"The artist Robert Alice first became aware of Tad Smith almost a decade ago when he was on Sotheby's graduate training programme, and Smith was the auction house's chief executive. Alice later left Sotheby's to become a full-time artist, while Smith departed in 2019 when the auction house was bought by Patrick Drahi. But by chance, they met again in July 2024."
"Like all the paintings from the Portraits of a Mind series, Block 1, made between 2019 and 2022, is a hybrid work, a physical painting connected to an NFT. The circular gold leaf and acrylic on canvas is covered in hand-painted code, referencing the genesis block of blockchain. It is described by Sotheby's as "the most important available work from Portraits of a Mind"
Robert Alice met Tad Smith at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in July 2024. Alice previously participated in Sotheby's graduate training programme while Smith served as the auction house's chief executive. Alice sold Block 21 as the first NFT by an artist through a major auction house in October 2020 at Christie's for $131,250, far above estimates. Block 1 from the Portraits of a Mind series will be offered at Sotheby's New York sale on 18 November with an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. Block 1 is a hybrid physical painting linked to an NFT, featuring circular gold leaf, acrylic and hand-painted code referencing the blockchain genesis block.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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