Auction house Sotheby’s took on the sale of CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club in 2021. It was also scheduled to sell a lot of 104 CryptoPunks in February 2022, but the NFT sale was cancelled. Sotheby’s plans to sell some rather special NFTs this time around. These works are the result of the work of a mixed team of humans and computer programs.
NFT and generative art: the works of creative algorithms at Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s revealed information on April 13, 2022 about an auction that will be dedicated to NFT art. The event will take place from April 18 to 24, 2022. The NFTs sold will span the history of generative art – the use of algorithms to generate a work.
Works by artists Vera Molnár, Chuck Csuri, and Roman Verostko, who are part of the vanguard of generative art, will be offered for the first time as NFTs. The auction will also feature the participation of contemporary generative artists. Participants will be able to admire and/or acquire works dating from the 1960s to the present.
This event also has an educational dimension. Indeed, through this auction, participants will be able to better understand the relationship between NFT and the artistic movements of the 20th century, and in particular generative art:
“While NFT projects such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club have made headlines around the world over the past year, few understand how these NFTs are connected to the history of 20th century art movements, including the early generative artists who paved the way for computer art and algorithm-based art that has inspired many contemporary NFT projects.”
Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s vice president and co-head of digital art
NFTs are gradually becoming a new staple of contemporary art and culture. They have already earned their place in prestigious auction houses like Sotheby’s. NFTs have also walked the red carpet of a major cultural event like the 2022 Grammy Awards in music.
