By Amélie Perrier, March 10, 2022
Since the publication of a new law in the Journal Officiel, auction houses are no longer limited to “corporeal” works of art, and can now offer digital art without physical support. Maison Fauve Paris inaugurates this revolution in the art world.
Until now, only the major international auction houses had auctioned NFTs. France is determined to catch up. The law has now been amended: with the publication of a new text in the Journal Officiel, auction houses can now offer buyers virtual works of art.
Fauve Paris has jumped on the bandwagon, and this Thursday, March 10, offers the very first auction on French territory. Its director, Lucie-Eléonore Riveron, aims first and foremost to educate the public and more traditional collectors. NFTs (“non-fungible tokens”) are certificates of ownership that are registered on the blockchain, a method of storing data in the form of linked blocks protected against modification.
For the past few days, FauveParis has been exhibiting the 47 digital works up for auction: photos, 3D animations and videos, presented on screens or tablets of various formats. “These are works designed by and for screens,” explains Fauve’s managing director. These include the big names in crypto-art, such as Beeple, which last year sold an NFT abroad for $69.3 million at Christie‘s. Here, an edition is offered (as a limited, numbered print of an original work), and therefore much less expensive, estimated at between 22 and 28,000 euros. Also on sale: digital paintings by the high-profile Italian duo Hackatao, lot no. 5 “My Personal monolith” is estimated at €220-260,000.
Until now, digital artists have found it difficult to make a living from their work. “By definition, a digital image is infinitely reproducible. The NFT makes it possible to deed ownership of a digital work, thus giving it rarity and value, and thus enabling it to be marketed.“explains Lucie-Eléonore Riveron.
And while some see it as a speculative tool far removed from art, Lucie-Eléonore Riveron assures us that she only wants to talk about artists, collectors and collectresses.“NFTs are only a means, only a means to give value to works and enable their distribution and marketing, to offer recognition to artists.”