By James Davis
France’s National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, revealed Saturday plans for a new exhibition assessing the relationship between blockchain and art that will feature Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from Autoglyphs and CryptoPunks collections, among digital arts by several other artists.
Autoglyph#25 and Cryptopunk#110 were donated to the Paris-based museum, and the showcase will mark the first time Centre Pompidou has allowed NFTs into its collection. This museum houses artworks from renowned artists, including Marc Chagall, Frida Kahlo, Vassily Kandinsky, and Henri Matisse.
Greg Solano, the co-founder of Yuga Labs, the firm behind the CryptoPunks collection, says that to see a CryptoPunk NFT displayed in one of the leading modern art museums in the world would be a great moment for the NFT ecosystem and the entire blockchain industry.
Yuga Labs donated its CryptoPunk NFT via Punks Legacy Project, an initiative that aims to donate CryptoPunks to famous museums around the globe. The firm’s first NFT donation featured CryptoPunk#305 and was channeled to Miami’s Institute of Contemporary Art last November.
CrytoPunks and Autoglyphs Floor Prices
Built on Ethereum, the CryptoPunks collection has become popular in the NFT space. There are about 10,000 pieces in circulation. According to CoinGecko, the cheapest CryptoPunk is priced at 64 ETH or $96,000 as of this writing. CryptoPunks regularly trade for millions of dollars, even during crypto winter.
Autoglyphs, on the other hand, are considerably rarer. The project is Ethereum-based and features about 513 NFTs. Larva Labs, the developer behind the collection, donated one of these NFTs to Center Pompidou. The cheaper NFT is selling for 248 ETH or about $386,000.
Blue Chip NFTs Criticized for Lacking Artistic Authenticity
Despite the huge figures attached to these blue-chip NFTs, some people in the art community have mocked such projects, claiming they lack artistic legitimacy. This could be why Yuga Labs created the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection.
However, the recent Center Pompidou’s announcement to accept CryptoPunk in its exhibition could help affirm the artistic features of this project. Yuga Labs stated it was honored to be recognized by the museum as a key driver of NFT adoption.