Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before been seen publicly тАФ riding a fad for тАЬcryptoтАЭ assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm.
For an exclusive interview before the formal launch this week, PicassoтАЩs granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and her son Florian Picasso opened up their apartment тАФ which is swimming in works from their illustrious ancestor тАФ in an upscale Geneva neighborhood. There they offered up a glimpse, however tantalizingly slim, of the piece behind what theyтАЩre billing as an unprecedented fusion of old-school fine art and digital assets.
TheyтАЩre looking to cash in on and ride a wave of interest in non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which have netted millions for far-less-known artists and been criticized by some as environmentally costly get rich schemes.
In economics jargon, a fungible token is an asset that can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Think of dollars or bitcoins тАФ each one has the exact same value and can be traded freely. A non-fungible object, by contrast, has its own distinct value, like an old house or a classic car.
Cross this notion with cryptocurrency technology known as the blockchain and you get NFTs. They are effectively digital certificates of authenticity that can be attached to digital art or, well, pretty much anything else that comes in digital form тАФ audio files, video clips, animated stickers, even a news article read online.
тАЬWeтАЩre trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,тАЭ said Florian Picasso, the artistтАЩs great-grandson.
The artistтАЩs descendants are playing close to the vest, to drum up interest and protect тАФ for now тАФ a family heirloom. TheyтАЩre showing only a sliver of the underside of the work linked to the NFTs, a ceramic piece about the size of a large salad bowl. The exposed parts show forms like a thick yellow line, a dribbling green splotch, and a brushed-on number тАЬ58тАЭ at the base.
Marina Picasso says the cherished pottery piece dates to October 1958, when she was a child.
тАЬItтАЩs a work that represents a face, and itтАЩs very expressive,тАЭ she said. тАЬItтАЩs joyful, happy. It represents life тАж ItтАЩs one of those objects that have been part of our life, our intimate lives тАФ my life with my children.тАЭ
Cyril Noterman, a longtime manager for Florian Picasso, and Kathryn Frazier, a publicist for the project, told The Associated Press that SothebyтАЩs would host an auction in March that will include a unique NFT as well as the actual ceramic bowl.
But Matthew Floris, a spokesman for SothebyтАЩs, contacted the AP on Wednesday and said in a statement: тАЬSothebyтАЩs has clarified that it will not be selling an NFT of a work by Pablo Picasso.тАЭ
Noterman and Frazier said a first-phase, online sale of more than 1,000 other NFTs starts Friday through the Nifty Gateway and Origin Protocol platforms.
Florian Picasso said they agreed on the colorful ceramic piece because it was тАЬa fun oneтАЭ to start.
An NFT Picasso brings with it almost epochal symbolism, something like when the Beatles collection was finally put up on iTunes. The family and its business managers say the aim is to create a younger community of Picasso fans.
тАЬEverything is evolving,тАЭ said Florian Picasso, insisting that the NFT honors the great artist.
тАЬI think it fits within PicassoтАЩs legacies because we are paying tribute to him and his way of working, which was always being creative,тАЭ he said.
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