Just as crypto prices have been skyrocketing over the past few months, the same can be said about digital collectibles called non-fungible tokens (NFTs). An NFT auctioned by Christies, one of the most established and respected auction houses in the world, collected $69.3 million (over R1 billion) last week.
Following the recent craze in NFTs, Worldart gallery, a Cape Town-based art gallery, will soon become the first South African institution to auction an NFT artwork. The artwork up for auction was created by local artist Norman O’Flynn and is entitled ‘Da Bomb’. The artwork will be in the form of a GIF file. The meme is based on the latest painting from his esteemed Timekeeper series.
Worldart said that the sales platform, auction time, and date will be announced soon, and that interested buyers should keep an eye out for an announcement via the gallery’s Instagram profile (@worldartgallery).
The highest bidder will not only be the proud owner of the NFT, but will also receive the original painting – a 150cm X 100cm Timekeeper portrait painted on plexi-glass – that retails for $5,000 at the gallery. The owner of the digital work will be free to offer it for resale on the secondary market whenever they feel the time is right.
.“This is a ground-breaking development in the art world. I am particularly thrilled that this mechanism guarantees artists royalties when their artworks are resold,” said Worldart gallery owner, Charl Bezuidenhout.
Charl added that “Acquiring this artwork by Norman O’Flynn presents a unique opportunity for collectors to own an entry in the blockchain itself, created by an exciting and collectable artist.”
Speaking to Global Crypto, Daniella Attfield, a South African-based NFT artist said:
“I started selling NFTs in 2018, but only started becoming more active in July 2020. Crypto art has changed my life, it means that I can survive off my passion and work doing what I love. I’m very excited about the first NFT auction here in SA. Crypto art is revolutionary and will allow so many artists to be able to earn money selling their art.”
Feature image by Marco Verch from flickr
