New York's Asia Week is in full swing, with the Arts of Pacific Asia fair kicking off on Saturday as well as a slew of exhibitions, ranging from Khmer gilt bronzes, Tibetan thangkas and Mughal jewellery to Japanese literati paintings. The week is lower-key than in previous years due to the recession: the Haughtons' Asian art fair was cancelled; some major dealers such as London's Giuseppe Eskenazi have given the event a miss, and sales catalogues are noticeably slimmer. The standout auction is at Christie's on Wednesday, with Chinese art from the Sackler collections, which includes a lovely sixth-century votive stele estimated at $300,000- $500,000.
如今紐約各種活動上的一個主要話題，就是佳士得圣羅蘭藏品拍賣會上兩個銅首的拍賣對市場會產生什么樣的影響。這兩個獸首是在19世紀從中國搶走的，一位中國買家在會上拍下了它，但現在拒絕付款，以顯示一種“愛國姿態”。“這對拍賣業來說不是個好消息，”巴黎一流交易商克里斯蒂安·戴迪爾(Christian Deydier)說。“雖然我認為這只是一樁個案，但卻令人擔憂，這表明一些中國買家不尊重國際法。”倫敦交易商羅杰·凱弗恩(Roger Keverne)認為，競拍人蔡銘超可能會不再被允許參加拍賣。“但我并不認為他的流氓做法將對本周紐約的拍賣有任何影響。”他補充說。