You probably aren’t the one who shelled out $66.3 million for that late van Gogh on Tuesday night at Sotheby’s. And the stratosphere of next week’s art auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, with works by Picasso and Giacometti poised to set records, is most likely out of your league too. Still, there are more earthbound ways to get into the art-buying game — at auctions, art fairs, end-of-year student shows and some big open-studio events. The next four weeks present art-buying opportunities galore in New York, with bargains for anyone willing to stray from the beaten path and stay alert. The hunt and its thrills do not have to lead to a giant price tag if you keep a few tips in mind.
周二（5月5日）晚上，有人在苏富比(Sotheby’s)拍卖会上花费6630万美元买下梵高(van Gogh)的一件晚期作品。那个人很可能不是你。下周，苏富比和佳士得(Christie’s)将举办最高级别的艺术品拍卖会，毕加索(Picasso)和贾科梅蒂(Giacometti)的作品有望在拍卖会上打破记录。那种拍卖会很可能也是你无法企及的。不过，购买艺术品还有很多更普通的方法——拍卖会、艺术博览会、年终学生作品展以及一些大型工作室开放日活动。在接下来的四周里，纽约的艺术购买机会丰富，任何愿意偏离常规但保持警觉的人都能找到物美价廉的艺术品。如果你能记住以下这些忠告，那么，就算寻找艺术品的过程让人激动紧张，你也不至于花冤枉钱。
The Galleries
GET A MAP New York is a city of multiplying art districts. Explore them. Bushwick and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and Long Island City in Queens, are well established as alternative art centers. So is the Lower East Side in Manhattan. But artists and galleries also cluster in Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Gowanus, Brooklyn. Gallery Guide, a free booklet with listings of current exhibitions and neighborhood maps, can be found in many galleries. Online, there’s the Chelsea Gallery Map, and for Brooklyn, the monthly guide Wagmag.
画廊篇
CHECK PAST SALES See if the artist you like has a track record. Artnet sells subscriptions to its price database, which has sales from 1,600 auction houses since 1985.
找个地图：纽约的艺术区越来越多。去那些艺术区看看。布鲁克林的布什威克(Bushwick)和威廉斯堡(Williamburg)以及皇后区的长岛市都是著名的艺术中心。还有曼哈顿的下东区。不过，布鲁克林的绿点(Greenpoint)、贝德福德-斯泰弗森特(Bedford-Stuyvesant)和戈瓦纳斯(Gowanus)也是艺术家和画廊聚集之地。在很多画廊，你都能找到免费手册《画廊指南》(Gallery Guide)，它列出了当前的各项展览及附近地图。网上还能找到切尔西画廊地图(Chelsea Gallery Map)以及针对布鲁克林的每月指南Wagmag。
NEGOTIATE The contract between dealer and artist usually includes a clause permitting the dealer to lower the price of an artwork up to a certain percentage, somewhere between 5 and 20 percent. Remember that the artist gets only half of the listed price. The gallery takes the rest.
查询过去的拍卖记录：看看你喜欢的艺术家是否有拍卖记录。你可以在Artnet网站付费订阅价格数据库，它包括1985年起1600家拍卖行的拍卖会记录。
DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY Some of the higher-end galleries can be snooty, forcing you to ask for price information, which should be visible, and assuming you’re not a serious buyer. Leading dealers also like to place their holdings with established collectors to protect the works’ pedigree, so even if you can afford a major painting, a gallery may not want to sell it to you. Don’t sweat it. Just move on to more welcoming galleries.
讲价：交易商和艺术家的合同通常包括一项条款，允许交易商在一定比例内降低艺术品的价格，一般在5%至20%之间。记住，艺术家只能得到标价的一半。剩下的一半归画廊。
WORK THE ANGLES For a higher-priced work, a dealer might agree to installment payments.
不要认为这是针对你个人的：有些高端画廊可能有些傲慢，迫使你去询价（这些信息应该公开才对），认为你不是真心想买。主要交易商也喜欢把自己代理的艺术品卖给著名收藏家，以保护作品的血统，所以即便你买得起一件重要画作，画廊也可能不想把它卖给你。不要恼火。接着去那些更热情的画廊看看。
LOOK FOR THE RED DOT If an artwork on the wall or on the gallery’s price list (which, by law, must be prominently displayed, though often is not) has a red dot, that means it has been sold.
