拍卖巨头佳士得CEO开始着眼网上拍卖

Steven Murphy's short reign as the chief executive of auction house Christie's has been marked by record sales that have kept it ahead of its main rival, Sotheby's.

马文斐(Steven Murphy)担任拍卖行佳士得(Christie’s)首席执行长的时间不长，但在此期间佳士得实现了创纪录的销售额，并一直领先于主要竞争对手苏富比(Sotheby’s)。

But the 60-year-old thinks the company, the largest art auction house in the world, is lagging behind when it comes to contemporary technology.

但现年60岁的马文斐觉得，作为全球最大艺术品拍卖行的佳士得在现代科技方面落后于人。

'I felt the art auction world had not experienced the tidal wave that music, video and books experienced with the advent of online,' said Mr. Murphy, a former media executive whose resume includes stops at health publisher Rodale and Walt Disney Co.

曾任媒体行业高管的马文斐说，他觉得拍卖行这个行业没有经历音乐、视频和图书在网络时代来临时所经历过的那种浪潮。马文斐的履历包括曾任职于健康类出版商Rodale以及华特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)。

Mr. Murphy has made the company's online strategy his main focus even as sales soared last year to $7.13 billion, a 14% rise over 2013 and a 36% improvement from 2010.

佳士得2013年销售额飙升至71.3亿美元，全年增长了14%，较2010年增长了36%，此时马文斐将公司的网络策略作为关注重点。

That was the year Mr. Murphy joined London-based Christie's. The company is also rapidly growing in emerging markets: Hong Kong sales in 2013 rose 30%, and the auction house opened new outposts in Shanghai and Mumbai last year.

马文斐正是在2013年加入总部位于伦敦的佳士得。该公司同时还在新兴市场迅速发展：2013年香港销售额增长30%，该公司去年还在上海和孟买开设了新拍卖行。

And Christie's sold more than $2 billion in postwar and contemporary art last year, which was the biggest driver of sales growth.

佳士得去年售出价值逾20亿美元的战后及当代艺术品，这是推动销售额增长的最大类别。

Last year, it sold 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud' by Francis Bacon for US$142.4 million, a record price for a work of art sold at auction.

去年，该公司拍出弗朗西斯·培根(Francis Bacon)的《弗洛伊德肖像三习作》(Three Studies of Lucian Freud)，创下1.424亿美元的艺术品拍卖价格纪录。

Mr. Murphy spoke with The Wall Street Journal's Jason Chow and Wei Gu in Hong Kong about why he thinks the art industry's greatest opportunity lies online, the emerging markets in Asia and why he doesn't think there is a bubble in contemporary art.

马文斐在香港接受《华尔街日报》记者Jason Chow和顾蔚采访，讨论他为何认为艺术品行业最大的机会在于互联网和亚洲新兴市场，以及他为何不认为当代艺术品存在泡沫。

Edited excerpts:

以下为经过编辑的访谈内容：

WSJ: Who is Christie's typical customer today?

《华尔街日报》：佳士得现在的典型客户是什么样的？

Mr. Murphy: There are three types. There's the deep art collector, a true aficionado, who spends a great deal of money on their collection. Contrary to common wisdom, our biggest clients buy across seven categories of art. Our next group of clients are an emerging group and are extremely active in the pursuit of art and objects as an experience. That group is growing exponentially around the world.

马文斐：有三种类型。一种是真正抱有狂热爱好的资深艺术收藏人士，他们在自己的藏品上花费不菲。与人们通常认为的相反，我们最大的客户购买的对象涉及七大艺术类别。我们的第二大客户群是一个新兴的群体，他们十分积极地追求艺术和目标，将其作为一种体验。这个群体在世界各地都以极快的速度增加。

The third group is the enthusiasts. The auction world has only ever captured a part of the already-interested clients. We're discovering, in a big way in Asia and China, an entire new group.

