Jesus was a supremely and radically free human being. He was not a slave, a serf, a follower of anybody or under any authority human or divine. There was nothing, no commandment or tradition, no law or regulation that could bind him down. He did not give his companions and his group a constitution or […]
Basil Rajapaksa has recently said that the Rajapaksas are not responsible for the dire situation in the country. He told the journalists not to pass the ball to him and he passed the ball to the people, especially to the 69 lakhs who voted the “Pohottuwa” into power. So, my dear 6.9 million citizens, You […]
Digital artist Pak’s Fungible Collection of 6,150 NFTs, sold for $16.8m by Sotheby’s and Nifty Gateway Courtesy of Sotheby’s and Pak
Figures like $60bn of global sales, $450m for a painting at auction, ten million museum visitors per year and 90,000 attendees at a fair have all given those involved in the business of making, exhibiting, selling and collecting art a sense of purpose and importance.
But during the pandemic, art sales and attendance figures at museums and fairs if they happen at all have slumped. With everyone cooped up indoors, the art economy, with varying degrees of success, has had to digitalise. The general assumption, or hope, is that if and when societies eventually return to normality, the desire for engagement with real, physical art will surge back.
Simon de Pury Found NFTs Very, Very Confusing. So He Gave Himself a Crash Course and Realized They’re Here to Stay
The art-industry veteran weighs in on the gold rush for NFTs, and what it has in common with the Swatch boom of the 80s.
April 26, 2021
Simon de Pury, then chairman of Phillips de Pury and Company at a preview the first auction of a historic collection of Swatch watches in Hong Kong in 2011. Photo by Dickson Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images.
Every month in The Hammer, art-industry veteran Simon de Pury lifts the curtain on his life as the ultimate art-world insider, his brushes with celebrity, and his invaluable insight into the inner workings of the art market.