Global Art Broker Sets New Digital Art Sales Record of $35 Million in 2023
Michael Bouhanna, the Vice President and Head of Digital Art at Sotheby’s, is celebrating a successful year for digital art at the renowned art brokerage. Despite mixed reviews for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Bouhanna declared 2023 as one of the most exciting years for digital art.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bouhanna highlighted that Sotheby’s achieved an all-time high price for a digital artwork in 2023, with a sale surpassing $6 million. The artwork, Dmitri Cherniak’s “Ringers #879 (The Goose)”, fetched an impressive $6.2 million.
Sotheby’s conducted over 25 auctions throughout the year, with a focus on digital art. They even hosted their very first dedicated live auction, attracting over 300 attendees and achieving a total of $12 million in sales.
The art broker has been exploring digital art for nearly two years, and in October 2023, they launched Sotheby’s Metaverse to offer a curated NFT collection to digital collectors. NFTs have played a crucial role in sustaining art auctioneers during the Covid-19 pandemic when physical locations were forced to close. Additionally, NFTs have provided an opportunity to reach audiences that traditional channels have struggled to capture.
Overall, Sotheby’s has set a new milestone in the digital art market, recording an impressive $35 million in sales for 2023. The success of digital art at the prominent art brokerage showcases its growing significance and potential in the art world.