The King of pop art is taking over the world of NFTs.
Andy Warhol was ahead of his time, creating digital artworks in the mid-1980s. In the current sphere of ever-evolving technology, the famed artist’s pieces haven’t missed a beat, participating in the newest form of art exchange.
According to a report by Hypebeast, Christie’s recently partnered with The Andy Warhol Foundation on an outstanding sale of five NFT’s from the ‘Andy Warhol: Machine Made’ collection. The collection raised a total of $3,377,500.
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NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital works tied to non-interchangeable digital tokens. Backed by blockchain technology, NFTs are incredibly secure, offering total authentication and proof of ownership.
The five NFTs at auction were restored from Warhol’s 1985 artworks, preserved in 2014 via floppy disks. Originally created on the paint program on Warhol’s personal computer, the Commodore Amiga, the collection contains two iconic digital self-portraits, a flower, a banana and a Campbell’s soup can. Each individual piece has been minted by the Warhol Foundation.
Bidding began at $10,000 per piece, but each sold for more than 20-times the asking price. More than 200 bids were placed by an international audience within the last 24 hours, which hyped up demand. The digital art self-portrait of Warhol sold for a striking $870,000, and his famed Campbell’s Soup Can digital piece went for $1,170,000.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to work with Christie’s on making a significant contribution to the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to support artists,” Michael Dayton Hermann, Director of Licensing, Marketing and Sales at The Andy Warhol Foundation, is quoted in Hypebeast. “Warhol’s innovative vision and practice continues to enable the Foundation’s unwavering commitment to artists by supporting small, community-oriented spaces, major museums, and everything in between.”
The net proceeds of the sale will go towards the annual funding of The Andy Warhol Museum along with the foundation’s efforts to support artists in America.
Read more about the five NFTs via Hypebeast and about the auction via Christie’s website.
Photography by: Hulton Deutsch / Getty
