🦄The booming NFT market

Painting remains the market’s primary medium both in terms of value ($2 billion, or 73% of the Contemporary segment’s total turnover) and in terms of lots sold (42%). Works on canvas also accounted for 82% of results above the $1 million threshold versus 6% for drawing and 6% for sculpture. A fourth medium also reached into the 7-digit sphere: no less than nine NFTs fetched results above $1 million, three times more than the photography medium.

As early as March 2021, the Art Market showed a form of obsession with NFTs, the value of which soared literally overnight. Having become unique and highly collectable, digital NFT works already represent a third of the value of online sales, or 2% of the global Art Market in 2021.

Alongside this phenomenon that seems to have triggered an innovation race between the world’s major auction operators, another more traditional trend also appears to be strengthening: the figurative painting.

But the success of NFTs wasn’t limited to spectacular prices. Some NFTs have sold for less than $1,000 in recent months. This is also the case for the vast majority of contemporary works, nearly half of which were accessible for less than $1,000 and 90% of which did not cross the $20,000 threshold, opening the market to anyone to purchase.

According to Christie’s, 22 million people, nearly 60% of whom were under the age of 40, logged in to the sale of The First 5000 Days. Among them, several investors with abundant crypto portfolios substantially inflamed the bidding…. Eager to take advantage of new communities of buyers focused on digital Art, as well as the liquidity in the crypto space (NonFungible believes that NFTs generated nearly $2.5 billion over the first five months of 2021), the auction houses have a great opportunity to include NFTs in their prestige spring sales.

Page artwork: Bored Ape NFT