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Celebrating Art and AI: How AI is challenging tradition and inspiring new forms
In 2023, we explored the impact of AI on the art market. Today, this has become even more contentious. Each year, new technologies challenge our collective assumptions about creative expression and what qualifies as ‘art’. Yet none have sparked as much debate as artificial intelligence (AI). As Christie's prepares for its first-ever AI-focused auction, Augmented Intelligence, scheduled for February 20, 2025, the art world finds itself at a new inflection point.
Despite pushback, with thousands of artists urging the auction house to reconsider its sale of AI-generated works, this auction signals a major shift in the market. Just as artists before them have embraced new tools to push creative boundaries, today’s artists are using AI to bring their visions to life—this time, through code and algorithms.
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But what exactly is AI art? As defined by Christie's, “AI art refers to any form of art created or enhanced through the use of AI tools. Many artists describe their process as a collaboration with AI.” Christie's goes on to clarify, “Contrary to popular belief, AI is inherently human...There are always hands involved in some form, though not in the traditional sense of painting or drafting. Engineers program networks, and some artists generate art through refined text prompts.”
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AI art has roots stretching back several decades. Pioneers like Harold Cohen, who developed AARON—an AI program that reinterpreted his colorful sketches—alongside Desmond Paul Henry and Vera Molnár, who used analog computers in the 1960s to craft intricate algorithm-driven works, laid the foundation for today's generative and AI-driven art.
From generative art to outputs of prepackaged generative adversarial networks (GANs), AI-generated works can take multiple forms. At Verisart, we’ve had the privilege of working with and certifying works on behalf of trailblazing artists like Refik Anadol, Rebecca Allen, Mario Klingemann, John Maeda, Harold Cohen, Brendan Dawes, Jake Elwes, Pindar Van Arman, Alexander Reben and many others. Their pioneering contributions to art are part of a long history of experimentation and innovation that continues to shape the evolving landscape of digital and generative art and some of their works will be included at the Christie’s ‘Augmented Intelligence’ auction.
Here’s a timeline of some highlights in the rise of AI art at auction, including notable sales we’ve certified:
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Dr. Ahmed Elgammal and his team at Rutgers University developed AICAN, an autonomous AI artist that generates original artworks on its own using an algorithm of 80,000 images that represent the Western art canon over the past five centuries, with minimal human intervention. In November 2017, AICAN's artwork "St. George Killing the Dragon" was sold for $16,000 at an auction in New York City.
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On October 25, 2018, Obvious—a Paris-based collective, made history when their AI-generated portrait, Edmond de Belamy, was auctioned at Christie’s in the Prints & Multiples sale. Created using a generative adversarial network (GAN), the work became the first AI-generated piece sold at a major auction house, marking a pivotal moment in the traditional art market’s engagement with AI.
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On March 6, 2019, Mario Klingemman’s Memories of Passersby I featured in Sotheby's Contemporary Art Day Auction in London.
In the Imposture Series, Klingemann utilized generative adversarial networks (GANs) to produce never-ending different portraits generated by machines. The network adds new information to low-resolution content using a method known as transhancement, resulting in painterly and ethereal representations—a neural network’s vision of the human form.
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Featuring works by Ahmed Elgammal, Alexander Reben, Casey Reas, David Young, Helena Sarin, Matt DesLauriers, Mario Klingemann and Sougwen Chung
On June 13, 2019, Eight of the world’s leading artists working with AI tools and technologies unveiled new works at Founders Forum in London, where the world’s leading digital and technology entrepreneurs converge for the annual flagship event. Curated by Verisart’s CEO and co-founder, Robert Norton, exclusively for Founders Forum, each work carries a blockchain-based secure digital certificate of authenticity.
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Featuring works by Sougwen Chung, Jake Elwes, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Leo Isikdogan, John Maeda, Quayola, Recycle Group and Matteo Zamagn.
Curated by Verisart for SuperRare, these 8 works were all sold to the highest bidder and many of the artists used AI, code and algorithms in their process.
Featuring works by Robbie Barrat, Joshua Davis, Golan Levin, LIA, Lauren Lee McCarthy, John Maeda and Helena Sarin.
Together with Gazelli Art House and Verisart, Awaken Metamagical Hands showcased artists working at the intersection of human creativity and computational processes, tracing the evolution from early algorithmic programming to contemporary AI-driven art. The exhibition examined shifts in artistic creation, from structured coding to intuitive text-based prompts, highlighting the changing role of technology in visual expression.
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On February 20, 2025, Christie’s will launch ‘Augmented Intelligence’ the first-ever auction dedicated entirely to AI-created art at a major auction house. Featuring more than 20 lots from pioneering artists working at the intersection of art and technology, the sale marks a significant shift in the market’s engagement with AI-generated art.
Among the participating artists are Brendan Dawes, Jake Elwes and Harold Cohen. These three are represented by Gazelli Art House. Dawes’ contribution includes a triptych print accompanied by an ERC-721 token, also minted with Verisart.
As AI continues to redefine artistic creation, its presence in the art world is no longer a question of if but how. With each auction, exhibition and controversy, the boundaries of authorship, creativity and artistic intent are being reshaped in real time. Whether embraced or contested, AI’s role in art is now firmly part of history—and its future is still unfolding.
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