The painting by Paweł Kowalewski at first NFT art auction in Poland – www.pk-nft.net
In a few days on December 2nd, for the first time an NFT will be sold at an auction by a major auction house in Poland Desa Unicum – the 1st largest auction house in Central and Eastern Europe. The NFT is a painting by Paweł Kowalewski that has been lost in 1986 due to flooding. Rather than recreating the painting by traditional methods it is being brought back to life as an NFT (Non Fungible Token) a form of cryptocurrency that is just as unique piece of digital art as its physical counterpart. This one of opportunity is the chance for many to become a part of history as it will be the only chance to be the first in the history to purchase such unique piece of art.
The first NFT object to hit the hammer at the December auction at DESA Unicum is “Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?” by Paweł Kowalewski, an icon of Polish art of the 1980s. The virtual object presented by the artist, is a great comeback of the original painting from 1986, that was lost irretrievably in a flood in 1997. The artist painted the fastest animal in the world – a cheetah against the sunset.
“I was 20 years old when I painted it … I was wondering about the answer to the metaphysical question “Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?” asked by the philosopher Wilhelm Leibniz. In this debate, philosophy meets science and astrophysics to find out the ultimate explanation of our universe. Thanks to blockchain technology my damaged artwork will achieve eternity in a digital form, which means that it is crossing into the next dimensions – it exceeds our reality and lives its own life “- explains artist Paweł Kowalewski.
In the first three quarters of 2021, the value of global NFT sales reached a staggering value of $ 3.5 billion, according to Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2021. According to Nonfungible.com – in 2020, the value of digital work in the world was estimated at $ 250 million, four times higher than the results of the previous year. Record prices achieved by NFT works offered by the most prestigious auction houses in the world – Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips – and the largest platforms offering digital art contributed to such rapid growth of the market. The record-breaking work includes the $ 69 million virtual collage by Mike Winkelmann (known as Beeple).
Juliusz Windorbski from DESA Unicum also confirms the advantages of NFT: “Modern technologies are changing the art market, enabling the dynamic development of digital creativity. A significant role in their popularization among collectors can be played by auction houses. Therefore, as the first, and not only in Poland, but throughout Central and Eastern Europe, we decided to expand our offer with NFT art works. We see in it a separate, artistic field with an enormous potential that will develop in parallel to the traditional auction market. We will offer unique digital art works at the auction, using the full potential of the blockchain protocol and digital certificates of authenticity, responding to the new needs of contemporary art lovers.
Paweł Kowalewski’s art work “Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?” one can bid online at bid.desa.pl and also by standing order or by telephone bidding at DESA Unicum. The NFT artwork will go under the hammer as nr 1 at the “Contemporary Art Auction: Pop-art, pop culture, postmodernism” on 2nd of December 2021 at 8:00 PM.
The NFT art work by Paweł Kowalewski: LINK
Registration for the online auction: CLICK
Registration for the telephone bidding: LINK