Sotheby's $1.8 Million Instagram Filter Is a Game-Changer
Iconic auction house Sotheby's is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, jewellery, collectibles, and real estate.
Established in London in 1744, it's the fourth oldest auction house in existence.
And, as a result, it has a reputation for being stuffy and old-fashioned—which made it the perfect target for Banksy’s art shredding stunt back in 2018.
However, the auction house recently made a huge push to bring itself into 2021 by launching an AR filter on Instagram that lets anyone window shop with some of the most expensive art and jewellery on offer.
Image: @sothebys
That’s right, dog ears and sparkles have nothing on this filter that allows you to try on a centuries-old tiara that once belonged to the Italian royal family. The diamond and pearl headpiece, which will go to auction in Geneva in May, has an estimated worth of $1.8 million—a far cry from costume jewellery.
But the price tag won’t stop us from trying it on for size, and seeing whether it suits us as well as it did Maria Vitoria dal Pozzo, who received said tiara when she married Amadeo I of Savoy in 1867.
The filter is available on the @sothebys Instagram account, although it isn’t the first time the auction house has used AR to reach a wider audience.
Before the January auction of Botticelli’s Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel for $121.2 Sotheby’s used an AR filter to let would-be buyers (and wishful thinkers) virtually hang the piece on their walls.
Sotheby’s created the Instagram filter with the creative platform Poplar Studio and pushed it out to the brand's 1.3 million Instagram followers who used it 145,000 times in the lead up to the sale.
“This is the most valuable Old Master painting ever to be offered at auction by Sotheby’s,” the auction house said in a statement. “What is so appealing about a filter like this is that it allows art lovers to get up close and personal with the artwork while preserving the gravitas of the work itself.”
Before that, the auction house worked with Anthony Rubinstein at AR Visual, to bring a 15th-century woodblock print by Albrecht Dürer to life. Rubinstein animated the print and created a short video that was accompanied online by a short description from Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s also has an app that allows for an AR tour of properties available through the auction house—allowing you to get a feel for a house and plan for furniture without ever stepping foot in the property.
Sotheby’s is hardly the only company offering augmented reality experiences of art, jewellery and clothing to prospective consumers.
Even before the pandemic made it harder for us to see things in person, companies selling art (including Etsy) began offering AR technology that let customers see how it would hang on their walls before they made a purchase.
Sotheby’s plans to continue its collaboration with Poplar Studios to showcase other artwork that comes up for sales and improve brand awareness.
“Since people cannot come freely into our galleries like they normally would, we want to bring the Sotheby’s experience into their home,” said a spokesperson for the auction house.
And an experience that lets us wear a $1.8 million tiara is one we can get behind.
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