Part of my Masters thesis in Art Markets 2023-25 at the University of Zurich.
Sam Spratt has made a significant impact in digital art with his series of paintings centered on an australopithecus named Luci. This series culminated in The Monument Game and The Masquerade, two observation-based artworks and games hosted on Nifty Gateway in August 2023 and February–March 2025. Born in 1988 and based in New York, Spratt applies traditional painting techniques to digital canvases, drawing inspiration from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Spratt has championed participatory art, inviting collectors to engage with and shape his evolving narrative.
Spratt spent many years working for clients such as Marvel, Netflix, Rockstar Games, FX Network, National Geographic, Warner Music, Kid Cudi, Janelle Monae, and more, and it wasn’t until October 2021 when he debuted I. Birth of Luci on SuperRare that he finally started weaving his own story.
I. Birth of Luci introduces Luci to the world: the main character of Spratt’s works to follow and a self-portrait, [1] serving as an homage to Lucy, an australopithecus who was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and is estimated to have lived around 3.2 million years ago. Spratt portrays himself as this ancient creature in a satirical self-reflection. The choice expresses his disappointment at feeling obsolete after realizing he had spent his career executing others' visions rather than his own.
The artwork sold for 50 ETH ($209,000) to Cozomo de Medici, an anonymous but well-known collector in the NFT space. [2] Seven more works will follow during the next two years, telling the story of Luci. Out of these works, the first six were auctioned via the online platform SuperRare for a total of ~$850,000. VII. Wormfood was auctioned at Christie’s in June 2022 during a sharp downturn of the NFT market for $252,000, more than twice its original upper estimate. [3] Lastly, VIII. Infinite Ceremony sold in February 2023, via the online gallery AOTM for ~$235,500. [4]
Equally exciting to Spratt’s market success is the way he proceeds to build out his community. One of the things enabled by NFT auctions on the blockchain is that bids and bidders are public for anyone to view which in turn can expand the dialogue between the artist and their potential collectors. Spratt was quick to realize this potential so he first proceeded to create The Blueprint Skull which was auctioned in March 2022, [5] then followed up with 49 more pieces derived from the original skull and distributed for free to a few people close to him and to all the bidders of his first three works (I. Birth of Luci, II. Lullabies For Isaac, III. First Sacrifice).
All 50 skulls form the Skulls of Luci collection and in turn the owners of these skulls are the Council of Luci, the inner circle of Spratt’s community that to this day provide advice and help to the artist while being part of his journey. As of March 2025 the Skulls of Luci have achieved $3 million in secondary market volume with the highest trade reaching $320,000 and the last few trades occurring in the range of $200,000.
IX. The Monument Game is Spratt’s ninth major work, developed over more than a year and released in August 2023. Inspired by his visit to Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in Milan, Spratt sought to explore how a grand, enduring masterpiece could exist in a digital format. Unlike traditional works, which can be contemplated in a museum at the viewer’s leisure, digital art often competes for fleeting attention in the fast-paced realm of social media. To counter this, Spratt, with the support of the Nifty Gateway team, created a dedicated website for The Monument Game, layering an interactive observation game onto the painting to deepen engagement. [6]
Only 256 players could participate in The Monument Game, requiring ownership of a Player edition. Each Player holder could leave a single, unalterable observation at a specific pixel in the artwork, permanently inscribed on the blockchain and linked to both The Monument Game and the Player edition forever.
The incentive? The top three observations, as determined by the Council of Luci, were rewarded with a Skull of Luci—three of which remained to be distributed. At the time, Skulls of Luci were trading between $100,000 and $150,000.
Around 50 Player editions were gifted by Council members, while the remaining 200 were sold on August 21, 2023, for ~$5,500 each, selling out in just two minutes and generating $1.2 million. [7] The game lasted three days following the sale, running alongside the auction for IX. The Monument Game, which ultimately sold for ~$700,000. As of March 2025, Player editions have generated more than $3 million in secondary market volume.
At the artist's request, some Players contributed personal reflections to the observation game, while others shared more casual comments or even texts generated by ChatGPT. Spratt developed an interactive experience that encouraged collector participation and engagement with the artwork. One of his primary requests to the Nifty Gateway team was to build the platform in a way that would allow other artists to use it for their own observation-based projects. Later, Nifty Gateway open-sourced the platform code, making it available for future artistic projects. [8]
Following The Monument Game, Spratt’s first solo show, took place in Venice during the 2024 Biennale. [9] Supported by 1OF1 Collection, the show exhibited Spratt's LUCI series while inviting visitors to re-enact the observation game in a physical space. Among the visitors who left observations were Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Uli Sigg, [10] and Hans Ulrich Obrist. [11]
“Kudos to the heroes who added a new feature to what to date has been an old medium - painting!!!” Sigg wrote in his observation as observer 4, highlighting Spratt’s ingenuity in integrating others’ observations into his artistic practice. [12] However, integrating others' observations into painting is a longstanding tradition in Chinese art, particularly in handscroll paintings. In this tradition, it was customary for artists, collectors, and viewers to add inscriptions, seals, and colophons to the artwork. [13] Therefore, while Spratt's integration of audience observations into his LUCI series is innovative within the context of contemporary Western art, it aligns with a centuries-old practice in Chinese art where viewer engagement and contribution are integral to the artwork's evolution.
