Art Market Update
Artists have not been afraid to explore the artistic and practical possibilities of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The latest; Frank Stella.
As I noted in Do NFTs Make Good Long Term Investments, a few projects from contemporary artists are utilizing the NFT format in a way that actually helps art collectors (namely; by improving liquidity in the asset-class). They can also, in the case of Stella, push the boundaries of NFTs use-case.
Frank Stella announced that he would be minting 20 NFTs (each an edition of 100) in what seems like a natural step for the artist. His body of work from the previous two decades lends itself well to be captured/ appreciated in a digital 3D form. Yet, the beauty of Stella’s NFTs, titled Geometries, is that they can be 3D printed into a physical form if the owner wishes to do so. The owner also has the right to display the work digitally and create derivatives.
The NFTs have another quality that art collectors such as yourself should be aware. That is, encoded in the NFT is a provision that 10% of any future sale price should go to Stella, noted as a “Resale Royalty”. This will be an automatic process as the blockchain that the NFTs are minted on will keep track of sale transactions and automatically divert a percentage back to Stella.
Stella’s NFTs were available for pre-order for US $500 but sold out. The NFTs are released to the public on Thursday (NZDT) for double this price, before they hit the secondary market .