The American artist Mike Winkelmann alias Beeple sold this Thursday, March 11 at Christie's an entirely digital work for 69.3 million dollars (57.8 million euros). 22 million interns ...

A digital work by Beeple sold for 69.3 million dollars, simple record or revolution?

“Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” (detail), a digital work by American artist Mike Winkelmann alias Beeple, sold on March 11, 2021 at Christie's for $ 69.3 million.

Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow

5 mins

The American artist Mike Winkelmann alias Beeple sold this Thursday, March 11 at Christie's an entirely digital work for 69.3 million dollars (57.8 million euros).

22 million Internet users attended the sale of “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” on the auction house's website.

Thus, Beeple is now among the three most cherished living artists in the world, alongside Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

Publicity

He has been practicing digital arts for thirteen years, but according to art market watchers, until last year, Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple never sold a work in his name.

Today's sale is a game changer.

For the first time, the very prestigious Christie's house has auctioned a digital work of art accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

This guarantee of authenticity is called NFT, Non-Fungible Token, a technology guaranteeing the originality, the traceability and the uniqueness of a file or even of each virtual object.

As with Bitcoin or Ether cryptocurrencies, this proof is inviolably recorded on the blockchain as a digital file.

Thus a digital work of art becomes a unique piece.

And the buyer obtains proof of being the owner of the work.

A historic moment for digital art

"

For

Everydays: The First 5000 Days

( "

Every day, the first five thousand days

"), the artist of 39 years, father modestly living in Wisconsin, has met five thousand drawings and cartoons in a single work .

Because, for 13 years, Beeple has produced a digital work every day - often inspired by current events - and shares the result with its 1.9 million subscribers of its Instagram account beeple_crap.

Beeple: "A historic moment in the history of digital art"

FUCK YES !!

come celebrate this historic moment for digital art !! 11 ❤️❤️❤️

🎉CHRISTIE'S CLOSING PARTY W / BEEPLE ”with @cryptoartadvisr, @collectionist, and Crypto Basel.

Tomorrow, Mar 11 at 9:00 AM EST

Join us!

https://t.co/VagaqIZjLT

- beeple (@beeple) March 10, 2021

In a tweet sent on March 10, Beeple had already predicted “

a historic moment for digital art

”.

But his spectacular breakthrough in the art market at the same time opens a new chapter in the history of art.

Before, he had increased his rating in the artistic field with his collaborations for shows by Justin Bieber or One Direction, but also with prestigious brands such as Apple, Coca Cola, Nike or SpaceX.

With his feat at Christie's, he also kicks in the doors for all the other digital artists for whom it was so far often very difficult to make a living from their art.

The record sale also signifies a revolution for the digital art market, hitherto held back by the anxiety of collectors about the danger of copies.

► To read also

:

“AYM”, Generation Y is paying for art in Ether virtual currency

Today, buyers are obviously willing to spend as much on a digital work as they are on a sculpture or a physical painting.

Probably rightly so, although at first glance you must be crazy to pay millions for a file.

On the other hand, the NFT Certificate of Authenticity might not change everything, but a lot.

Because, once becoming the owner of the work, the buyer has many more possibilities than for a physical work: he can print it at the desired size, hang it, project on the facade of a museum or integrate in an installation or an architecture.

The possibilities seem limitless and above all still to come, like the digital evolution ...

And Christie's - which has accepted both Bitcoins and Ether, another very popular cryptocurrency, on the occasion of the sale - is only the tip of the iceberg.

Other marketplaces like SuperRare or Nifty Gateway (this is where Beeple had sold in February 2021 another work,

Crossroads,

for 6.6 million dollars) prepared the ground and found that it is no longer rare for the digital version of a work to sell for more than the physical work.

► To read also

:

Jennifer Flay: “La Fiac Online can create new vocations” for contemporary art

A digital work by Beeple sold for 69.3 million dollars, simple record or revolution?

A digital work by Beeple sold for 69.3 million dollars, simple record or revolution?

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest