经济学人268:网售艺术品 点击亚马逊

　　Business
商业报道
Selling art online
网售艺术品
Enter Amazon
点击亚马逊
The internet giant's fine-art venture is unlikely to sell many masterpieces
互联网巨头的艺术冒险，看样子卖不出几件珍宝
WITH a mouse click you can add Norman Rockwell's Willie Gillis: Package from Home to your Amazon shopping cart.
只需轻轻点击鼠标，你便可以把诺曼·洛克威尔的名画《威利·吉利斯：从家打包》加入你的亚马逊亚马逊购物车。
But you will need boldness and a bulging¹ bank account to proceed to checkout²: it costs 4.85m.
但是，你还需要足够的胆量和充足的资金去结算：该画价值485万美元。
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，这幅油画开始在网上销售，当时亚马逊高调宣布将会向其 世界上最齐全的消费品中加入美术作品。
But it will not be easy to sell art alongside books and barbecues.
但是，销售书籍和烤肉架容易，卖美术作品就难了。
Amazon's arty initiative is not revolutionary.
亚马逊销售美术作品的点子并非首创，
222222222_副本.jpgHundreds of dealers³ already sell art online, swarming⁴ into every niche⁵ and bristling⁶ with gimmicks⁷.
成千上万的经销商已经在网上买美术作品了，其势头可谓无孔不入，赚足了噱头。
Sedition⁸ sells digital works, some by famous artists.
还有炒作销售数码作品者，其中部分出自名家之手，
Artsy figures out buyers' tastes from their browsing⁹ activity.
而那些伪艺术家则从买家的浏览记录中揣摩其需求。
Artnet, the self-proclaimed market leader, auctioned¹¹ 15m-worth of art last year and provides online exhibition space to 1,700 galleries.
去年，自称行业领跑者的Artnet拍卖出了价值1500万美元的美术作品，在其网站上陈列了1700个画廊。
Christie's and Sotheby's, the best-known auction¹⁰ houses, have long accepted online bids as an extension of their traditional sales.
最负盛名的两家拍卖行佳士得、苏富比早已将网上招标作为其传统销售的延伸部分。
So far, all this has made little impression.
迄今为止，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.
希思可保险公司的报告显示，2012年网上艺术品销售成交额仅为8.7亿美元，不到全球美术作品市场成交总额560亿的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.
该报告预测假设网上销售艺术品的增长速度同奢侈品一样，到2017年其销售总额将会翻一番达到21亿美元。
Even then, online's share will still be modest.
即便那时，网上艺术品销售总额仍是微不足道。
Pure online art sales, in which anyone can buy and deals are struck on a website, happen mainly on the blurry¹² boundaries between art, craft and mass production.
纯粹网上所销售的是一些介于美术作品、手工艺品及其他批量生产的艺术品，任何人都能在网上购买、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 wares¹³.
公司Artfinder的老板乔纳斯阿姆格伦将自己的网站比作美术版的Etsy—一家成功的美国手工艺品网络商店，
Both cater¹⁴ to a popular craving¹⁵ for one-of-a-kind goods.
二者均迎合了部分人对绝无仅有商品的渴望心理。
Artspace sells mainly limited-edition prints and photographs.
它主要销售限量版的复制品及照片。
The lower end of the art market will largely shift online, predicts Skate's, an art-market research firm.
艺术市场调查公司Skate预测，低端艺术品市场将会主要转战网络。
Higher up, things get more complicated.
至于高端市场，情况则更加复杂。
Artists yearn¹⁶ to exhibit in real galleries; collectors want to experience first-hand a work's scale and texture¹⁷.
艺术家们期待真正的美术展，收藏爱好者希望直接体验艺术作品的尺寸、质感，
In the secondary market the spectre of forgery¹⁸ makes them wary¹⁹ of dealing²⁰ with virtual vendors²¹.
而来自二级市场的山寨货则让他们对虚拟供应商有所忌惮。
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.
当某件艺术作品的价值最高达到5000英镑时，你希望同客户建立一定的业务关系，斯蒂夫拉扎里迪斯说道；斯蒂夫是都市艺术方面的专家，他即开了实体画廊，还开了一家艺术品销售网店。
The priciest bargains are struck between dealers and coteries²² of collectors they know well.
最为昂贵的交易往往在经销商及其圈子内熟知的收藏者之间达成，
The terms are almost always secret.
这种交易通常都是秘密进行的。
With living artists, relationships matter even more.
对于那些仍在世的艺术家，人际关系就更加重要了。
Dealers are expected to nurture²³ their careers, which means managing prices, too.
经销商希望完善其职业，这也就意味着控制价格。
It is an unwritten law that they must never fall, says Friederike Hauffe, who teaches a course in art marketing²⁴ atBerlin's Free University.
弗里德里克哈菲表示有一条不成文的规则，即经销商不能失败，哈菲在柏林的一家自由大学教授艺术市场课程。
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.
部分经销商不让收藏者出售他们持有的某位艺术家作品，如果这些收藏家再度竞标他们会抬高这些作品的价格，而一旦某件拍卖品未中标，该作品就会被烧掉。
That does not mean that online marketing plays no role at the top end.
这并非意味着网络销售市场在高端艺术品层面无关紧要，
Swanky galleries have long e-mailed images to potential buyers.
积极的画廊早就开始向潜在的客户发邮件。
Many exhibit art online to attract global interest but conduct transactions in cosier²⁵ settings.
许多画廊在网上开展览以吸引全球顾客，但进行交易却在实体店中。
Nearly four-fifths of galleries insist on some direct contact with buyers, according to the Hiscox report.
希思可保险公司的报告称，将近五分之四的画廊坚持直接同卖家联系。
