The year 2023 will go down in the annals of Sotheby’s, the 279-year-old British-American auction house, which experienced a spectacular boom in the field of digital art.
Under the leadership of Michael Bouhanna, the company’s vice president and head of digital art, Sotheby’s achieved digital sales of around $35 million this year, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of this constantly expanding artistic universe.
A record $6.2 million for a digital artwork
The most notable Sotheby’s auction in 2023 took place during its first live digital art sale, attracting 300 participants and generating an impressive $12 million in revenue. The event also witnessed the highest price ever recorded for a digital artwork. The non-fungible token (NFT) titled “Ringers #879,” created by digital artist Dmitri Cherniak, found a buyer for the remarkable sum of $6.2 million.
A year dedicated to digital art
Over the course of the year, Sotheby’s organized more than 25 auctions, focusing exclusively on digital art or integrating it into contemporary art sales. The auction house also took a major initiative by launching its own decentralized, on-chain marketplace dedicated to secondary NFT trading, named Sotheby’s Metaverse.
According to Michael Bouhanna, the coming year will be marked by a strengthened commitment to creators, focusing on supporting their initiatives and improving their primary market strategies. This reflects Sotheby’s ongoing commitment to the digital art sector and its desire to foster a thriving ecosystem.
In summary, 2023 will be remembered as a crucial period for Sotheby’s in the digital art space. Notable achievements, such as the record sale of “Ringers #879” and the launch of Sotheby’s Metaverse, mark a significant transition into an era where digital art takes center stage. As Sotheby’s writes a new chapter in its centuries-old history, the digital art world embraces an era of endless possibilities.
