Flash News: the Vasarely Foundation launches its first NFTs; back on the sale of the Jacqueline Matisse Monnier collection

The Vasarely Foundation, the first French cultural institution to create NFTs!

After participating in Decentraland (first decentralized metaverse) in the first digital fashion week in history alongside Selfridges and Paco Rabanne, the Vasarely Foundation is launching its first NFTs on 26 April 2022. The fruit of a collaboration between Selfridges, the Fondation Vasarely and Paco Rabanne, this first series – named “Universe Paco Rabanne & Fondation Vasarely” – includes 12 NFT works by Victor Vasarely, and 12 Unwearables by Paco Rabanne, at prices ranging from €600 to €220,000.

The institution is presenting monumental works by Victor VASARELY in the form of non-fungible tokens, most of the proceeds from which will be donated to the Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence, an architectural center that the French artist designed and built between 1973 and 1976 .
Six of these NFTs concern architectural integrations that need restoration.
A further six are coded with a smart contract that will refresh the design metadata to reflect the condition of the works directly in the NFT. Repairs will take place once a year over a two-year period.

The Vasarely Foundation is therefore the first cultural institution classified as a “Musée de France” to enter the world of tomorrow by creating NFTs!

Jacqueline Matisse Monnier Collection

Christie’s described its recent Parisian sale (13 April) of works from Jacqueline Matisse Monnier’s collection as a selection of “78 works by the most renowned artists of the 20th century.” Grand-daughter of Henri Matisse, daughter-in-law of Marcel Duchamp and god-daughter to Joan Miro, Jacqueline Matisse Monnier was deeply invested in art throughout her life, not only via her family connections but also as an active and passionate collector. She passed away in May 2021.

Many of the works in her collection came (often directly) from some of the greatest artists of the 20th century, including Jean Dubuffet, Niki de Saint Phalle and Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne. The selection included several works by Marcel DUCHAMP, who became Jacqueline’s father-in-law after marrying her mother, Alexina “Teeny” Sattler, in 1954, following Teeny’s divorce from Pierre Matisse.

The most coveted piece in the sale was a sculpture by Alberto GIACOMETTI from the Pierre Matisse collection titled Petit buste d’homme, a rare patinated bronze (enhanced with paint) and dating from 1950. Estimated between 3 and 5 million euros, the work fetched just over its low estimate. Henri MATISSE was the dominant signature in the sale with no less than 26 works, including three portraits of his granddaughter Jacqueline and emblematic works such as Nymphe et faune rouge (€5,2m-$5,6m),, the most expensive work in the sale fetching nearly 5.2 million euros, Océanie, le ciel (€4m-$4,3m) et Océanie, la mer (€2m-$2,26m).

An exceptional collection, steeped in history, the sale was organized to help the family settle inheritance taxes. Expected to generate around 25 million euros, the Christie’s sale posted an excellent total of 40.48 million euros.