Sotheby's First NFT Auction Revealed

An art auction is set to take place in June of 2021 called "Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale." This sale will be hosted by Sotheby's, and it'll take place entirely online. Sotheby's started their description of this sale with the following: "NFTs will be considered one of the groundbreaking artistic breakthroughs of the century."

This NFT auction at Sotheby's will be co-curated by Sotheby's and Robert Alice. The show will be "An artist-led survey of the many strands that comprise this emerging cultural ecosystem."

SEE TOO: What is NFT? A simple explanation for the crypto newb

This showing will include NFT creations across time and space, from "some of the earliest" NFTs built raw, before Ethereum chains took hold of the platform. It'll also include "newer, complex NFTs that showcase the cutting edge technical innovation." Artists in the show include creators from four different continents.

Categories for NFT include:

• Early NFTs

• Digital Pop/Futurists

• Generative

• Conceptual

• Emerging NFT Artists

• Community-elected

The show will take place between June 3, 2021, and June 10, 2021, all online at Sothebys.com. The show will be revealed in parts, starting with the three works you see (in preview) above.

The first three NFT shown are The Shell Record by Anna Ridler, CryptoPunk #7523 by Larva Labs, and Quantum by Kevin McCoy. More works will be revealed for this show in the coming weeks. UPDATE: More works will be posted to the Natively Digital digital catalogue as we reach the date where bidding will begin.

It's likely Sotheby's will allow (and perhaps require) works to be purchased with cryptocurrency. The first ever Sotheby's physical artwork with the potential to be purchased with cryptocurrency was also just sold. As you might have already guessed, it was a Banksy. Sotheby's allowed the transaction to take place with bitcoin or ethereum cryptocurrency should the winner of the auction choose to purchase the work as such.