The Value of the “Token” in the Passing of Capital
A few weeks back the famous Auction House “Christies” of New-York, sold the famous ‘60’s Pop artist, Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” for a staggering sum of $195,000,000. The painting (40 inchesx40 inches, 258cm x 258cm) is one of a 12-piece series of the legendary actress Marilyn Monroe.
Though the price paid is no doubt fantastic, it is not the costliest of the paintings sold by “Christies”. The painting “Salvator Mundi” (1499-1510) painted by Leonardo De Vinci was sold in 2017 at the same New-York Action House for $400,000,000, the highest price ever paid for a single painting. No doubt that neither Warhol or De Vinci benefit as both have departed and are long gone.
I try to imagine that sum of money in tangible form. I cannot grasp it. How does one carry such a sum? For sure not in a wallet. In a suitcase? A trunk? A container?
The Painting “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” = $195,00,000
The Painting as a Bank-note that equals a given sum.
A way to pass capitol, move or hold the value of unfathomable sums of money.
So, NFT’s have always been around, they have just moved to another media/ meeting place. In this new meeting place/ platform, a token of a smoking monkey in sunglasses can reach astronomical prices. By the way, the designers of such tokens are referred to as “artists”, just like Warhol and De Vinci. Makes one ponder if the aesthetic value is important at all. One just has to agree to the worth of the “Token”, to the new value of an object, be it a painting real or virtual, or just an idea. As long as there is a minimum of two players that agree to the rules, there is a game.
There are very worthy NFT artistic options on platforms such as Open Sea. The “noise’ or marketing attention/P.R. are quite critical in the given or growing value of the artwork. Warhol and his subject matter, Marilyn Monroe were both social icons in their time and continue to be so today, as De Vinci was and is. The artworks are BRANDED like any other commodity to be sold. Better the branding, higher the price.
“Binoculars” – Printable Digital Illustration (From Photograph) @ Barbara Adler Art 2022
Buy art for its aesthetic value, for its meaningful value and not just for its revenue or token value.
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