Christie’s New York Photographs sale of Justin Aversano’s ‘Twin Flames’
Justin Aversano’s ‘Twin Flames #83’ realized $1,100,000 and became the first fine art NFT to be sold in a photographs auction
New York — On Wednesday, October 6, 2021, Christie’s New York made history with its Photographs auction at Rockefeller Center. The star of the sale was undoubtedly Justin Aversano’s Twin Flames #83, a groundbreaking lot comprised of a single NFT accompanied by a set of 100 chromogenic prints. Marking the first time an NFT has been offered in a Christie’s Photographs sale, the work ignited a frenzy of competitive bidding, ultimately selling for $1,100,000 — more than ten times its low estimate — to a buyer in the room.
The sale of Twin Flames #83 represents a watershed moment in the convergence of the traditional fine art photography market and the burgeoning world of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Aversano’s series has already achieved iconic status within the NFT community, with individual works regularly fetching prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Ether. The Christie’s auction took this momentum to new heights, solidifying Aversano’s position as a pioneer in the NFT photography space and signaling the art market’s growing embrace of digital currencies and blockchain-secured works.
“Twin Flames has a strong community bond that’s foundation is based on the inter-connectedness of humanity, especially when minting it onto the blockchain,” the artist tells us. As Kurt McVey, a writer, curator, artist, and friend of the photographer, explains in an essay published by Christie’s, Aversano did have opportunities over the years to sell off the Twin Flames photographs separately. But he always meant for them to stay together as a collection. The blockchain empowered him to ensure they would.
“The Christie’s auction came about thanks to the help of Noah Davis, the NFT pioneer at Christie’s, and Darius Himes, the International Head of Photography,” the artist says. “The Twin Flames complete physical set and one NFT of the book cover image were auctioned and exhibited alongside the world’s greatest photographers. Twin Flames was the highest-selling lot of the day.”
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Darius Himes, Christie’s International Head of Photographs, commented: “Today’s auction reaffirms the significance of photography as a force in the art space. In the work of Justin Aversano, we see a young artist in love with the medium of photography who has concurrently built a vibrant community of NFT collectors and supporters in the digital space. This result — breaking the million-dollar mark — signals that not only does a younger generation of collectors love photography, but they are willing to collect it in new and innovative forms.”
The success of Twin Flames #83 overshadowed even the impressive results achieved by canonical works from photographic masters. Ansel Adams’ Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941 set a new auction record for the iconic image at $930,000, while works by Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy also achieved strong prices. However, it was Aversano’s NFT that stole the show, suggesting a rapid and seismic shift in the traditional hierarchies and dynamics of the fine art photography market.
That Aversano’s works outsold vintage rarities by Diane Arbus and Ansel Adams in the same sale was perhaps a more telling indication of how rapidly the traditional markets might be disrupted.
Loring Noblauch, Auctions, Collector Daily
As the auction houses follow the money and increasingly embrace NFTs and cryptocurrencies, the implications for the photography world are profound. Artists, collectors, galleries, and institutions must now navigate a new landscape where digital scarcity, blockchain provenance, and cryptocurrency payments are becoming the norm. The success of Twin Flames #83 is just the beginning of this transformative journey, one that promises to create new opportunities, challenge established norms, and redefine the very nature of photographic art in the digital age.
For Justin Aversano, this historic sale is a testament to the power of his artistic vision, the depth of his commitment to the NFT community, and the enduring significance of photography as a medium. As the art world watches and adapts, Twin Flames will undoubtedly continue to light the way forward.
Twin Flames is my healing journey with the intention of connecting and creating with a community of people who share similar experiences. Having come from a twinless tragedy, I wanted to explore the relationships, ideas, psychologies, and dualities of the twin universe, to experience what I had lost and felt my entire life. The project took 2 years to create, it started May 31st, 2017 and was exhibited for the first time on May 31st, 2019.
Justin Aversano, Artists Studios Mag