第三大类是艺术爱好者。拍卖行业只吸引了一部分已经有兴趣的客户。我们在中国和亚洲发现了一个全新的群体。

WSJ: Christie's reported that 30% of the buyers last year were new clients. Who are they?

《华尔街日报》：佳士得宣布去年30%的买家都是新客户。这些客户是什么人？

Mr. Murphy: The new buyers are from the second category. This is not a group that needs to be introduced to the joy of acquiring art. They're just new to Christie's.

马文斐：这些新客户来自第二个类别。无需向这个群体介绍购买艺术品的乐趣。只是对于佳士得来说，他们是新客户。

WSJ: You have opened auction rooms in India and China. Why expand when the art world is so global, and collectors are buying online or in New York or London?

《华尔街日报》：你们在印度和中国都开设了拍卖行。如今艺术世界的全球化程度已经很深，藏家们在网上或在纽约、伦敦等地购买艺术品，为何在这个时候选择扩张？

Mr. Murphy: Live auctions and exhibitions, the bricks-and-mortar, is growing as fast as online.

马文斐：实时的现场拍卖和展览发展速度与在网上一样快。

Essentially, these bricks-and-mortar places are really about creating embassies for the international republic of Christie's. When someone steps over the threshold in Shanghai, they're in the Christie's world and they'll become buyers in our London and Paris sales.

实质上，这些实体场所其实是为了创建佳士得这个国际机构的代表处。在上海，只要有人跨进佳士得的大门，他们就置身于佳士得的世界，最终会成为我们在伦敦和巴黎的拍卖会的买家。

WSJ: The bulk of your business is still live auctions. Where do you see the opportunity online?

《华尔街日报》：你们的大部份业务仍为现场拍卖，你认为网络拍卖的机遇在何处？

Mr. Murphy: The number of active parties is much greater than the audience we've been serving. They've been there at art fairs, art dealers. Now, we're finally accessing them.

马文斐：活跃群体的数量远大于我们的现有客户。这类群体参加艺术展会并与艺术商进行接触，如今我们终于有机会接触到他们。

The potential for growth for Christie's is exponential because of the number of active buyers and interested buyers. And online provides us with the means of connection with them that is far more facile than bricks and mortars.

数量庞大的活跃买家和意向买家，使佳士得暗含巨大的增长潜力。而网络向我们提供了与这些客户建立关系的渠道，它远比实体形式要便捷得多。

Last year, was our proof-of-concept year. We had 60 online-only auctions of various categories. It was a year we didn't task our team with doing huge numbers. This year begins the real surge.

去年是检验理念的一年，我们举行了60场仅限线上的、涉及多种类别拍品的网络拍卖会。这一年里我们没有给团队设定宏大的业绩目标。而今年将开始真正意义上的大幅增长。

WSJ: What items sell best online?

《华尔街日报》：哪些物品在网上拍得最好？

Mr. Murphy: It's early days. The price point that works best for us, so far, on online-only auctions is between GBP 5000 and GBP 1 million (US$8,414 to US$1.7 million). That's a big zone, but it's not above or below. And the categories that work are myriad. It's not only watches and wine. It's all art, a wide range.

马文斐：现在作判断为时尚早。目前为止对仅限线上的网络拍卖而言，最佳的价格区间是五千英镑到一百万英镑（约合8,414美元至170万美元）。这是一个很宽的区间，但也仅限于此不再扩大。另外许多类别的销售都非常好，不光手表和红酒，而是所有的艺术品。

The Andy Warhol Foundation came to us because they wanted to monetize their collection, including serious paintings, works on paper, photographs, Polaroids -- the entire range. Christie's was able to provide major paintings at live auction at evening sales, other works at day sales live, then other works in large collections of lesser-priced works online.

