管理方法，”蒙塔波奈說，“其他人只是買家。他們的‘藏品’十年後將被遺忘。”
Is it that simple, though? Are there such clear distinctions between “real” collectors and mere “buyers”?
不過，真的這麼簡單嗎？“真正的”藏家和單純的“買家”真的如此界線分明嗎？
The Broads were collecting contemporary art long before it was being promoted in power point presentations as an “alternative asset class.” Yet a number of visitors to their gleaming new museum have noted how the procession of works by blue-chip names like Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Mark Bradford and Mark Grotjahn hung on temporary white partition walls can make the display, at times, resemble the world’s most expensive art fair.
在當代藝術品作爲“其他財產”用PPT展示推廣之前，布羅德夫婦就已經在收藏當代藝術品。但是，一些去他們亮麗的新博物館參觀的遊客注意到，傑夫·昆斯(Jeff Koons)、埃德·拉斯查(Ed Ruscha)、馬克·布拉德福德(Mark Bradford)和馬克·格羅特雅恩(Mark Grotjahn)等熱門藝術家的作品懸掛在臨時分割的白牆上，有時讓人感覺自己是在世界上最昂貴的藝術交易會上。
“The lack of independent taste among high-powered collectors is most depressing,” Kenneth Baker, the former art critic at The San Francisco Chronicle, said in an email. He has viewed the Broad collection twice but has yet to visit the new museum. “Broad and his ilk certainly don’t have to think like speculators when they shop for art, unless they can’t help themselves.”
“財力雄厚的藏家們缺乏獨立的品味是最令人沮喪的，”《舊金山紀事報》(The San Francisco Chronicle)的前藝術評論家肯尼思·貝克(Kenneth Baker)在郵件採訪中說。他觀看過布羅德的藏品兩次，不過尚未去參觀新的博物館。“布羅德和他的家人購買藝術品時，當然不必像投機者那樣思考，除非他們不由自主。”
The difference could not be greater when contrasted with the subject of the first exhibition at Damien Hirst’s private museum, which will open in a 37,000 square-foot converted factory in Lambeth in South London on Oct. 8. The inaugural show will focus on the Sheffield-born abstract painter John Hoyland (1934-2011), a surprising choice for the former superstar of Young British Art.
當把布羅德新博物館的開幕展覽與達米安·赫斯特(Damien Hirst)私人博物館的開幕展覽的主題相比較時，這種差別尤爲明顯。後者將於10月8日開放，位於倫敦南部朗伯斯(Lambeth)一個改造後的工廠裏，佔地3.7萬平方英尺。它的開幕展覽是關於出生在謝菲爾德的抽象畫家約翰·霍伊蘭(John Hoyland, 1934-2011)。赫斯特曾是英國青年藝術組織(Young British Art)的超級明星，所以他的這個選擇令人意外。
Now 50, Mr. Hirst is ranked as the 450th wealthiest person in Britain, worth 215 million, according to The Sunday Times’s “Rich List” for 2015. The artist has been a compulsive buyer since the 1980s, and his Murderme Collection now contains more than 3,000 works by Picasso, Warhol, Banksy, Bacon and a host of others. As it turns out, he is also an admirer of Hoyland, who was influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, and whom he discovered when visiting Leeds Art Gallery as a schoolboy.
據《星期日泰晤士報》(The Sunday Times)的2015年富豪榜，50歲的赫斯特在英國富豪榜上排名第450位，資產2.15億英鎊。從20世紀80年代起，這位藝術家變成了一位欲罷不能的買家。他的Murderme Collection現在有3000多件作品，包括畢加索(Picasso)、沃霍爾(Warhol)、班克西(Banksy)和培根(Bacon)等諸多藝術家的作品。結果證明，他也很欣賞霍伊蘭，後者曾受抽象表現主義畫家影響。赫斯特是在上學期間參觀利茲美術館(Leeds Art Gallery)時注意到霍伊蘭的作品的。
“In my eyes, John Hoyland was an artist who was never afraid to push the boundaries,” Mr. Hirst says on his website.
“在我看來，約翰·霍伊蘭是一位從不畏懼打破界線的藝術家，”赫斯特在自己的網站上說。
Unlike the opening of The Broad, the first Hirst Museum show might be closer to Mr. Montabonel’s notions of “true” collecting. As yet, Hoyland doesn’t command much of an international market. The highest auction price for one of his works is “just” 185,000, paid back in 2008. By and large, people looking at these paintings won’t be distracted by their monetary worth, and the experience will be closer to that of visiting a public museum.
不像布羅德博物館的開幕展覽，赫斯特博物館的首場展覽可能更接近蒙塔波奈所說的“真正的”收藏。不過，霍伊蘭在國際市場上並不熱門。他作品的最高拍賣價“僅爲”18.5萬英鎊，是2008年成交的。總的來說，人們看着這些畫作，不會被它們的金錢價值分心，觀展體驗將更接近參觀公共博物館。
The “financialization” of contemporary art, and the ways this has, or has not, influenced collectors, might be an interesting break-out topic for that Sheffield conference in October.
當代藝術品的“金融化”是否（如果是的話，又是如何）影響了收藏者？這可能會是10月份謝菲爾德會議上的熱門話題。
In the meantime, what do Yorkshire’s down-to-earth locals think of this fancy international art dropping into their city?
與此同時，約克郡的普通百姓又是如何看待這場空降到這座城市的高級國際藝術展的呢？
“I like it,” Ronald Fletcher, 87, said outside Sheffield Cathedral. “I’m not overly religious. I don’t really believe in God, but I’ve been looking for something since I lost my wife. I find it refreshing.”
“我很喜歡，”87歲的羅納德·弗萊徹(Ronald Fletcher)在謝菲爾德大教堂外說，“我不是非常虔誠的教徒。我並不是很信上帝，但是妻子去世後，我在尋找某種東西。我覺得這令人振奮。”
At least someone knows the true value of art.
至少，有人知道藝術的真正價值。
