Sotheby’s: 2023 Was One of the Most Exciting Years for Digital Art

According to Michael Bouhanna, vice-president and head of the department concerned at the auction house, Sotheby’s digital-art sales for 2023 reached almost $35 million.

2023 at Sothebys will remain one of the most exciting years for Digital Art!

? What We Achieved ?

Close to $35 million in sales.

Launch of a fully on-chain secondary marketplace that honors creators’ royalties.

Our very first dedicated live auction with more than 300… pic.twitter.com/rabrxntz9Z

— Michael Bouhanna (@michaelbouhanna) December 23, 2023

According to him, the closing year was “one of the most exciting” for digital art. Sotheby’s managed to set a new price record in the segment — $6.2 million for Dmitry Chernyak’s NFT “Ringers #879 (The Goose)”.

In August 2021, the digital artwork acquired by the cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC). After its bankruptcy in 2022, Sotheby’s put up for auction the 3AC NFT collection.

Among Bouhanna’s other achievements, he highlighted:

• launch of a secondary on-chain marketplace with royalties for NFT creators;
• the first live auction at $12 million with more than 300 attendees;
• conducting more than 25 digital-art auctions;
• the launch of the successful NFT collection Themes and Variations by the 99-year-old artist Vera Molnar and Martin Grasser.

Earlier in February, Sotheby’s put up for sale the manuscript of Neal Stephenson’s cult novel “Avalanche”. In the work, the term “metaverse” is believed to have first appeared.

In July, Sotheby’s held auctions of works by generative artists under the Gen Art Program, using blockchain technologies.