18世紀前繪畫大師作品拍賣市場遇冷

LONDON — In the 1970s, the British comedian Tommy Cooper used to tell a joke about asking an auction house to value a violin and a painting that he had discovered in an attic. The good news, he was told, is that they were made by Stradivarius and Rembrandt. The bad news was that the painting was by Stradivarius and the violin was by Rembrandt.

倫敦——在20世紀70年代，英國喜劇演員湯米·庫珀(Tommy Cooper)講過這樣一個笑話：他在閣樓裏發現一把小提琴和一幅畫，讓拍賣公司估價。拍賣公司說，好消息是它們分別出自斯特拉迪瓦里(Stradivarius)和倫勃朗(Rembrandt)之手。壞消息是那幅畫是斯特拉迪瓦里畫的，小提琴是倫勃朗做的。

He then proceeded to ram the violin through the canvas.

然後，他用那把小提琴砸穿了那幅畫。

In those days, of course, Rembrandt was the gold standard. But the Dutchman and his fellow old masters have fallen out of fashion and are no longer as coveted by collectors and investors.

當然，那時候，倫勃朗是大熱門。但是如今，這位荷蘭畫家和他的同輩大師已經過氣，不再是收藏家和投資者渴望的對象。

As a measure of that fall, 10 works have sold at auction for more than $100 million since 2004, and all of them were made by modern or contemporary artists in the past 120 years. Older paintings have seen their value, in relative terms, level off or decline. The trend was plain to see in recent weeks, as London’s auction houses tried to find buyers for their latest tranche of old masters. As has been the case in recent years, there were few works by major names.

從2004年起，過去120年裏的現代或當代藝術家們創作的10件作品在拍賣會上共賣出1億多美元。而更早期繪畫大師的作品價格則是穩中有跌。最近幾周，這一趨勢非常明顯，倫敦的拍賣公司努力爲自己的最新一批18世紀前繪畫大師作品尋找買家。與近些年的情況一樣，其中幾乎沒有名作。

Christie’s biannual evening sale on Dec. 8 raised just 6.5 million pounds with fees, about $9.7 million, against a low estimate of 12.7 million. Nineteen of the 45 works, or 42 percent, failed to sell, including the two most highly valued lots — a 1582 watercolor study of a hare among plants by Hans Hoffmann, a pupil of Albrecht Dürer, and a fine 1770s Francesco Guardi view of the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, carrying low estimates of 4 million and 1.5 million respectively.

12月8日，佳士得(Christie’s)的雙年夜間拍賣會僅拍得650萬英鎊（含佣金），約合970萬美元，而最低預估價爲1270萬英鎊。45件作品中有19件流拍，比例達42%，包括兩幅估價最高的作品——阿爾佈雷特·丟勒(Albrecht Dürer)的學生漢斯·霍夫曼(Hans Hoffmann)1582年創作的水彩習作——叢林中的野兔，還有弗朗西斯科·瓜爾迪(Francesco Guardi)在18世紀70年代創作的描繪威尼斯聖喬治馬焦雷島美景的油畫，這兩幅畫的最低估價分別是400萬英鎊和150萬英鎊。

Anyone can have a bad day at the office, but this disappointing performance at Christie’s followed an old masters sale in July that took in 19 million against a low estimate of 31.5 million.

誰都有不如意的時候，但是佳士得拍賣會上令人失望的情景已經不是第一次出現。今年7月的18世紀前繪畫大師作品拍賣會僅拍得1900萬英鎊，而當時的最低預估價是3150萬英鎊。

Little wonder, then, that Christie’s, the dominant player in the auction market for modern and contemporary art, is re-marketing its old master paintings as “classic art.” It will be offering old masters and other historical pieces next year at its Rockefeller Center sales in April, rather than January. The week will feature a themed sale that includes 20th-century works. And its “classic art” format will debut in London in July, Christie’s said on Friday.

