Power to the Beeple: Digital art fetches $69.3M at auction

The sale also catapulted Beeple, whose name is Mike Winkelmann, to become one the top three most valuable living artists, Christie’s announced.

American artist Beeple became the first to sell a purely digital piece of artwork at auction, fetching more than $69.3m for “Everydays – The First 5000 Days”, a stunning collage comprised of artwork he created every day for the past 13 years. The sale also catapulted Beeple, whose name is Mike Winkelmann, to become one of the top three most valuable living artists, auction house Christie’s announced, calling it a “watershed moment in the development of digital art”. To prove its authenticity, the work features what is known as a non-fungible token that digitally attaches the artist’s signature to it and can’t be altered, Christie’s said.