On Sunday May 23, 2021, the original painting for Drizzt Do’Urden by Tyler Jacobson—from Magic: the Gathering’s upcoming Dungeons & Dragons crossover set, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms—sold for a record-breaking $155,000 via auction on the MTG Art Market. This is yet another new record for a newly released piece of artwork, for an artwork sold on the MTG Art Market Facebook group, and falls in the Top 5 highest public prices realized for an original work of Magic art.
Drizzt Do’Urden by Tyler Jacobson, oils on cradled Masonite, 24” x 30”
Drizzt Do’Urden by Tyler Jacobson is a work of oils on cradled Masonite (board) and measures a massive 24 inches by 30 inches, commissioned for the upcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, the Magic: the Gathering/Dungeons & Dragons crossover expansion. The card was revealed on Dungeons & Dragons “All Things Drizzt” stream on May 20th alongside a handful of other legendary characters and on the heels of Magic’s Summer of Legend announcement. The set officially releases to the public later this summer on July 23, 2021.
Drizzt Do’Urden is a male Drow (dark elf) who has appeared in dozens of stories of the Forgotten Realms series by author R.A. Salvatore for more than thirty years. This painting also features his companion Guenhwyvar, as well as his legendary scimitar swords Icingdeath and Twinkle. Drizzt was perhaps the most popular Dungeons & Dragon character of all time, and the most highly sought character fans hoped would appear in this set. His auction results matched that anticipation.
The auction for the original artwork began shortly after the card was first shown, and was held on the MTG Art Market with Mark Aronowitz acting as agent for the artist. Aronowitz has handled Jacobson’s auctions the artist began working traditionally for Magic in 2019.
The opening bid was a cool $10,000 and was met immediately. By the end of the first day, the auction stood at $36,000.
Bidding was consistent throughout the weekend, and much of it public within the comment thread of the Facebook post. With fifteen minutes to go, the high bid was $53,000. From here it would be the largest single increase for an auction end that I’ve seen in my three years of writing.
The auction moved in $1,000 and $5,000 increments until the bid reached $130,000. From here it jumped to $150,000, a hammer stroke of a bid to try and end it right there. It was unsuccessful, and it was the $155,000 advance that would win the day and send this work home to a private bidder the highest price realized for a new artwork and one of the highest prices ever achieved for a Magic: the Gathering artwork.
When the auction was over Jacobson said in the comments, “I’m truly speechless. Huge congratulations to the winner. Thank you all so so very much! ❤️”
Drizzt Do’Urden (Sketch) by Tyler Jacobson, pencil, prismacolor and airbursh, 15” x 20”
The associated sketch was also offered and sold prior to the final painting on the same night for $7,000, also to a private bidder.
This sale follows on the heels of several other monstrous auction’s including Chris Rahn’s Tiamat that sold for $65,000, Justine Jones’ Beholder for $12,500, and Alessandra Pisano’s Vorpal Sword for $17,000. There have also been a handful of private sales with undisclosed amounts, including Jacobson’s own Tiamat, Lars Grant West’s Beholder, and Jesper Ejsing’s Lolth, Spider Queen.
It was yet another record-breaking night for Adventures in the Forgotten Realms artwork, and we’re still a month away from when previews start in earnest. Stay tuned here to Hipsters of the Coast for more Art Market Minutes—it’s going to be a Summer of Legend!