Read the full article by Angie Eng at Sacramento News & Review
One late morning on a winter day at the Museum of Modern Art, my friend stood in front of a Cy Twombly painting with her young son who was at that age when kids are immersed in fingerpainting and dinosaurs. She gave the canvas a 5-second glance. “Yours is much better,” she whispered, turning to her son. “The one framed in the hallway,” she reminded him, referencing his indigo hand splotch overlaid with three yellow finger swipes.
She pulled out her smartphone, swiped across, brought it close to her mouth, and then enunciated, “What — is — the — last — sale — price — of — ‘Academy’ — by — Cy — Twombly?” ChatGPT began to respond, spitting out data at 120 words per minute:
“Twombly’s artworks from the 1950s have achieved significant prices at auction. For instance, his ‘Untitled’ (1955), a piece similar in medium and period, sold for $21 million at Christie’s in 2022. This indicates that if ‘The Academy’ were ever to be auctioned, it could command a comparable or even higher price, given its prominence and the artist’s esteemed reputation,” the AI chatbot spat out.