難怪現代和當代藝術品拍賣市場的主要玩家佳士得拍賣行把自己的早期繪畫大師作品重新宣傳爲“古典藝術品”。它將於明年4月（原先的計劃是明年1月）在洛克菲勒中心(Rockefeller Center)舉辦早期繪畫大師作品及其他歷史作品拍賣會，其中包括20世紀作品專題拍賣會。週五（12月18日），佳士得稱，它的“古典藝術品”拍賣計劃將於明年7月在倫敦公佈。

At its own auction the following evening, Sotheby’s achieved a far more respectable total of 22.6 million with fees, although it was just above the low estimate of 21.8 million based on hammer prices. Of the 44 lots offered, 15 did not sell, or 34 percent.

第二晚（12月9日）的蘇富比(Sotheby’s)拍賣會共拍得2260萬英鎊（含佣金），比佳士得前晚的表現要好得多，不過也只是略高於2180萬英鎊（不含佣金）的最低估價。44件拍品中有15件流拍，比例達34%。

A lone European telephone bidder paid a top price of 9.1 million for a smaller 1825 version of John Constable’s admired but difficult-to-love 1824 vertical landscape, “The Lock,” that had been in the same British family since 1855.

當晚的最高價來自唯一的一位歐洲電話出價人。此人以910萬英鎊購得約翰·康斯特布爾(John Constable)令人欽佩但很難讓人喜愛的1824年縱向風景畫《水閘》(The Lock)的1825年縮小版，這幅畫從1855年起一直由一個英國家族私藏。

As a point of comparison, the combined 29.1 million total from those old master sales was 34 percent less than the 44.2 million Christie’s and Sotheby’s took in at equivalent events five years ago, in December 2011.

我們進行一個比較，佳士得和蘇富比的這兩次18世紀前繪畫大師作品拍賣會共拍得2910萬英鎊，比五年前（2011年12月）類似拍賣會拍得的4420萬英鎊少了34%。

“The auction market is extremely selective,” said Henry Pettifer, the head of old master paintings at Christie’s, whose sale total had been dented by a 15th-century Flemish Madonna and child by Hans Memling that the auction house had sold privately for more than 3.5 million and had withdrawn from the sale. “The availability of fresh material is limited,” he added, alluding to how few museum-quality works are in private hands.

佳士得把漢斯·梅姆靈(Hans Memling)於15世紀創作的佛蘭芒風格聖母與聖子油畫從拍賣會上撤掉，以350多萬英鎊私下出售，所以影響了這次的拍賣總額。該拍賣行的18世紀前繪畫大師作品主管亨利·佩蒂弗(Henry Pettifer)說：“拍賣市場非常挑剔。新鮮作品的數量很少。”他指的是私人極少收藏有博物館級別的作品。

And, thanks to Artnet and other databases that list auction results, wealthy people who buy art have become all too aware of how hard it is to make a profit on old masters.

藉助於Artnet等公佈拍賣結果的數據庫，如今購買藝術品的富豪非常清楚要想在早期繪畫大師的作品上獲利非常困難。

In one example, Christie’s was offering the mid-18th-century canvas “Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well” by the Venetian artist Francesco Fontebasso at a low estimate of 120,000. The pleasant piece of rococo decoration had been bought at auction in 1990 for $286,000, according to Artnet. At the Dec. 8 sale it fell to a single telephone bid of 115,000, about $170,000, before fees. Investors do not expect to incur a loss of about 40 percent a quarter century after buying a Warhol or a Basquiat. Reselling an old master can be even harder when that painting has been languishing in a dealer’s gallery.