In February 2025, a year and a half after The Monument Game, Sam Spratt introduced X. The Masquerade, the tenth artwork in his LUCI series and his second observation game. Expanding on its predecessor, The Masquerade invited 613 players — holders of The Masks of Luci, a new collection that was released in parallel to the game — to engage not only by leaving observations but also by commenting on others’ observations and revising. Spratt closely followed the discourse, designing unique masks based on player activity. The Masks of Luci generated over $2 million in primary sales, while X. The Masquerade sold privately for $3 million — the highest NFT sale in three years. Following the completion of the game, Spratt announced that his Masks of Luci series were selected for inclusion in the upcoming exhibition Infinite Images: The Art of Algorithms that will take place at the Toledo Museum of Art from July until November 2025. [14]
Spratt’s ability to weave participatory art into digital formats is matched by his astute understanding of the art market’s mechanics. By intertwining narrative, scarcity, and community, he has transformed his latest releases into events — leveraging limited editions and gamified experiences to drive both engagement and sales. His use of blockchain, nurturing of his collector base, and iterative expansion of the LUCI universe reveal a deep sensitivity to the shifting landscape of value in the digital age. More than just an artist, Spratt has proven himself a savvy market participant, leveraging the discourse surrounding his work to unlock new commercial opportunities and further deepen his conceptual framework at the intersection of art, technology, and culture.
[1] Matt Medved, “Inside Sam Spratt’s Cult of Luci and The Monument Game,” Nft Now (blog), August 22, 2023, https://nftnow.com/features/inside-sam-spratts-cult-of-luci-and-the-monument-game/.
[2] “Authentic Digital Art - I. Birth of Luci | SuperRare,” SuperRare | CryptoArt | NFT Art Marketplace | Digital Art, accessed March 24, 2024, https://superrare.com/0xb932a70a57673d89f4acffbe830e8ed7f75fb9e0/i.-birth-of-luci-29436.
[3] “SAM SPRATT (B. 1988), VII. Wormfood | Christie’s,” accessed March 12, 2024, https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/cartography-mind-curated-nft-sale-benefit-maps/sam-spratt-b-1988-1/155318.
[4] “AOTM - VIII. Infinite Ceremony,” AOTM, accessed March 24, 2024, https://aotm.gallery/artwork/viii-infinite-ceremony/.
[5] “Authentic Digital Art - The Blueprint Skull | SuperRare,” SuperRare | CryptoArt | NFT Art Marketplace | Digital Art, August 12, 2023, https://superrare.com/0xb932a70a57673d89f4acffbe830e8ed7f75fb9e0/the-blueprint-skull-33019.
[6] Nifty Gateway, “Nifty Gateway,” Nifty Gateway, accessed March 26, 2024, https://www.niftygateway.com/collections/sam-spratt-the-monument-game.
[7] “A Discussion With Sam Spratt: How The Monument Game Is Redefining the NFT Landscape,” Gemini, accessed November 20, 2023, https://www.gemini.com/blog/discussion-with-sam-spratt-the-monument-game-redefining-nfts.
[8] “Nifty Gateway Releases Open Source Code for The Monument Game | Nifty Gateway,” Nifty Gateway Blog, accessed March 26, 2024, https://niftygateway.com/blog/nifty-gateway-releases-open-source-code-for-the-monument-game.
[9] Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, “In Venice, 1OF1 and Collector Ryan Zurrer Introduce Web3 Phenom Sam Spratt to the Art World,” ARTnews.Com (blog), April 17, 2024, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/venice-biennale-sam-spratt-art-exhibition-monument-game-nfts-1234703518/.
[10] “Sam Spratt on Instagram: ‘Honored to Have Uli Sigg and Rita Sigg Come to The Monument Game Preview Here in Venice and Leave behind an Observation. Preservation.,’” Instagram, April 16, 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/C51UcoYPVeO/.
[11] “Sam Spratt on Instagram: ‘Observer 16 @hansulrichobrist Leaving His Observation atop The Monument Game.,’” Instagram, April 17, 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/C53UPqECp0D/.
[12] “The Monument Game by Sam Spratt,” Nifty Gateway Studio, accessed March 18, 2025, https://www.niftygateway.com/collections/sam-spratt-the-monument-game-exhibition/.
[13] “Home | East Asian Scroll Paintings,” accessed April 25, 2025, https://scrolls.uchicago.edu/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
[13] “TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART ANNOUNCES UPCOMING GENERATEIVE ART EXHIBITION AND THE 2025 DIGITAL ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE | Art Miami Magazine,” accessed March 20, 2025, https://artmiamimagazine.com/toledo-museum-of-art-announces-upcoming-generateive-art-exhibition-and-the-2025-digital-artists-in-residence/.