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Christie’s auction house will sell five artworks by Andy Warhol as non-fungible tokens (NFT), with the proceeds going to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
In yet another major feather in the cap for the NFT market, auction house Christie’s will sell work by avant-garde artist Andy Warhol as NFTs. Five digital works by the artist made in the 1980s, which were found on floppy disks, will be sold on May 24. The “Amiga” artworks even include two self-portraits.
The money raised from the sales will go towards The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, a non-profit philanthropic foundation created by Warhol in 1987. Each work will start with an initial price of $10,000, which can be purchased with either USD or ether (ETH).
Michael Dayton Hermann, Director of licensing, marketing, and sales of The Andy Warhol Foundation, said that the sale reflected Warhol’s prophetic genius,
“Warhol’s experimental digital works of art are yet another striking example of how the prophetic 20th-century genius continues to provide a blueprint for the 21st century.”
According to Christie’s, Warhol created the artwork using the ProPaint software after being gifted a personal computer by Commodore International in 1985. Besides the self-portraits, the series also includes Warhol’s “signature” flower, a depiction of a Campbell soup can, and a banana on a blue background.
Christie’s has been making headlines time and again for its increasing interest in the NFT space. Most famously though, it is not for auctioning an NFT by Beeple for a whopping $69 million.
Works related to Andy Warhol have been sold via Christie’s before. The pieces were purchased by TRON founder Justin Sun, who the bought a famous Picasso work and Warhol’s “Three Self-Portraits.”
NFTs show no sign of slowing down even as market tumbles
Christie’s isn’t the only art auction house getting into the NFT game. Sotheby’s also announced that it would sell digital art by anonymous artist Pak, making it the first time that the globally renowned auction house has dabbled with NFTs.
The arrival of famous auction houses and celebrities into the crypto world of NFTs has helped spark a tremendous wave of interest in the assets. The public has taken to purchasing NFTs after celebrities such as Eminem and Grimes. Investor and Shark Tank panel member Kevin O’ Leary, who is well known for being cagey about cryptocurrencies, is also optimistic about the NFT market.
The popularity is also reflected in the amount of money being paid for some NFT works. Artist Itzel Yard saw her “Dreaming at Dusk” work sell for 500 ETH (around $200 million at the time), making her the highest-selling female artist.