In Brief:
- Sotheby’s for the first time will hold a live auction in Ether for Banksy’s Artworks on Nov. 18.
- The event will showcase Banksy’s artworks; “Trolley Hunters” and “Love is in the Air”.
- ‘The Now Evening Auction’ will be live-streamed across all Sotheby’s social media channels.
Sotheby’s, the iconic 277-year-old auction house, will hold live bids for Banksy’s Artworks in Ethereum (ETH) in an upcoming virtual exhibition on Nov. 18. The auction will be held in New York as Sotheby’s ‘The Now Evening Auction’. The event will mark the first time that a cryptocurrency will be used as a medium for bidding for physical artworks.
The winning bidders can either pay in fiat currency or the three cryptocurrencies accepted by Sotheby’s – Ether, Bitcoin, and USD coin, according to the auction house.
In this fusion of live auction and crypto, the famed street artist’s works make their auction debut with “Trolley Hunters” and “Love is in the Air”. Viewers from all over the world would be able to follow the live streamed broadcast of the auction across Sotheby’s social media platforms, including the company’s dedicated Discord channel, and at Sothebys.com as well.
Banky’s artwork ‘Trolley Hunters’, portrays three ancient figures hunting a herd of empty supermarket trolleys, showing society’s inclination towards processed and packaged food. It was painted 15 years ago and was unveiled in Banksy’s seminal exhibition “Barely Legal” in Los Angeles in 2006. It has a pre-sale estimate between $5 million and $7 million at its debut auction.
Meanwhile, in “Love is in the Air”, a character is shown throwing an object at an unseen foe during civil unrest. Instead of a weapon, he was holding a bouquet. The painting is assumed to sell for between $4 million and $6 million.
Sotheby’s commented on this upcoming event saying that choosing Banksy’s for a new payment option and new bidding format will benefit the auction house.
Today’s announcement comes just months after Sotheby’s became the first auction house to accept crypto as a payment option for physical artworks. In June, Banky’s “Love is in the Air” sold for $12.9 million at Sotheby’s, marking the first Sotheby’s auction accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment options for the physical piece of art.
This step advanced Sotheby’s involvement in crypto space, as this time, bidders can pay in Ether in a live auction.