安迪沃霍尔基金会(Andy Warhol Foundation)与我们接洽，想要对全部类别的藏品进行拍卖，包括严肃画作、纸上作品、照片以及宝丽来作品。佳士得可在晚间拍卖会的现场拍卖环节对主要画作进行拍卖，在白天现场拍卖会拍卖其他作品，然后在网上对其它价格较低的大量藏品进行拍卖。

WSJ: Postwar and contemporary artworks have become a huge part of your sales. Is that market in a bubble, and are you worried about relying heavily on one category? Mr. Murphy: The success of the postwar contemporary market has encouraged collectors to consign their works.

《华尔街日报》：战后及当代艺术品已成为你们销售的一大块。这块市场是否出现泡沫？你是否会担心佳士得过度依靠单一类别？

The number of fantastic pieces coming to market has been extraordinary. The Bacon triptych we sold ('Three Studies of Lucian Freud') is an irrefutable masterpiece. And masterpieces invite more masterpieces, and that drives the market.

马文斐：战后及当代艺术市场的成功激励着收藏者将手中藏品拿来拍卖。

It is not a bubble. The demand is increasing because the number of buyers is increasing. The number of works coming on the market has also gone up in artistic quality and are worthy of that demand.

进入市场的佳作数量超乎寻常。我们拍出的《弗洛伊德肖像画习作》(Three Studies of Lucian Freud)是一件毋庸置疑的杰作。一批佳作吸引来又一批佳作，从而推动着市场走向繁荣。

WSJ: Private sales are an increasing part of the business, worth $1.2 billion last year, rising nearly 50% since 2011. Why is this channel so popular?

这并不是一个泡沫，需求因买家数量的增多而增多。进入市场的作品的艺术质量也在上升，配得上如此强劲的需求。

Mr. Murphy: We learned in 2010 that our top clients were spending half of their art purchases outside of auctions. They were already operating in the private-purchase space and were asking us to provide that service. So we added private sales teams, and now, our clients are buying with us both at auction and privately.

《华尔街日报》：私下洽购是一块增长中的业务，该业务去年销售达12亿美元，自2011年累计增长近50%。这一销售渠道为何如此受欢迎？

WSJ: Why do you think buying art is so popular today?

马文斐：我们在2010年时了解到，我们的顶级客户的艺术品消费有一半是在拍卖活动以外进行的。当时他们已开展私下洽购并要求我们提供这一服务。因此我们增设了这方面团队，而现在我们的客户既通过拍卖，也通过私下洽购从我们手中购买艺术品。

Mr. Murphy: We're living in a moment where we're having a cultural shift, world-wide, towards an interest in art, museums, and the experience of being in front of pictures.

《华尔街日报》: 你认为如今为什么如此流行购买艺术品？

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum in Beijing, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, are all experiencing record attendance. That is not unconnected to people coming to Christie's.

马文斐：我们正在经历一场全球文化的转变，人们对艺术、博物馆以及欣赏画作的兴趣正变得越来越浓厚。

You take this cultural move and marry it to the facility of imagery being available in HD quality, from your phone to your laptop.

纽约大都会艺术博物馆(Metropolitan Museum of Art)、北京国家博物馆(National Museum)、洛杉矶县立艺术博物馆(Los Angeles County Museum of Art)的参观者人数纷纷刷新纪录。这与来佳士得的人并非毫无关联。

It's the equivalent to the explosion of music, globally, in the 1960s and 1970s. Suddenly, in the 1960s, you could hear the same song around the world thanks to radio.

可呈现高清画质图像的设备也对这场文化大潮带来助推，比如手机、笔记本电脑等等。

Today, the world knows Frances Bacon and Andy Warhol. The world sees a Rafael drawing and it's in every newspaper, every website, and here on phones.

这就相当于上世纪六、七十年代的全球音乐大爆炸。上世纪六十年代，在收音机的帮助下，突然之间人们可以在世界的任何角落听到同一首歌。

Jason Chow / Wei Gu

今天，全世界都知道培根(Frances Bacon)和沃霍尔(Andy Warhol)。全世界都可以看到拉斐尔(Rafael)的画作，在报纸上、网站上，以及在你的手机上。