Picasso's Heirs Join The Crypto Wave; Launch Digital Art Piece

Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before been seen publicly — riding a fad for “crypto” assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm. “We’re trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,” said Florian Picasso, the artist’s great-grandson. It represents life … It’s one of those objects that have been part of our life, our intimate lives — my life with my children.” Cyril Noterman, a longtime manager for Florian Picasso, and Kathryn Frazier, a publicist for the project, told The Associated Press that Sotheby’s would host an auction in March that will include a unique NFT as well as the actual ceramic bowl. But Matthew Floris, a spokesman for Sotheby’s, contacted the AP on Wednesday and said in a statement: “Sotheby’s has clarified that it will not be selling an NFT of a work by Pablo Picasso.” Noterman and Frazier said a first-phase, online sale of more than 1,000 other NFTs starts Friday through the Nifty Gateway and Origin Protocol platforms.