In 2018, something peculiar happened in the art industry. This time it wasn’t another controversial nude painting or a lost artwork recovered from the Nazi archives. In fact, it had nothing to do with the paint, brush or canvas. That year, a little known startup called Maecenas introduced a revolutionary concept to the industry involving blockchains and cryptocurrencies.Until then, the art industry was notoriously archaic. Paintings, sculptures and other art paraphernalia was sold through the gavel and paddle method. Meanwhile, the auctions were open to only a limited crowd and demanded the physical presence of the bidders. Furthermore, the extravagant prices of the featured pieces made it difficult to sell the artworks. What Maecenas did was to turn the entire industry on its head. Sometime in September of 2018, the company marketed the seminal piece, “14 Small Electric Chairs” by American pop art pioneer, Andy Warhol. At the time, this artwork was valued at $1.7 million and the news of a blockchain-based sale attracted hundreds of investors, many of whom were not previously associated with the art industry. The attention garnered towards the painting helped improve its valuation to $5.6 million while the unconventional method of sale employed would definitely ...
Read More on Datafloq
No comments:
Post a Comment