Christie’s, the largest auction house in the world, auctioned its first digital certificate of a physical work of art. It is a painting by an Italian artist, Skygolpe and the work is called PX4882E. The digital certificate, and with it the physical artwork, was awarded to a collector for $ 69,300.
Who is Skygolpe and why he works with NFT
Skygolpe is one of the main artists of the Non fungible token scene (Nft or digital collectibles, are certificates that guarantee the originality of a digital content). His works have been exhibited in galleries, museums and digital events around the world. The portraits of him without a face, we read in the note accompanying the Christie’s auction, “characterize his artistic research, designed to overcome the boundaries commonly existing between NFT, digital art and physical art”.
And again: “The final result of his works therefore surpasses the common pictorial techniques to find continuous hybrid and experimental visual forms at the level of materials and forms”. Skygolpe’s works have been presented at Art Basel in Miami, at the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art, at the MOCO Museum in Amsterdam, at the Museo della Permanente, in Milan and at the Decentral Pavilion in Venice.
An NFT, but also a physical painting
“Today is a very important stage for my artistic journey focused on the union of the two worlds: physical and digital”, commented Skygolpe. “This is the first sale at Christie’s of the certificate of authenticity in the form of a NFT, of a physical painting PX4882E. The purchaser of the NFT certificate will also receive the actual physical painting as a result of its purchase. A new method in the world of art auctions that I believe can pave the way for a radical change in the mentality and behavior of future artists and collectors and which can be exported to many other sectors. Therefore, I thank the curator of Trespassing III, Ronnie K. Pirovino and Christie’s for giving me this opportunity ”. He added.
In 2021, the NFT market exploded, with record multi-million dollar auctions for products from companies and digital artists. In 2022, a contraction in the value of these works hit the market, which reduced volumes and sales by 50%. Nft, like everything related to the world of cryptocurrencies, are subject to strong fluctuations in their value and investments in this sector are considered speculative and high risk.