多想办法：对那些价格较高的作品，交易商可能会同意分期付款。
HAVE A PLAN B If the work you want is too expensive, consider smaller works by the same artist, a work on paper rather than an oil painting, an oil-pastel study, an older work or a photograph. And ask to look in the back room. Most dealers will have additional work by an artist they represent.
注意红点标记：如果画廊墙上或价格表上的某件艺术品标有红点（按照法律要求，红点应突出标示，但实际上往往都不明显），那意思是它已经售出。
“Art doesn’t have to be expensive, but it’s important to be out there and see what’s happening. It may take you six months or a year to find what you like.” Judith Selkowitz (art adviser)
别在一棵树上吊死：如果你想要的作品太贵，那么你可以考虑同一位艺术家的其他作品，比如尺寸较小的作品、素描作品（而非油画）、油粉习作、早期作品或摄影作品。你可以要求去储藏室看看。大多数交易商拥有他们代理艺术家的其他作品。
The Auctions
“艺术品不一定要昂贵的，重要的是去看看现在有哪些作品。你可能要花半年或一年时间才能弄清自己到底喜欢哪些作品。”——朱迪思·塞尔克维茨（Judith Selkowitz，艺术顾问）
HIRE AN ART ADVISER There are plenty of people whose job it is to help you buy art, whether it’s just a few decorative pieces or the beginnings of a serious collection. You can find them through online listings, but it’s better to ask your art-buying acquaintances for their advisers or search for names in news articles about collectors and the art market.
拍卖会篇
READ AND PREVIEW Do your homework. Study the auction catalog — including price estimates — and visit previews for a close-up look at the art on offer. Set a budget and stick to it.
雇个艺术顾问：有很多人的工作是帮助购买艺术品，不管你只是想买几件艺术品作装饰还是打算认真开始收藏。你可以通过网上的艺术顾问列表寻找，但是更好的做法是向买过艺术品的熟人打听他们的顾问，或者在关于收藏家或艺术市场的新闻报道中寻找合适的人选。
SIT ON YOUR HANDS Auctions can be overwhelming. There is a show-business element to the proceedings, and big names in attendance. You can’t always tell what’s happening — or who’s bidding. That’s because some buyers prefer anonymity so they bid over the phone or from private boxes above the auction room. Also, the bidding can go fast, with auctioneers throwing out several figures in succession to jump-start the process. When in doubt, just watch.
阅读和预习：提前做好功课。研究拍卖目录（包括估价），参加预览会以便近距离观看在售艺术品。设定预算，不要动摇。
CLICK, WITH CAUTION There are some great deals online and legitimate outfits getting into the act — Sotheby’s recently held its first auction in a new partnership with eBay, and Christie’s in 2012 sold some of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Art’s collection online. But buyers must beware; the online sphere leaves all sorts of room for specious claims about provenance, condition and value. Paddle8 and Auctionata are considered reputable sites. You need to exercise due diligence on sellers and their claims before you click the bidding button.
淡然旁观：拍卖会可能让人觉得有威压感。拍卖过程具有表演性质，会有名人出席。你并不总能弄清正在发生什么或者谁在出价。因为有些买家喜欢匿名，所以他们通过电话或者在拍卖厅上方的私人包厢里出价。出价也可能很快，拍卖商为了加速拍卖过程可能接连说出几个报价。不明白的时候，只管旁观就是了。
LOOK AT THE CLOCK Lisa Dennison, the chairwoman of Sotheby’s North and South America, advises bargain hunters to look at the day sales, where “you will find works by many of the same artists in the evening sale, at a fraction of the price.”
谨慎点击：网上有些很棒的交易，一些正规团队也开始行动。前不久，苏富比和eBay达成新的合作关系，首次举办网络拍卖会。2012年，佳士得在网上拍卖安迪·沃霍尔视觉艺术基金会(Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Art)的部分藏品。但是买家们一定要小心。网络为各种关于来源、现状和价值的可疑声明提供了空间。Paddle8和Auctionata被认为是信誉较好的两家网站。在点击出价按钮前，你需要对卖家及其声明进行仔细调查。
At Sotheby’s, an untitled 2009 polyurethanic rubber hand by Maurizio Cattelan is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000 in the day sale on Wednesday, whereas that artist’s piece featuring miniature working elevators (also untitled) from 2001 is estimated at $1.2 million to $1.8 million at the sale the previous evening.
