The row began when David Hockney started slating the digital artist's creations on a podcast.
When Beeple sold his EVERYDAYS NFT for $69.3 million, it marked the end of 13-and-a-half years of hard work — with a new cartoon created on a daily basis for 5,000 days.
The sale propelled him into the record books because it was the third-highest auction price achieved for a work by a living artist, putting him narrowly behind Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
But speaking on a podcast, Hockney has made it painfully clear that he isn’t a fan of Beeple’s work, describing his pictures as “silly little things.”
Beeple Strikes Back
Speaking on Waldy and Bendy’s Adventures in Art, the 83-year-old referred to the NFTs sector as “ICS” — short for “international crooks and swindlers.” Hockney told the hosts:
“I mean… what is it they’re owning? I’m not looking for money, I’m not looking for anything. I’m just working away on my iPad. We print them out because you have to print them out. Things can get lost in the computer, can’t they?”
A rather snooty host agreed with Hockney’s views on Beeple’s creations, writing:
“I don’t like them at all – digital cartoons but of a particularly lowbrow nature.”
Beeple wasted little time in responding to Hockney’s remarks — sarcastically noting that “nobody told me you need to print them out to magically turn them into art.” He tweeted:
“guys I really wanna go legit, looking for printer recommendations.. budget is $69M.”
