????大家在今年的第33屆馬德里國際當代藝術展（ARCO）上很容易就能看出參展者在藝術圈中處于哪個等級。

????周末去參展的屬于平民群體。這個群體人數大概在10萬左右，而且人數正在減少。這群人往往會花費20到40歐元（27.5到55美元）不等的錢購買藝術品。購買的藝術作品范圍很廣，從圣徒式的名家——如照相寫實主義畫家理查德?伊斯特斯的畫作，到前途無量的新人——如墨西哥裝置藝術家埃克托爾?薩莫拉的作品都有。周三或周四的參展者很可能是有錢人或藝術機構的代表，這個群體大約有400人。他們一般都是展覽方邀請來的，且所有行程費用都已付清。展覽方邀請他們的目的，不外乎希望他們買些大件。

????所有大型藝術展都設有VIP項目，專門吸引大買家。但ARCO卻將全部450萬歐元預算中的20%都用在了邀請買家及海外宣傳上，。它表明，西班牙持續五年的經濟危機已經迫使這個藝術展將工作重心從國內博物館和當地買家轉移到國際大收藏家身上。

????“危機發生前，大部分藝術品都賣給了國內機構。但現在這些機構都不買了，國外的收藏家買得更多，”卡洛斯?烏羅斯說。從2010年起，卡洛斯?烏羅斯開始擔任ARCO展會的總監。

????西班牙泡沫經濟的破滅對藝術行業打擊深重。藝術經濟研究所（Arts Economics）創始人克萊爾?麥克安魯為巴塞羅那Arte y Mecenazgo基金會進行過一個市場研究。結果顯示，2002到2007年間，西班牙藝術品市場規模從1.6億歐元增加到了4.8億歐元，增長幅度高達200%；然而2009年，這個市場一下子跌到了2.71億歐元。一直到現在，市場才剛剛有所恢復。其中一部分原因在于，政府提高了藝術品的增值稅（銷售稅），將2012年18%的增值稅稅率提高到了21%（2010年這一稅率為16%）。

????“我們現在的狀況跟危機發生之前比起來非常糟糕，”馬德里Galería Nieves Fernández畫廊的主管伊多婭?費爾南德斯坐在ARCO的白色展館中說。“如果沒有外國人來，去年的ARCO簡直就是一場災難。去年在ARCO，我們只賣了一幅畫給西班牙國內的收藏家，價格是3,000歐元。”

????由于很多人不愿透露整體銷量，因此展會的真實情況很難摸清。烏羅斯表示，他從各個畫廊得到的回應是“滿意”。

????“我們沒有銷售數據，”他說。“但我們有畫廊的滿意度指標。而且我們相信今年的情況會更好。”

????我們得到的數據卻并不樂觀。ARCO的參展人數在2003和2004年達到了歷史新高，每年在200,000人左右。但2012年，參展人數降到了127,500人，今年則估計在100,000人左右。另外，西班牙國內的大機構，尤其是依靠政府資金支持的大機構都削減了開支。以索菲亞王后國家藝術中心博物館（MuseoNacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía）為例，它2010年在ARCO的預算為927,762歐元，2012年降到了700,000歐元，2013年為318,999歐元，今年則只有204,625歐元。

????我們只好再次把目光投向國際收藏家。由于本土資金短缺，ARCO便邀請了許多國際收藏家來參展，同時還增加了許多拉丁美洲畫廊展位，以便向這些收藏家們展示一些他們在別的地方看不到的作品。

????ARCO上周三開展，第一天基本屬于收藏家與專業人士。我在參觀的幾個小時中發現，展會的新策略似乎起到了作用。如今藝術品增值稅已經下調到了約15.5%，展館中隨處可見的是身著昂貴便裝的高齡紳士、接受過極端整形手術的老年女士，以及穿著緊身褲、胡子打過蠟的年輕人。

????At this year's 33rd edition of Spain's ARCOmadrid contemporary art fair, it was pretty easy to tell where you stood in the art world hierarchy.

????If you visited over the weekend, you were one of a diminished group of 100,000 or so civilians who forked out between 20 and 40 euros ($27.50 and $55) to bask in art that ran from canonized names like photorealist painter Richard Estes to up-and-comers like Mexican installation artistHéctor Zamora. But if you attended on Wednesday or Thursday, you were likely one of the 400 or so rich folks and art institution bigwigs who'd been invited to Spain, your trip paid in full, in the hopes that you might drop some serious dough on art.

????All major art fairs have VIP programs designed to attract big spenders. But ARCO's dedication of 20% of its 4.5 million euro budget to inviting buyers and promoting the fair overseas shows how Spain's economic crisis -- now more than five years old -- has forced the fair to turn its attention from national museums and modest local buyers to big international collectors.

????"In the years before the crisis, there were a lot of sales to domestic institutions. This has disappeared, and now there are more sales to foreign collectors," said Carlos Urroz, ARCO's director since 2010.

????Spain's art world was whiplashed by the country's bubbly rise and quick collapse. The Spanish art market grew 200% between 2002 and 2007, from 160 million to 480 million euros, only to crash to 271 million euros in 2009, according to a study led by Clare McAndrew, founder of research firm Arts Economics, for Barcelona's Arte y Mecenazgo foundation. The market has recovered only slightly since, hurt in part by the government's increase of its VAT (sales tax) on art works from 18% to 21% in 2012 (up from 16% in 2010).

????"We're doing very badly compared to pre-crisis," said Idoia Fernández, sitting in the white ARCO cube of Madrid's Galería Nieves Fernández, where she is the director. "Last year, if it weren't for foreigners, ARCO would have been a disaster. We sold only one piece to a Spanish collector last year at ARCO, for 3,000 euros."

????It's hard to know how a fair is doing, as many are loath to divulge overall sales numbers. Urroz couches his response in gallery "satisfaction."

????"We don't have sales figures," he said. "We know the level of satisfaction of the galleries, and we are confident this year will be better."

????What numbers are available aren't good. In 2003 and 2004, ARCO's visitor numbers hit a high of 200,000 people annually, but this number fell to 127,500 in 2012 and an estimated 100,000 this year. And big Spanish institutional buyers -- especially ones dependent on government support -- have cut their spending. Take the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, which trimmed its ARCO budget from 927,762 euros in 2010 to 700,000 euros in 2012, 318,999 euros in 2013, and 204,625 euros this year.

????Which brings us back to the international collectors. With local money scarce, ARCO has flown in international collectors and added foreign galleries from Latin America to show those collectors pieces they wouldn't see elsewhere.

????When I walked through ARCO a few hours after it opened on Wednesday, the first collector and industry day, the fair's redefinition appeared to be working. The VAT had been dropped to about 15.5%, and the halls were full of elder gentlemen in expensive casual wear, women of a certain age who'd undergone extreme plastic surgery, and young guys with tight pants and waxed moustaches.