例如，佳士得給威尼斯藝術家弗朗西斯科·豐泰巴索(Francesco Fontebasso)在18世紀中葉創作的油畫《井邊的麗貝卡和埃利澤》(Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well)的最低估價爲12萬英鎊。根據Artnet的數據，在1990年的拍賣會上，這幅令人愉快的洛可可裝飾風格的油畫是以28.6萬英鎊購得的。在12月8日的拍賣會上，它僅得到一個電話出價——11.5萬英鎊（不含佣金），約合17萬美元。而投資者們可不認爲在購買沃霍爾(Warhol)或巴斯奎特(Basquiat)的作品25年之後會損失約40%。如果一幅早期繪畫大師的作品被擱置在交易商的畫廊裏，想轉賣它就更加困難。

On Nov. 24 and 25, Sotheby’s auctioned the collection of the fourth-generation Munich dealer Konrad Bernheimer, who owns the historic London gallery Colnaghi. Mr. Bernheimer, 65, has decided to scale down his operations. He is closing his Munich gallery, selling his grand Bavarian home, Marquartstein Castle, and is merging Colnaghi with a fellow London dealer, Coll & Cortes.

11月24日至25日，蘇富比舉辦慕尼黑第四代交易商康拉德·伯恩海默(Konrad Bernheimer)的藏品拍賣會，他擁有歷史悠久的倫敦科爾納吉畫廊(Colnaghi)。65歲的伯恩海默決定縮小自己的業務，關閉慕尼黑的畫廊，賣掉巴伐利亞的豪華宅邸馬爾庫斯泰恩城堡(Marquartstein Castle)，將科爾納吉畫廊與倫敦的Coll & Cortes畫廊合併。

Despite Sotheby’s branding the two-part auction as “The Bernheimer Collection,” his stock proved a hard sell. Only 22 out of the 42 lots at the Nov. 24 evening sale found buyers, with a top price of 197,000 with fees for the 1732 Nicolas Lancret painting, “Le Menuet” — a frothy “fête champêtre” scene with childlike dancers — that had been purchased for $744,000 at auction in 2005.

儘管蘇富比把這個分爲兩場的拍賣會宣稱爲“伯恩海默藏品拍賣會”，但是結果證明，他的藏品並不好賣。在11月24日的夜間拍賣會上，42件拍品中只有22件找到了買家，價格最高的是尼古拉斯·朗克雷(Nicolas Lancret)1732年的油畫《小步舞》(Le Menuet)，它描繪的是一場浮華的遊園會，裏面有天真爛漫的舞者，售價爲19.7萬英鎊（含佣金）。2005年，這幅畫是以74.4萬美元的價格在拍賣會上購得的。

Two weeks later, Mr. Bernheimer was among the dozens of long-established old master dealers attending the London evening sales. In the past, they would buy at these auctions to stock up for the Maastricht European Fine Art Fair in March in the Netherlands. But with sellers encouraging Sotheby’s and Christie’s to compete for their business with ever-higher valuations, and auctions now marketed to a shallow pool of wealthy buyers, there was conspicuously little trade bidding.

兩週後，伯恩海默等幾十位著名的早期繪畫大師作品交易商出席倫敦的夜間拍賣會。過去，他們通常會在這些拍賣會上購買一些作品，以備在第二年3月的荷蘭馬斯特裏赫特歐洲美術博覽會(Maastricht European Fine Art Fair)上展示。但是由於賣家們鼓勵蘇富比和佳士得報出更高的估價來爭奪自己的拍品，所以拍賣行只針對少數富豪進行宣傳，現場競價十分冷清。

“It’s na瘀攀 not to recognize we’re at a pretty serious moment,” said Anthony Crichton-Stuart, director of the London dealer Agnew’s. “There has been a massive taste shift. But when a good old master does come up at auction and it is priced correctly, you do get some excitement.”

倫敦阿格紐藝術品交易所(Agnew’s)的主管安東尼·克賴頓-斯圖爾特(Anthony Crichton-Stuart)說：“如果沒有意識到我們處在非常危急的關頭，那就太天真了。人們的偏好出現了重大轉變。但是如果拍賣會上出現一幅18世紀前繪畫大師的佳作，而且價位合理，人們還是會感到興奮。”

One of the few lots to sell significantly above its estimate, at Sotheby’s, was a 1780 landscape by Joseph Wright of Derby showing a cavern in the Gulf of Salerno with the figure of Julia, the banished daughter of Emperor Augustus.

