On Sunday night June 23rd, the original painting for Ryan Pancoast’s Atemsis, All-Seeing was sold on the MTG Art Market for $3,950. Three associated color studies for the final work sold one night later for $225, $175, and $225 respectively.
Atemsis, All-Seeing by Ryan Pancoast, oil on canvas, 18” x 24” Private Collection. Also, that’s Homer the White Cat, NFS, and he has his own Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homer_thewhitecat
Atemsis, All-Seeing by Ryan Pancoast is a work of oil on stretched canvas measuring a noteworthy 18 inches by 24 inches, a size Pancoast is using for most of his legendary or otherwise important Magic paintings. A Legendary Sphinx, this is the first introduction to this character, and so far we do not have any information on their role in Magic or even their home plane.
This card, especially with its alternate win condition, will certainly see some play in the Commander format as players seek to win in fun and unusual ways. There is something special about being able to own the original painting for your favorite legendary EDH General, and this was a perfect opportunity for a collector to do exactly that.
This painting was sold on the MTG Art Market with Vorthos Mike acting as agent for the artist, launching shortly after the card was previewed. Pancoast is creating masterpiece after masterpiece, and has risen to the top of collector’s lists in terms of desirability in adding a piece to their collection. The need to own a Pancoast is real, and it won’t be going away anytime soon. Just look at some of the details of this truly gorgeous work:
There were also three color studies auctioned almost concurrently with the final painting. These small 5″ by 7″ inch canvas board studies were something Pancoast used to do for all his work, but due to time and deadlines, now only completes traditionally for larger paintings or as time allows. They are an incredible and affordable alternative to the final work when they are available.
I’ve written about Pancoast’s color studies before, both as they fit into his artistic process as well as using them as a point of departure for talking about Vorthos Art History and how they help to explore the worlds of Magic. I added one of these to my collection, and I implore you to stay tuned to my Twitter if you ever have an interest in owning one of these wonderful little pieces.
There is simply no equivalent, no equal feeling, of owning a piece of the cards you play with.