Sotheby’s to Launch the Third Edition of its Generative Art NFT Auction on April 18

Sotheby’s has announced that its generative art non-fungible tokens (NFTs) auction will go live on April 18, 2022. Dubbed Natively Digital 1.3: Generative Art, the auction will feature the works of generative art pioneers of yesteryears, as well as that of the most sought-after artists of today.

Sotheby’s Generative Art NFT Auction

Sotheby’s the premier destination for auctions and private sales of contemporary, modern, and impressionist art and more is set to launch the third edition of Natively Digital; a collection of remarkable, unique artworks co-curated by veterans in the world of art.

According to a blog post by the firm, this edition of Natively Digital will focus on the collection of works from generative art veterans from the 1960s, and these pieces will be auctioned as both NFTs and physical works of art.  

Sotheby’s Natively Digital 1.3 auction will be open for bidding starting from April 18 to 25, 2022, with a pre-sale exhibition event scheduled to run concurrently in the firm’s New York auction house from April 19 to 24, 2022.

The firm has hinted that the works of notable generative avant-garde artists including Vera Molnar, Chuck Csuri, and Roman Verostko, will for the first time ever, be available as NFTs during the event. 

“This April, Sotheby’s New York will present the third edition of ‘Natively Digital,’ focusing on a collection of works from a movement that is undoubtedly experiencing a revival with the emergence of the blockchain technologies and NFT: Generative Art. Comprising NFTs and physical works of art, the hybrid sale will retrace the history of the movement from the 1960s – with pioneers from the time minting NFTs on the occasion of this sale – to the most sought Generative artists working today,” declared Sotheby’s

NFTs Changing the Face of Art 

For the uninitiated, generative art simply refers to artworks that are partly or wholly created with an autonomous system such as a computer. In other words, generative art is the process of algorithmically bringing new ideas, forms, shapes, colors, or patterns to life. In essence, it is safe to say that some NFTs fall under the generative art category.

Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s vice president and co-head of digital art said in a statement. 

“While NFT projects like CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club have stolen headlines around the world over the past year, few might understand how these NFTs are connected with the history of 20th century art movements, including the early generative artists who paved the way for computer art and the algorithm-based art that has inspired many contemporary NFT projects,” 

Blockchain-based digital collectibles, popularly known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are rapidly changing the face of the traditional art world, with the NFT space expected to hit a valuation of $21.33 billion in 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of (CAGR) of 52.1 percent.

Now, leading global brands, auction houses, celebrities, and corporates are now joining the NFTs train.

Last November, Christie’s inked a partnership deal with leading NFT marketplace, OpenSea, to conduct an on-chain digital collectibles auction on the Ethereum blockchain