Christie’s has closed its digital art department, potentially marking the beginning of the mainstream art world’s breakup with the medium.
Nicole Sales Giles worked at Christie’s as the vice president of digital art. However, she recently told Now Media that she and the auction house have parted ways, and that they have closed their digital art department. When asked for a comment, a spokesperson for Christie’s said that this was “a strategic decision to reformat digital art sales.” Instead of having their own department, digital works of art will instead be dealt with through the twentieth and twenty-first century divisions. Now that the digital department is shuttered, there is the issue of Christie’s 3.0, the auction house’s platform for buying and selling NFTs and other works backed by blockchain technology. Christie’s plans to keep the service up and running are currently unknown.
The art world establishment has had an interesting love affair with new forms of digital art ever since 2021, with the rise of the NFT as an artistic medium. It was at Christie’s that the first major NFT sale took place, when the Everydays series by Beeple sold for $69.3 million. Over the course of 2021 and into 2022, NFTs and other forms of digital art made prominent appearances at major auction houses and galleries. This sparked widespread speculation, both enthusiastic and fearful, that this foray into the mainstream art world would legitimize a very new art form that many were hesitant to approach. However, the market has changed. By the end of 2022, NFT sales at Christie’s had dropped 96%. The full scale of how NFTs are used for nefarious purposes became common knowledge. Digital art platforms like Async Art, KnownOrigin, and LG Art Lab have all since closed. Eventually, some blamed major auction houses like Sotheby’s for inflating the bubble, using their reputations to hype up the technology and drive up prices. Perhaps auction houses like Christie’s were somewhat hasty in establishing separate departments for digital art, given the considerable uncertainty in the market for these works.
It’s understandable why there hasn’t been much fanfare over the decision to close down the digital department. Christie’s would rather quietly sweep under the rug the fact that they and many others fell for a bubble. It’s embarrassing, yes, but like the tulips of centuries ago or the Internet companies of living memory, there’s always something everyone thinks is going to be the next big thing. And it doesn’t always pan out the way we think. But now, there’s a different item on the market we’re going to have to deal with. Art generated by artificial intelligence has replaced NFTs as the art of the future in some people’s minds. However, with the NFT bubble still so fresh in people‘s minds, as well as a series of legal battles over the ethics and legality of AI art, I doubt there will be any multimillion-dollar sales anytime soon.
Christie’s Closes Digital Department
Nicole Sales Giles worked at Christie’s as the vice president of digital art. However, she recently told Now Media that she and the auction house have parted ways, and that they have closed their digital art department. When asked for a comment, a spokesperson for Christie’s said that this was “a strategic decision to reformat digital art sales.” Instead of having their own department, digital works of art will instead be dealt with through the twentieth and twenty-first century divisions. Now that the digital department is shuttered, there is the issue of Christie’s 3.0, the auction house’s platform for buying and selling NFTs and other works backed by blockchain technology. Christie’s plans to keep the service up and running are currently unknown.
The art world establishment has had an interesting love affair with new forms of digital art ever since 2021, with the rise of the NFT as an artistic medium. It was at Christie’s that the first major NFT sale took place, when the Everydays series by Beeple sold for $69.3 million. Over the course of 2021 and into 2022, NFTs and other forms of digital art made prominent appearances at major auction houses and galleries. This sparked widespread speculation, both enthusiastic and fearful, that this foray into the mainstream art world would legitimize a very new art form that many were hesitant to approach. However, the market has changed. By the end of 2022, NFT sales at Christie’s had dropped 96%. The full scale of how NFTs are used for nefarious purposes became common knowledge. Digital art platforms like Async Art, KnownOrigin, and LG Art Lab have all since closed. Eventually, some blamed major auction houses like Sotheby’s for inflating the bubble, using their reputations to hype up the technology and drive up prices. Perhaps auction houses like Christie’s were somewhat hasty in establishing separate departments for digital art, given the considerable uncertainty in the market for these works.
It’s understandable why there hasn’t been much fanfare over the decision to close down the digital department. Christie’s would rather quietly sweep under the rug the fact that they and many others fell for a bubble. It’s embarrassing, yes, but like the tulips of centuries ago or the Internet companies of living memory, there’s always something everyone thinks is going to be the next big thing. And it doesn’t always pan out the way we think. But now, there’s a different item on the market we’re going to have to deal with. Art generated by artificial intelligence has replaced NFTs as the art of the future in some people’s minds. However, with the NFT bubble still so fresh in people‘s minds, as well as a series of legal battles over the ethics and legality of AI art, I doubt there will be any multimillion-dollar sales anytime soon.