在蘇富比的拍賣會上，有少數幾幅作品的拍賣價格遠高於預估價，比如德比的約瑟夫·賴特(Joseph Wright of Derby)1780年的一幅風景畫，它描繪的是奧古斯都大帝的女兒朱莉葉(Julia)被流放到薩萊諾灣(Gulf of Salerno)的一個洞穴裏。

Wright is one of the most original figures of British Romantic painting, and this composition, held in the same private collection in Derbyshire since 1840, had an approachable low estimate of 100,000 because of condition issues and — not insignificantly — the fact that it was a charity donation to benefit Syrian refugees. As a result, at least three bidders pushed the price to 665,000 with fees.

賴特是英國浪漫主義畫派的鼻祖之一。這幅作品從1840年起一直由德比郡的一個家族私藏。考慮到目前的行情，它的最低估價僅爲10萬英鎊，還有一個重要因素是它的拍賣款將用於救濟敘利亞難民。結果，至少有三位競拍人把價格推高至66.5萬英鎊（含佣金）。

“The new money is interested in old masters, but it wants what Duveen sold to the robber barons. It wants names,” said Hugo Nathan, a co-founder of the London advisers Beaumont Nathan. He was referring to Joseph Duveen, the British art dealer who was responsible for bringing many great works of art to the United States.

倫敦博蒙特·內森顧問公司(Beaumont Nathan)的聯合創始人雨果·內森(Hugo Nathan)說：“新投資者對早期繪畫大師的作品有興趣，不過他們想要的是杜維恩(Duveen)賣給強盜大亨們的作品。他們想要名作。”他指的是英國藝術交易商約瑟夫·杜維恩(Joseph Duveen)，他把很多偉大的藝術品帶去了美國。

Mr. Nathan was among the few dealers actively bidding at the evening sales. Buying on behalf of a client, he paid 506,500, or twice the estimate, at Christie’s for Charles-Antoine Coypel’s 1737 painting, “The Destruction of the Palace of Armida.”

內森是少數幾位在夜間拍賣會上積極出價的交易商之一。他在佳士得的拍賣會上代表一位客戶以50.65萬英鎊拍下了查爾斯-安東尼·誇佩爾(Charles-Antoine Coypel)1737年的畫作《阿米達宮的毀滅》(The Destruction of the Palace of Armida)，售價是預估價的兩倍。

“Today you have to shop by image,” Mr. Nathan said. “But if you are brave and don’t follow fashion, there are opportunities.”

內森說：“如今，你必須根據行情購買。不過，如果你很大膽，不跟隨潮流，那麼你也有很多機會。”

People are still looking at old masters for pleasure, if not as lucrative investments. Sotheby’s said 6,000 people visited its Dec. 5 to 9 viewing, compared with the 6,400 who saw its Impressionist and contemporary sales in June. At the lower end of the price scale, many historic paintings do find a market — Christie’s and Sotheby’s day sales of old master paintings on Dec. 9 and 10 had solid-enough selling rates of 67 and 65 percent apiece.

如果不是看作有利可圖的投資的話，人們依然喜歡欣賞早期繪畫大師的作品，從中獲得愉悅。蘇富比稱，6000人蔘觀了12月5日至9日的早期繪畫大師作品拍賣會預展，而6月份的印象派和當代藝術品拍賣會的參觀人數爲6400人。很多歷史悠久的畫作的確在低端價位上找到了市場，在12月9日至10日的早期繪畫大師作品日間拍賣會上，佳士得和蘇富比的售出比例都很高，分別是67%和65%。

But there remains a mass of old master paintings in dealers’ stocks — and in collectors’ minds — whose asking prices still hark back to the age of Tommy Cooper. Unfortunately, in today’s market, and at those prices, many of these paintings will be as sellable as that Stradivarius canvas with the hole in it.

不過，在交易商的倉庫裏和收藏家的腦海裏還有大量早期繪畫大師的作品，它們的要價仍停留在湯米·庫珀那個年代。不幸的是，在如今的市場上，以那樣的價格，很多畫作都將像被小提琴砸了個大洞的斯特拉迪瓦里畫作一樣賣不出去。