This Is the First-Ever AI Image Bought by The Getty Museum

Well, it has happened – a museum has bought AI-generated artwork for the first time. Matías Sauter Morera, a queer Costa Rican photographer, has made history as the first artist to sell this type of work, and it went to the prestigious Getty Museum.

Morera’s piece, Cristian en el Amor de Calle (2024), is the latest addition to the museum’s collection, blending artificial intelligence with cultural storytelling. The image captures two young Latino men sitting in a bar. Their gaze pierces through the frame, seemingly locking eyes with the viewer. They wear blue leather jackets adorned with gold embellishments—an aesthetic choice deeply rooted in history. The look pays homage to the queer cowboys from Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Coast in the 1970s, who became known as pegamachos.

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A post shared by Matias Sauter Morera (@matiassauter)

“A.I. provided a way also to achieve this without intruding on real lives or placing real Costa Rican faces that people of the community might recognize,” the artist told Artnet. “Since the pegamachos culture remains hidden, these A.I. images serve as a mimicry of photography, a fiction, and a medium through which I can imagine and construct an imagined parallel history.”

It’s interesting that Getty Museum acquired Morera’s work through a photography curator. And while Morera is an accomplished photographer, he doesn’t classify these AI-generated pieces as traditional photography. And frankly, I couldn’t agree more. Labeling these works as “photographs” would dilute the meaning of photography itself. The term was derived from the Greek words phōs (light) and graphé (drawing), literally translating to “drawing with light.” Since AI-generated images don’t involve the physical capture of light, calling them photographs misrepresents the essence of photography.

Art enthusiasts will soon have the chance to see more of Morera’s AI-generated work. The Craig Kroll Gallery will host a solo exhibition of Pegamachos, curated by Paul Martineau, from March 22 through May 3, 2025. Later in the year, his work will also be featured in The Queer Lens: A History of Photography at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, running from June 17 through September 28, 2025.

The recognition of Morera’s AI work marks a significant moment for AI-generated art. Just days ago, we reported about the first-ever copyrighted AI work. And with one bought by a museum, it seems that AI artwork has hit another major milestone… Whether we like it or not.

[via PetaPixel]

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