The British Museum is taking advantage of the NFT boom by putting 20 of JMW Turner’s paintings up for sale in digital form.
Artwork will be sold in the form of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital tokens encrypted with an artist’s signature verifying ownership and authenticity and which are permanently attached to the artwork.
However, those who purchase the digital tokens at next month’s auction will not have physical ownership of the paintings and will not be permitted to touch them.
The 20 paintings by Joseph Mallord William Turner come from a collection bequeathed to the museum by Robert Wylie Lloyd, former director of the Christie’s auction house, who died in 1958.
The British Museum is taking advantage of the NFT boom by putting 20 of JMW Turner’s paintings up for sale in digital form. Pictured: painting of Trafalgar by James Mallord William Turner
Conway Castle, North Wales, a painting by JMW Turner was bequeathed to the museum by Robert Wylie Lloyd, former director of Christie’s auction house, who died in 1958
In his bequest, according to the museum, Lloyd said the paintings could only be exhibited for two weeks in February and that “none of his drawings and watercolors may be loaned to exhibitions outside the British Museum”.
Rare paintings on display at auction next month include A Storm (Shipwreck), completed in 1823, Gentlemen Travelers, from 1829, and The Colosseum.
JMW Turner was born in 1775 and died in 1851. He was known as “the painter of light”, because of his interest in colors in his landscapes and seascapes.
His works included watercolors, oils, and prints, and his use of watercolor was considered by some to be the “most inventive and varied” ever for the medium.
The British Museum will sell NFTs of artworks in collaboration with LaCollection, a French start-up providing a platform to buy NFTs of artworks from museums.
In September, they worked together on NFT’s sale of paintings by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai which drew audiences from over 120 countries.
The latest collection of 20 works of art will be sold on three levels.
There are nine in the ultra rare category, in which two NFTs have been created – one being kept by the British Museum and the other going to the buyer. Seven will be super rare, where ten NFTs were created, and four will be open edition, with a maximum of 99 NFTs for sale.
LaCollection said single editions will start from €4,999, with open edition prices starting at €799.
The first ultra rare and open edition NFTs will be available to those who have previously purchased a Hokusai NFT in a private sale beginning February 8 and ending February 9. Sales in the general market will then open on February 9 and end on March 4.
NFT sales surged in August, according to the biggest platform for the booming digital asset class, as speculators bet growing interest in the worlds of art, sports and media would keep prices up.
The niche crypto asset exploded in popularity in early 2021, especially with cryptocurrency viral hits like Dogecoin and Bitcoin, leaving many puzzled as to why so much money was being spent on items that do not physically exist.
The frenzy has now reached new heights. Sales volumes recorded on the largest NFT trading platform, OpenSea, reached $3.4 billion in August last year, from $148 million in March. In January 2021, the monthly volume recorded on the platform was just over $8 million.
A self-portrait of JMW Turner painted circa 1754. A collection of his works will be sold as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital tokens encrypted with an artist’s signature verifying their ownership and authenticity and are attached to permanently piecemeal
On average, more than $10 million in NFT transactions were taking place daily by the end of 2021, according to website DappRadar.
Chris Torres, creator of Nyan Cat, sold his iconic meme for around $590,000 earlier this year and eventually got the artwork awarded – which he says was a huge factor in the reason why he researched the NFTs first.
Bad Luck Brian, Kyle Craven’s hilarious yearbook photo meme, has sold for over $45,000.
Success Kid, the photo of photographer Laney Griner’s then 11-month-old son Sam, sold as an NFT for around $35,000. Sam is almost 15 years old.
Overly Attached Girlfriend, stemming from a YouTube video by Laina Morris satirically showing her love for Justin Bieber, sold for $459,260.
And in March, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey’s first tweet – “just setting up my twttr” – sold to Sina Estavi, CEO of Malaysia-based blockchain company Bridge Oracle, as an NFT for just over $2. .9 million.
