NFT Revolution Reaches France: CryptoPunks and Autoglyphs to be Displayed at Top Modern Art Museum

The Centre Pompidou, a major modern art museum in France, aims to showcase NFTs from some prominent digital artists this summer in its upcoming permanent exhibition. 

In a Friday announcement, the art museum said that it is preparing to showcase a collection of non-fungible tokens created by 13 digital artists from around the world. The exhibit will specifically include popular some NFTs from blue-chip collections like CryptoPunk #110 and Autoglyph #25, both of which have been donated to the Centre Pompidou.

“The Center Pompidou acquires a set of works dealing with the relationship between blockchain and artistic creation, including its first NFTs!” according to a rough translation of the museum’s tweet. “18 projects by 13 French and international artists are included in the collection.”

Le Centre Pompidou fait l’acquisition d’un ensemble d’œuvres traitant des relations entre blockchain et création artistique, dont ses premiers NFT ! 👾
Ce sont 18 projets de 13 artistes français et internationaux qui entrent en collection.
Plus d'infos 👉 https://t.co/PXL4O2E9vh pic.twitter.com/sNI7EYtK5E

— Centre Pompidou (@CentrePompidou) February 10, 2023

In a press release announcing the donation of a CryptoPunk NFT to the museum, Xavier Rey, director of the French National Museum of Modern Art, noted that the Centre Pompidou is “pursuing its interest in digital art, in connection with the blockchain.“ Rey added:

“Web3 is an innovative territory that artists have now seized upon to create original and daring work, and this collection reaffirms our support for artists in their conquest of new means of expression, which is the foundation of modern art.”

Yuga Labs, the company behind popular NFT projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, had also previously donated CryptoPunk #305 to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami at Art Basel 2022. The company said it plans to donate more Punks to leading art institutions worldwide in the future. 

Greg Solano, co-founder of Yuga Labs, said this marks “a great moment for the web3 and NFT ecosystem” as it will pave the way for a collective understanding of how digital art can be accepted and appreciated for its impact and modern relevance.

It is worth noting that the hype over NFTs and metaverse assets has cooled down dramatically over the past year amid the broader market downturn that has seen major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum lose around 70% of their value compared to all-time highs. 

According to NFT experts at Casinos En Ligne, sales of non-fungible tokens saw a downfall of 83 percent year-over-year in 2022. Moreover, across all the markets, including art, gaming, and collectibles, NFT transaction volume plunged by at least 83 percent. 

The NFT space surged to an all-time high in January 2022 with monthly sales reaching $2.8 billion. However, that number saw a steep drop by earlier this year following a string of bankruptcies and implosions that saw around $2 trillion wiped out of the crypto market.

Earlier this month, The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF, the first-ever ETF focused on NFTs and metaverse assets announced that it will close down by the end of February. Shares in the fund are down by more than 72% since its debut.