On June 16, 2019, the original painting for Filip Burburan’s Collector Ouphe from the just-released Modern Horizons set sold on the MTG Art Market for an outstanding $5,600.
Collector Ouphe by Filip Burburan, oils on board, 11” x 15.4”. Private Collection.
Collector Ouphe by Filip Burburan is a work of oils on board measuring 11 inches by 15.4 inches, commissioned and newly-released as a part of the Modern Horizons supplemental set for Magic: the Gathering. Within the game, this creature functions as what’s known as a Null Rod, an extremely powerful card within the Vintage format and a powerful Modern sideboard card in the form of Stony Silence. Whether or not this card will have game impact or see play within decks is yet to be seen, but it certainly has the right qualities to impact future gameplay in its small niche of constructed Magic.
The auction was run by Vorthos Mike acting as agent for the artist on the MTG Art Market. Though this painting got off to a bit of a slow start, the longer Modern Horizons had been full previewed, i.e. the longer folks had time to see where this card fits in, the more attention the auction got. The painting rose to a plateau of $3,000 two days into the auction, and remained there until a private bid of $3,025 was placed at the end to extend the sale into overtime. For the next 45 minutes, private bids fought for the painting, nearly doubling its total to the $5,600 total realized. It’s worth clicking through and looking at the time stamps on the bids placed; this was a hard fought battle that gave the agent a workout on the keyboard, but ultimately ended with a fantastic final price for the artist.
A pencil sketch was also offered alongside the final painting. It sold for comparatively affordable $500 with minimal competition, and is an equally enjoyable work to its traditional counterpart.
Collector Ouphe by Filip Burburan, graphite on paper, 10.8” x 7.9”
Filip Burburan has created 69 illustrations for Magic since 2014. He is first and foremost an artist of creatures, specializing in all matter of beasts, dragons, wurms, dinosaurs, and even the occasional goblin or gremlin like we see here. Ouphes have been a part of Magic since the game began, and have been defined over the last 25 years; the large glowing eyes and collection of artifact treasures are how we’ve come to know these impish folk, and Burburan has done an outstanding job capturing the spirit of this storied tribe. This is just a fun work of Magic art, and a potentially fabulous piece of the game’s history.