看准时机：苏富比北美和南美区的主席利萨·(Lisa Dennison)建议，寻找便宜货的买家们可以看看日间拍卖会，在那里，“你能找到晚间拍卖会上的很多艺术家的作品，而价格只是晚间拍卖会的零头”。
“People get sentimental about the first few works of art they buy, or they find them laughable and use them as benchmarks of their early mistakes. But either way, it’s like first love, and one should totally revel in it.” — Amy Cappellazzo (art adviser)
周三（5月6日），在苏富比的日间拍卖会上，毛里齐奥·卡泰兰(Maurizio Cattelan)2009年创作的无题聚氨酯橡胶手的估价为1.5万至2万美元，而这位艺术家2001年创作的微型工作电梯（也是无题）在前晚拍卖会上的估价为120万至180万美元之间。
The Students
“人们对自己购买的前几件艺术品往往充满感情，或者觉得它们很可笑，把它们用作早期错误的基准。不管怎样，它就像初恋，人们应该完全陶醉其中。”——埃米·卡佩拉佐（Amy Cappellazzo，艺术顾问）
MASTER’S WORK Art schools in New York present end-of-semester student shows by M.F.A. candidates, a happy hunting ground for inexpensive art. Columbia University’s School of the Arts, the School of Visual Arts, Parsons, Pratt Institute and Hunter College all list student shows on their websites. Some are on campus, others in gallerylike locations outside the schools, with guest curators.
学生作品展篇
MAKE AN OFFER Or ask. Student shows are informal, without price lists. The school acts as a go-between and takes no fee, so the artist receives the full price. If it feels awkward to talk money with the artist in person, take a card and discuss money later.
大师的作品：纽约的艺术类学院会在期末推出艺术硕士学生的作品展，那是寻找便宜艺术品的乐园。哥伦比亚大学艺术系(Columbia University’s School of the Arts)、视觉艺术学校(School of Visual Arts)、帕森斯艺术学校(Parsons)、普拉特学院(Pratt Institute)和亨特学院(Hunter College)都在自己的网站上发布学生作品展的信息。有些展览在学校举办，有些则在学校之外类似画廊的地方举办，由特邀策展人组织。
RED-DOT JUNE From January to May, the Art Students League exhibits student work. The best pieces, chosen by faculty members, are included in its Red Dot Exhibition each June.
出价：或者询价。学生作品展不太正式，没有价目表。学校只是中间人，不收取费用，所以所有的钱都归艺术家。如果你觉得和艺术家当面谈价钱有点尴尬，那就拿张名片，以后再谈。
CHECK WEBSITES Even student artists have websites, usually with images, a biography and an artist’s statement that will offer insights into the work.
6月的红点展览：从1月到5月，艺术学生联盟(Art Students League)都会展示学生作品。该联盟的工作人员从中选出最好的作品，在每年6月的红点展览(Red Dot Exhibition)上展出。
The Studios
查看网站：甚至连学生艺术家也有自己的网站，上面通常有图片、个人简介，以及艺术家对自己作品的阐释。
KNOCK KNOCK Open studios are annual events in art districts like Gowanus, Bushwick and Long Island City. Individual artists, or buildings housing multiple artists’ studios, join forces and hold an open house for a weekend, with maps and websites to aid navigation.
STRATEGIZE YOUR ROUTE Bushwick Open Studios, from June 5 to 7, has grown so large that the festival has been divided into a half-dozen zones, each with its own map, available as a smartphone app or on the Arts in Bushwick website. A print version will be distributed at hub points in the neighborhood. Profiles of the 700 individual artists are online. LIC Arts Open, in Long Island City, from May 13 to 17, also has a guide and map on its website.
工作室篇
DON’T FORGET THE STUDENTS Most art schools, in addition to end-of-semester thesis shows, also hold open studios during the academic year.
登门拜访：戈瓦纳斯、布什威克和长岛市等艺术区每年都举办工作室开放日活动。独立艺术家或艺术家工作室聚集的大楼会联合起来，在某个周末举办工作室开放日活动，它们提供地图和网站辅助参观。
ENGAGE The point of an open studio is to let the public see work outside the gallery system and promote dialogue. This is your chance to get the inside scoop on the art and the artist behind it.
