Sotheby\u2019s has announced that it will use a Dutch auction format for the first time in its 300-year history for a digital sale celebrating the renowned artist Vera Moln\u00e1r<\/a>, according to information provided to nft now. The sale will inaugurate the launch of the legacy auction house\u2019s Gen Art Program powered by Art Blocks\u2019 Art Blocks Engine<\/a> \u2014 the Web3 company\u2019s generative art solutions platform that provides technical infrastructure support for brands looking to expand their generative minting capabilities.<\/p>\n The sale, which marks the largest on-chain generative art project to date for the artist, is titled Themes and Variations and will be conducted entirely on-chain via Sotheby\u2019s Metaverse<\/a> on July 26. It will feature an exclusive series of 500 unique artworks that build upon Moln\u00e1r\u2019s early forays into algorithmic art, which began in the 1960s. The artist\u2019s work is characterized by the integration of letters as pure abstract forms melded with an appreciation for disorder. Moln\u00e1r collaborated with the acclaimed generative artist and creative coder Martin Grasser<\/a> to realize her vision.<\/p>\n The integration of the Art Blocks Engine is a first for both the platform and an auction house. It also signifies the launch of Sotheby\u2019s Gen Art Program, a new avenue for generative artists to bring primary market works to sale. The Gen Art Program will highlight two to three artists annually with exclusive sales of long-form generative art. All bidding and payment connected to Gen Art Program sales will be conducted in ETH.<\/p>\n Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby\u2019s Head of Digital Art & NFTs, praised Moln\u00e1r\u2019s contributions to the field in a press release announcing the development, saying, \u201cMoln\u00e1r is one of the undisputed legends of generative art, whose decades of experimentation with the form has paved the way for what we know of today as algorithm-based digital art.\u201d He added that the collaboration with Art Blocks is a \u201cmilestone moment that will cement her place as the definitive generative artist who set the foundation for generations of artists to come.\u201d<\/p>\n With the announcement, Sotheby\u2019s is also introducing a new auction format: Dutch auctions. This method, which has been used by Art Blocks since its inception in 2021, starts at a fixed initial price and decreases at set increments until the first bid is placed. The ceiling price for Themes and Variations is set at 20 ETH, and the format adds a new dimension to the traditional auction process, encouraging bidders and establishing a new model for price discovery. <\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s is no stranger to the world of NFTs, even hosting digital art sales as far back as April 2021 with the artist Pak\u2019s iconic $17 million sale of The Fungible<\/a>. Later that year, the company collaborated with Art Blocks for Natively Digital, its first curated NFT auction<\/a>. <\/p>\n Erick Calderon, Founder of Art Blocks, expressed pride in hosting Moln\u00e1r\u2019s work on their platform for the auction, calling it a \u201ctruly humbling experience.\u201d Similarly, Grasser, the artist who collaborated with Moln\u00e1r on this project, described the experience as a \u201ctrue privilege\u201d and lauded Moln\u00e1r\u2019s work as \u201cdecades ahead of its time.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, Moln\u00e1r stepped into the world of NFTs with her project 2% of disorder in co-operation, whose first edition sold at Sotheby\u2019s during the Natively Digital 1.3: Generative Art sale.<\/p>\n \nA first for Sotheby\u2019s<\/h2>\n
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