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Will NFTs replace art auction houses?

What role do NFTs play in making information more transparent in the art market? Will they change the future of art auctions?

25 May 2022

Celina Lei

Visual Arts

Imagine being able to see the entire ownership and price history of an artwork at the click of a button. Image: Shutterstock.

Lately among news from the Venice Biennale and major art fairs including Frieze and Basel Hong Kong, art auction prices have received another moment in the spotlight including Warhol’s record-breaking US$195 million Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) and Basquiat’s US$85 million Untitled (1982).

It looks like enthusiasm in the secondary market has returned to its golden days, but has there been any underlying shift to the sector when the global pandemic has prompted a re-evaluation of how we experience and value art?

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Celina Lei

Celina Lei is an arts writer and editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne.