Art Market Report - February 4
A weekly report on the NFT Art Market, covering 1/1s, generative art, editions and other important news.
As the market takes its first steps towards maturity, we are witnessing increasingly interesting sales occurring in the secondary market. These sales reveal whether the works have stood the test of time, whether the previous collectors were truly prescient in recognizing their significance years before the mainstream... Some works are now transferring into the hands of collectors with stronger convictions for the future, with the lore of the art yet to begin.
GRAILS: Starry Night @ Sotheby’s
The inaugural GRAILS: Starry Night auction has achieved over $1 million in sales, with every single lot being sold, and 80% of them surpassing their high estimates. The event garnered 490 bids from across the globe, involving a total of 96 bidders and buyers. The auction upheld its commitment to honor all artist royalties. Here are the top 10 sales:
CITIZENS! by XCOPY was collected for 203,200 USD. The piece was created in the beginning of the COVID 19 lockdowns.
TIME The Future of Business by beeple was collected by Han for 177,800 USD. Han originally acquired the piece in May 2021 for 126.5 ETH and later sold it to Starry Night for 675 ETH in October 2021. Here's a post about the story.
til death do us part by Alpha Centauri Kid was collected by BBA for 165,100 USD. The piece will be ever-changing as long as the artist is alive and only be truly finished on the day the artist passes away. As the scene grows, ACK will update the metadata to reflect the current stage of the build. Experience the evolution here.
Red October by Dmitri Cherniak & Helena Sarin was collected by WCC for 69,850 USD.
Bedtime by Grant Yun was collected by SummerTime for 69,850 USD.
Incomplete Control #17 by Tyler Hobbs was collected for 50,800 USD.
The Garden by Other World was collected for 50,800 USD.
Blood Bubble (2020, edition of 25) by XCOPY was collected for 38,100 USD.
Castle in the Sky by SeerLight was collected for 27,940 USD.
Creating Connections: Digital Art for Connectivity @ Christie’s
Creating Connections: Digital Art for Connectivity is a charity auction to benefit Giga, a UNICEF and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative to connect every school and student to the Internet. Curated by Nina Roehrs, the auction features 24 artworks generously donated by notable digital artists. Here are the top 5 sales:
Time Is Running Out by Luis Ponce was collected by Austin Grier for 6.18 ETH.
First Painting Created By An AI Showing a Painting Auctioned at Sotheby's to be Auctioned At Christie's by Mario Klingemann was collected by Cyborg DAO for 6.05 ETH. The piece “attempts to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whilst it appears to be a finished visual work, it is in reality a performance that still requires one final step to fulfill the bold promise it makes in its title in order to complete its recursive cycle.”
SAYONARA by Haru Komoda was collected for 5 ETH.
self-contained 003 by entangled others was collected by Le Random for 4.5 ETH. The piece is a pivotal work for the artist-duo, as it delves into the themes of encoding, decoding, and mutations in digital spaces. It symbolizes the dynamic nature of our online world by mixing and transforming images, mirroring the simultaneous compression and decompression processes happening everywhere, similar to the growth and mutation of living beings.
Circumambulation by Kevin Abosch was collected for 3.07 ETH.
1/1s
A big week for Botto. Another Sector from the Genesis Period was collected by Phantom Scribbler from BΞN for 41.447 ETH on SuperRare’s secondary market, causing uproar in the comment section. The Princess Unfolds from the Rebellion Period was collected by SuperRare Zack for 9.99 ETH also on the secondary market. Botto’s latest mint Bronze Kiss in Interstice was collected by Bharat Krymo for 9.69 ETH. (✍️ I wrote a post on Botto here.)
Douglas Live by Summer Wagner from PROOF CURATED Midamerican Fever Dream, was collected by OG for 8.042069 ETH. Here’s a beautiful story of the connection between the collector and the artist through art.
Samantha Cavet had 2 sales on Foundation this week. The lone wanderer was collected by BΞN for 3 ETH and Some kind of peace of mind collected by Nerfpidgey for 3 ETH.
Giant Swan had 2 sales on SuperRare’s secondary market. An exhale around them. was collected for 2 ETH and Anomaly.17-2 for 3 ETH.
𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖔𝖔 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖕𝖆𝖘𝖘 by Liam Ellul was collected by Jediwolf for 4.5 ETH on SuperRare’s secondary market, adding another piece to his early GAN collection.
EDITIONS & GENERATIVE ART
corpo | real (1/1/500) by Claire Silver minted out at 1 ETH each, raising 500 ETH ($1.17 million). It’s seen 308 ETH volume since January 31. Claire Silver wrote a great thread breaking down the meaning behind each traits and the plans for the future.
SMILE (1/1/5000) by Roope Rainisto minted out at 0.2 SOL each. It’s seen $668.9K volume since January 30, with current floor at 0.941 SOL.
All Sediment Nodes 1.0 by entangled others have been sold to a group of top-tier patrons. Sediment Nodes explores the connections and interconnections of what is assumed inert, yet disturbed, of the complexities of color and light hidden from observers by the scale and the diffusion of light and osmosis within a liquid medium. The series is the duo's most widely displayed artwork to date and has been showcased at cultural capitals and events in 13 countries.
NEXT WEEK
Wednesday, 7 February 12pm ET, Reflection by Pindar Van Arman. 999 artworks, 100% onchain, priced at 0.33 ETH. Reflection encapsulates an innovative approach to machine creativity and generative art that Pindar Van Arman calls 'Reflective AI.' Learn more here.