The record sale of “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” catapults the creator, Mike Winkelmann, who serves for Beeple, near the summit of the most expensive living artists to date, placing him just below David Hockney and Jeff Koons. Hockney’s painting “Portrait of an artist (pool with two figures)” sold for $ 90.3 million in 2018, while Koons’ stainless steel sculpture “Coelho” topped the list with $ 91.1 million in 2019.
The 5,000-image Winkelmann collage that took 13 years to make had an initial bid of just $ 100, but the high-profile auction drew feverish bids from more than 350 potential buyers.
Its sale has attracted attention in recent weeks, as more NFT work, including digital art, GIFs and even tweets, has been put in the spotlight in what many are calling the digital art boom.
Musician Grimes recently sold a collection of digital artworks for about $ 5.8 million, while Christopher Torres, the creator of a decade-old GIF “Nyan Cat”, managed to profit from flying Pop Tart cat animation for almost $ 600,000.
An NFT is an encrypted digital token signed by the artist on the blockchain – a digital ledger that is the backbone of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum – allowing sellers and buyers to verify authenticity and ownership. Virtual art faces unique challenges that physical art does not, as it can be copied and disseminated numerous times on the internet, reducing its value. NFTs ensure that the buyer receives the true original directly from the artist. They also allow artists to sell works directly to buyers on their own, which some say will democratize the art market.
“Artists have been using hardware and software to create works of art and distribute them on the Internet for more than 20 years, but there has never been a real way to actually own and collect them,” said Winkelmann in a press release after the sale. “With NFTs, that has changed.”
Winkelmann, a graphic designer from Charleston, South Carolina, told CNN in an interview before the sale closed that when he started the “Everydays” project in 2007, he had no intention of selling the work. As a freelancer who works in concert visuals for artists like Katy Perry and Deadmau5, and without representation in a gallery, he is not the top artist who sells his work for tens of millions at a large auction house. He has almost 2 million followers on Instagram and his bizarre and often dystopian pop culture mashups play on the same notes as street performers like KAWS.
“Last year was an extraordinary period for the art market and the result today is a fitting tribute to the significant digital transformation that has taken place at Christie’s. And just as our business has evolved, so has the way the art is being made,” said Noah Davis, a post-war specialist and contemporary art at Christie’s, in a press release.
“I am honored to welcome all new and notable customers, who have not only bid with us, but have also shared their brilliant ideas on how to promote the crypto art movement. Beeple’s success is a testament to the exciting possibilities that We are facing this emerging market. Today’s result is a bugle for all digital artists. Your work is valuable. Keep doing it. “