规划路线：布什威克工作室开放日活动(Bushwick Open Studios)在每年6月5日至7日举办。它的规模越来越大，所以划分成六个区，每个区都有自己的地图，可以在手机应用程序或Arts in Bushwick网站上查看。附近的交通枢纽将分发纸质版本。在网上能看到700位个体艺术家的简介。长岛市艺术开放日活动(LIC Arts Open)每年5月13日至17日举办，它的网站上也有导览和地图。
BARGAIN The art is for sale. Deals can be struck.
不要忘了还在上学的学生们：大部分艺术学校除了在期末举办设计展览，在学期中间也举办工作室开放日活动。
LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING Artsicle operates a virtual open studio, putting users in contact with more than 5,000 artists in 88 countries.
多多参与：工作室开放日活动的意义在于让公众看到画廊系统之外的作品，促进交流。这是你了解艺术品和艺术家内幕情况的机会。
“Buy fewer, better works of art. Buy the best you can afford. Take your time. There is no art emergency.” — Liz Klein (art adviser)
讨价还价：艺术品是用来卖的。所以你有可能通过讲价买到便宜货。
The Fairs
用手指代替腿：Artsicle网站运营一个虚拟开放工作室，用户可以与88个国家的5000多名艺术家联系。
MORE IS BETTER Half of buying wisely is knowing what’s out there and the going rates. Art fairs make it possible to see the maximum number of galleries and dealers in the minimum amount of time. Exploit this. Frieze New York, on Randalls Island from Thursday through May 17, is easy to reach and fun to navigate.
“买更好的艺术品，哪怕少买点。买你能买得起的最好的艺术品。不要着急。艺术从来都不着急。”——利兹·克莱恩（Liz Klein，艺术顾问）
THINK CHEAP Some fairs, like Spring Masters New York, opening Friday at the Park Avenue Armory, or Frieze serve a rich clientele. Others, like the Affordable Art Fair, every September, or the New Art Dealers Alliance fair, opening on Thursday, offer less expensive work.
SEEK THE SATELLITES Every March, when the big fairs hit New York — the Art Dealers Association of America show and the Armory Show, followed by Asia Week — smaller fish swim in their wake, many of them offering bargains. These include Volta, Pulse New York, Scope, the Independent and the quirky Spring/Break Art Show in Moynihan Station, the former James A. Farley Post Office in Manhattan.
博览会篇
THE LAST-DAY DIP Typically, art at the big fairs is pricey. But when a fair enters its final day, prices can get soft on works that have not moved.
越多越好：买得聪明，一半源于了解市场情况和行情。艺术博览会能让你在最短的时间内看到最多画廊和交易商。要充分利用。周四（5月7日）至5月17日，弗里兹纽约博览会(Frieze New York)在兰德尔岛(Randalls Island)举办，去那里很方便，而且很有趣。
TALK TO DEALERS The same dealers who may be tied up on the phone at their galleries, or are absent entirely, can be approachable and talkative at a fair. This is a golden opportunity to look, ask questions and learn.
着眼便宜：有些博览会主要面向富有的客户，例如周五（5月8日）在公园大道军械库开幕的纽约春季大师展(Spring Masters New York)或弗里兹纽约博览会。也有些博览会展示不太昂贵的作品，例如每年9月举办的“买得起的艺术展”(Affordable Art Fair)以及周四（5月7日）开幕的新艺术交易商联盟博览会(New Art Dealers Alliance)。
DON’T FORGET FESTIVALS Trade fairs command most of the art-buying attention, but events like the Harlem Arts Festival can also present opportunities. Along with a full schedule of performing arts, the festival (June 27 and 28 in Marcus Garvey Park) includes a dozen visual artists with work for sale.
