NFTs Created by 99-Year-Old Artist Vera Molnár Sold for $1.2 Million

Computer-generated non-fungible tokens (NFTs) created by innovative Hungarian artist Vera Molnár sold out for ETH 631. 

Per the current prices, this is worth $1,178,520.

‘Themes and Variations’ collection was created by the 99-year-old Molnár in collaboration with artist Martin Grasser.

According to the auction giant Sotheby’s, the collection “culminates around three letters in particular that have changed the dialogue around [Molnár’s] life’s practice: N, F, T.”

500 minted NFTs were released on July 26, with a starting price of ETH 20.

Per the rules of the auction, this was the maximum price each item could be bought for. The price would go down in increments of ETH 0.1 every 15 seconds until the items sell out or the price reach ETH 0.75.

The buyers were randomly allocated one of the 500 generative artworks, it said.

Themes and Variations #39 by Vera Molnár, in collaboration with @martingrasser, sold for 17.99 ETH👀 pic.twitter.com/yttO60isin

— Sotheby's Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) July 27, 2023

Currently (Friday morning, UTC), 494 Molnár’s Ethereum-based items are available on the OpenSea marketplace. The total volume is ETH 897; there are 259 owners and 269 sales. 

The floor price is ETH 6.2, up a whopping 384.4% from ETH 1.28 recorded on July 26 after the auction. The highest point reached was ETH 7.49 seen earlier this morning.   

Pioneer of Computer Art

Vera Molnár, born in Budapest in 1924 and residing in Paris, is widely considered one of the pioneers of computer art. She explored the machine imaginaire method from 1959 to 1968, then entered the realm of algorithmic art and began producing computer drawings. 

She also co-developed the “Molnart” software program with her husband.

Inspired by geometry, form, and systemic disorder, Molnár explores letters that evoke a personal feeling.

Then in 2022, she entered the NFT world with her project “2% of disorder in co-operation,” the first edition of which was sold at Sotheby’s. 

‘Themes and Variations’ is an expansion of the 2 % d’ordre generative protocol that “explores the power of the grid and randomness of color,” the auction house stated.

In the artist’s own words,

“I gave the title Theme and Variations to the latest project with the letters N, F, and T that I am working on for my first and only long form generative art project.”

The long-form algorithmic system in ‘Themes and Variations’ is written in JavaScript and runs live on the browser, operating on three fundamental principles: letter forms, color, and composition.

Martin Grasser is a US-based artist, designer, and typographer based. His work uses a systems-driven process focused on abstraction and translation to generate a diverse, evolving body of work, Sotheby’s said. 

The project was realized by a team of artists, designers, and developers: Arsh, Audrey Chen, Laksh Arora, Zrinka Buljubašić, and V.E. Chen.

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