By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 17th, 2024
According to the statement, this step is only the beginning of Sotheby’s journey in the world of digital art.
On the heel of Christie’s $69.3M Beeple’s NFT sale, Sotheby’s has announced a partnership with anonymous artist Pak. The auction house will sell the artist’s NFT-based digital art.
Pak, whom Sotheby’s describes as an “omniscient designer/developer/wizard” is an anonymous person/group that has been in the digital art scene for over 20 years. Pak is known for their signature monochromatic work that usually features geometric forms in motion. They are also the founder of Archillect, an AI-driven visual content sharing platform.
In a statement Sotheby’s had this to say:
“We wanted to partner with Pak because we are entering a whole new world with digital art, and we felt it was important to work with an artist who has been active in the community for many years. While we can’t yet reveal full details of what’s to come, we want to be true to the democratic spirit of crypto and will be working together to attract as many people as possible to take part in this next adventure, so prepare for some surprises.”
According to the statement, this is only the beginning for Sotheby’s. The auction house is to “not only enter the digital art sphere but create a bridge from digital art to our auction business.” This will involve bringing popular contemporary artists into the world of digital art.
In keeping up with the spirit of embracing crypto Sotheby’s will now accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
In a CNBC interview, Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart commented on NFTs:
“Obviously (NFTs have) come in a major way into our collective consciousness over the last couple of months. Partly that’s linked to the rise of crypto values […] It’s still very early with crypto art in general. This has the potential to bypass a lot of the traditional gatekeepers.”
NFT Sale on Sotheby’s Set for April
The auction house’s CEO Charles Stewart said in an interview with CNBC that the sale will include both individual works of art as well as “open edition” NFTs, where multiple buyers can purchase minted tokens for the same work.
In addition to unique works of art, Sotheby’s will also sell “open editions” where many people can own tokens for the same piece of art.
He also noted that NFTs bring a new audience and aesthetic to art and could potentially eliminate the middlemen and processes that come with physical art.
The NFT world has been on a rise in recent months with big names like Grimes, Kings of Leon and Halsey selling music as NFTs. There has also been progress in the gaming arena with giants Sorare and NBA Top Shot making millions of NFT sales.