关注小型展览：每年3月，纽约举办大型博览会时——例如美国艺术交易商协会(Art Dealers Association of America)的展览和军械库展览(Armory Show)，以及之后的亚洲艺术周(Asia Week)——一些不太出名的博览会也会随之举办，其中很多展示比较便宜的艺术品，比如伏打(Volta)、脉动纽约(Pulse New York)、范围(Scope)、独立(Independent)，以及在莫伊尼汉车站(Moynihan Station)举办的怪异的春假艺术展(Spring/Break Art Show)，该车站的前身是曼哈顿的詹姆斯·A·法利邮局(James A. Farley Post Office)。
“Ninety percent of the people walking in have no clue what a gallery is all about. They think that I am the artist who painted all the work on the walls. Some of them call and ask if there is a charge to enter the gallery.” — Adriaan Van Der Plas (gallery owner, Lower East Side)
最后一天的降价：一般来说，大型博览会上的艺术品价格昂贵。但是到博览会的最后一天，那些无人问津的艺术品的价格可能会降低。
Bonus Tips
与交易商攀谈：在画廊里，你可能找不到交易商，或者交易商在忙着接电话。在博览会上，你可以接近他们并攀谈。这是鉴赏、询问和学习的黄金机会。
ART CAN BE A GOOD INVESTMENT Personal taste aside, art has also proven to be a serious asset class, so you can approach acquisitions from a more bottom-line, business-oriented perspective. Buy time-tested artists whose works continue to appreciate or try to get in on the ground floor of emerging talents who seem — in the press or through word of mouth — poised to take off.
不要忘了艺术节：购买艺术品时，人们最关注的是交易博览会，但是像哈莱姆艺术节(Harlem Arts Festival)这样的活动也能提供一些机会。除了丰富的表演艺术，该艺术节（6月27日至28日在马库斯·加维公园[Marcus Garvey Park]举行）还展示十几位视觉艺术家的待售作品。
EDUCATE YOUR EYE Go see as much as you can — at galleries, museums and art fairs and by trolling online. The more art you see, the more you will develop clear judgment. Knowledge can help put things in context, but expertise isn’t a prerequisite. Marc Glimcher, president of Pace Gallery, says: “Go to a museum first and see what speaks to you. Identify which thread of art history is meaningful to you before heading to the galleries or the auction.”
“90%无意中走进画廊的人对画廊是做什么的一无所知。他们以为我是艺术家，墙上的画都是我画的。还有人打电话询问参观画廊要不要门票。”——阿德里安·范·德·普拉斯（Adriaan Van Der Plas，下东区的一个画廊老板）
THE LONG VIEW Budding collectors shouldn’t just buy what initially captivates them. “Ask yourself how something might look when you know more, how something might look over time,” said Amy Cappellazzo, co-founder of Art Agency, Partners, an art advisory firm. “The best thing to do is put yourself in a position where the first purchase actually challenges you a little — you’re not sure you like something, but you can’t stop looking at it. Imagine your smarter self looking at it in five years.”
GET WHAT YOU LOVE All sorts of people will give all sorts of advice about what to buy and when and where to buy it. But the bottom line is, you have to live with the painting or sculpture or installation, so you should like what it looks like, how it feels to have it in your home. Unless you’re viewing art as a pure financial investment, trust your aesthetic response.
补充建议
艺术品可能是一项很好的投资：撇开个人爱好不说，事实证明，艺术品也是一项严肃的资产类别，所以你可以从基本的生意角度选择艺术品。选择那些经过时间考验、会继续升值的艺术家的作品，或者那些从新闻或口碑角度看可能会名声大涨的底层新秀艺术家的作品。
训练眼光：尽量多看——参观画廊、博物馆、艺术博览会或者在网上浏览。你看的艺术品越多，你的判断就会越清晰。多些艺术知识，能帮助你了解相关背景，但是专业知识不是必要条件。佩斯画廊(Pace Gallery)的董事长马克·格利姆彻(Marc Glimcher)说，“先去博物馆看看，看哪些东西能触动你。去画廊或拍卖会之前，弄清你对艺术史的哪条线索感兴趣。”
高瞻远瞩：新收藏者不应该只买那些最初吸引他们的东西。“问问自己，当你懂得更多之后，或者很久之后，某件艺术品给你的感觉会是怎样的，”艺术咨询公司“艺术中介/搭档”(Art Agency, Partners)的联合创始人埃米·卡佩拉佐(Amy Cappellazzo)说，“最好的做法是，第一次购买艺术品时，做点有点挑战的事情——你不确定自己是否喜欢某件艺术品，但就是忍不住想看它。想象一下更聪明的自己五年后看它的样子。”
买你很喜欢的东西：各种各样的人会对何时何地购买哪些艺术品提供各种建议。但最重要的是，你必须和那幅画、那件雕塑或装置作品生活在一起，所以你必须喜欢它的样子以及它放在你房间里的感觉。除非你把艺术品看做纯粹的金融投资，你还是要相信自己的审美。
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