Most online sales above 100,000 happen via the electronic bidding channels of auction houses such as Christie's.
大部分在网上销售的价值超过10万美元的美术品都是通过诸如佳士得拍卖行的电子招标渠道实现的。
But this may be changing. The prices collectors are willing to pay online are creeping up.
但是，情况或许会改变。收藏家愿意在网上购买的艺术品的价格在不断上升，
Friendships with dealers are beginning to seem less vital.
同经销商的关系似乎开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，佳士得举行了唯一一次网络拍卖，该拍卖会拍卖的是为伊丽莎白·泰勒的珍藏品。
Saatchi Online thrusts itself into the heart of the new-art nexus²⁶: it represents artists directly, bypassing galleries, and is happy to sell to all kinds of people, says its chief curator, Rebecca Wilson.
萨奇在线的总策展人丽贝卡威尔逊称，萨奇在线则来势汹汹，直击新艺术销售要害：跳过画廊直接代表艺术家，并且乐意同任何群体做生意。
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.
亚马逊不是经营艺术品的行家，你可以在上面买到杰夫·昆斯价值33750美元的雕塑，但不大可能买到其巨型钢铁雕塑《郁金香》。
Mr Almgren thinks Amazon will struggle to sell even more modest works.
阿姆格伦认为亚马逊将会努力销售更多的中档艺术品，
There is an enormous mismatch between Amazon's utilitarian²⁷ website and the inspirational approach you need to sell art, he thinks.
他认为亚马逊的功利主义性的网站和销售艺术品最鼓舞人心的途径有些背道而驰。
Perhaps that is why, as late as September 18th, Willie Gillis was still for sale.
或许这就是《威尔吉利斯》到九月十八日还无人问津的原因。
1.shopping cart 购物车
Everyone knows what a shopping cart process is, right?
每个人都知道一个购物车的流程是什么吧？
Maybe we should get a shopping cart.
也许我们应该推一辆购物手推车才对。
2.proceed to 去往， 进入
We proceed to a closer discussion of the eurozone.
我们继续深入讨论欧元区。
The banks then proceed to expand credit and hence the nation's money supply in the form of check deposits.
然后银行通过存款支票的形式继续扩张信贷和国家的货币供应。
3.easy to 便于
The interface²⁸ is clean and easy to use.
它的界面很清爽，便于使用。
It is easy to understand mrs obama's frustration²⁹.
人们很容易理解奥巴马夫人的恼怒而又不知所措。
4.swarming into 涌入
But while housing investors³⁰ have been swarming into london, bankers, anxiously scanning monday's interim³¹ report from the independent commission on banking³², have been threatening to leave.
尽管房地产投资者正大举涌入伦敦，但不安地浏览英国银行业独立委员会(icb)周一公布的中期报告的银行家们，却一直扬言要离开伦敦。

1 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

2 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

5 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

6 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

7 gimmicks   

n.花招，诡计，骗人的玩意儿( gimmick的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Financial institutions are also often expected yield of gimmicks. 金融机构也往往以预期收益率为噱头。 来自互联网
• However these are just marketing gimmicks that propagate the myth. 然而这些只是噱头的营销传播的神话。 来自互联网

8 sedition   

n.煽动叛乱

参考例句：

• Government officials charged him with sedition.政府官员指控他煽动人们造反。
• His denial of sedition was a denial of violence.他对煽动叛乱的否定又是对暴力的否定。

9 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

11 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

14 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

15 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

16 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

17 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

18 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

19 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

20 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

21 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

22 coteries   

n.（有共同兴趣的）小集团( coterie的名词复数 )

参考例句：

23 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

24 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

25 cosier   

adj.温暖舒适的( cosy的比较级 )；亲切友好的

参考例句：

26 nexus   

n.联系；关系

参考例句：

• Shared ambition is the vital nexus between them.共同的志向是把他们联结在一起的重要纽带。
• Either way,the nexus between the consumer and consumer prices is important.无论那个方面，消费者与消费价格之间的关系是至关重要的。

27 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

28 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

29 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

30 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

31 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

32 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。