Edmond de Belamy, created using artificial intelligence, will be auctioned at Christie's on Thursday. Edmond de Belamy, created using artificial intelligence, will be auctioned at Christie's on Thursday. A new portrait that is vaguely reminiscent of something painted by an old master is headed to Christie's New York auction block later this week, making it the first computer-generated artwork up for sale at a prestigious art house. The print, called Edmond de Belamy, is a blurry depiction of what could be a "man of the church" against a dark background, floating in the upper left corner of a gilt frame. It was created by Obvious, a Paris-based art collective that has been using artificial intelligence to make a series of "paintings" since they began the project last year.

See the novel work, which joins Nicolas Laugero-Lasserre's pieces by Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and other human artists. The Paris-based collector Nicolas Laugero-Lasserre is known for his extensive collection of urban art by the likes of Shepard Fairey, Ivader, Banksy, and Swoon. But recently, he made a novel acquisition by a very different kind of artist. His latest purchase, Le Comte de Belamy, was created by artificial intelligence. Laugero-Lasserre bought the work directly from Obvious, the collective that created the AI behind it, for around €10,000 ($12,000) in February.