MANDELA’S ARTWORK TO BE SOLD AS AN NFT

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the world by storm and even more so the world of art.

These forms of digital artworks, stored on a blockchain as proof of ownership and authenticity, set record prices in 2021, helped along by the cryptocurrency boom, reports Business Insider.

In the early 2000s, former South African president Nelson Mandela produced a series of artworks showcasing his time while in prison on Robben Island. The series consists of five artworks.

An auction house based in London will be selling the pieces of art along with a handwritten motivation as NFTs. It’s estimated that a single artwork as an NFT will sell for about R10 700 while the full set will go for around R53 700.

Bonhams, the auction house, is selling the series titled Robben Island which Mandela painted in the early 2000s. The sale is a partnership between the auction house and Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela.

The sale will be offered through the NFT platform Nifty Gateway.

Hypebeast reports that Banksy’s iconic Love Is In The Air painting has been divided into 10 000 NFTs. Auction house Particle has announced that the painting is the first piece they will fractionalise and auction.

Banksy’s painting was bought by Particle earlier this year for $12.9 million. Once the painting has been segmented off into 10 000, 100 x 100 sections, each piece will be auctioned for approximately $1 500. Buyers won’t be able to choose which section of the painting they want to buy as all the sections will be allocated randomly.

Once the individual pieces have been auctioned, they will increase in value and probably be sold through other auction houses as well.

Image credit: NFT Plazas