Leopold Museum director Hans-Peter Wipplinger announces NFT releases of Schiele’s works and sensational discovery
Vienna (OTS) – The museum’s first NFT collection includes 24 exclusive works by Egon Schiele as well as the spectacular discovery of a painting from his early work. Thanks to an innovative cooperation between the Leopold Museum, the NFT platform LaCollection and Österreichische Post AG, it will soon be possible to purchase selected works from the Leopold Collection as NFT (Non-Fungible Token). The sale starts on May 16 and ends on May 26.
24 works by Egon Schiele available in NFT
Leopold Museum director Hans-Peter Wipplinger has selected 24 works by the important Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele (1890-1918) for the launch of the NFT and explains the start of the NFT collection:
“The pandemic has led to a rapid acceleration of digitization processes in the art world and made NFTs an integral part of many established traditional art collections. We are seeing a development that is opening up the art collection to a wider and very open-minded audience that recognizes the enormous potential of NFT art. The NFTs of Schiele’s works allow us not only to permanently preserve the museum’s treasures in the digital world, but also to connect with people whom we could not reach before with our museum in Vienna.”
Limited digital works in three categories and a sensational rediscovery
The Leopold Museum’s NFT Collection provides unique and limited digital twins of selected works of art. NFTs are divided into three categories based on circulation: Ultra Rare, Super Rare, and Rare. While buyers can purchase the “Rares” in a time-limited open edition of up to 100 pieces per work for EUR 499 each*, the “Super Rares” (10 edition) and “Ultra Rares” (10 edition 2) sold at auction with a starting price of 15,000 and 100,000 euros respectively. One NFT of each work of art remains in the possession of the Leopold Museum.
Among others, Schiele’s famous paintings Self-Portrait with Chinese Lanterns (1912) and Portrait of Wally Neuzil (1912) will be available. The NFT collection measures Schiele’s work based on a thematic selection of works from different creative periods. Among the NFTs, the early piano works of Leopold Czihaczek (1907), which were rediscovered after more than 100 years and can be purchased as NFTs before they can be admired in the original in the museum, are a particular highlight. .
The Director of the Leopold Museum, Hans-Peter Wipplinger, sets a clear goal for the use of proceeds from the museum’s first NFT sale:
“We are reinvesting all proceeds from the NFT sale into the restoration, preservation and purchase of artwork – including the restoration of this sensational rediscovery by Schiele. permanent loan to the Leopold Museum, where our intention is the long-term availability to the public and thus also the acquisition of the painting, which would perfectly complement our Schiele collection,” explains Hans-Peter Wipplinger.
Partners of the Leopold Museum
LaCollection – building bridges between NFT collectors and the museum
For cooperation, the Leopold Museum relies on the international NFT LaCollection platform, which specializes in NFT art from established museums and contemporary artists.
“TheCollection offers collectors new ways to discover, experience and own exceptional works of art from leading museums and digital artists. Even without prior knowledge, anyone can become an NFT collector in no time. time and easily via a credit card – and therefore in local currencies – buy NFT masterpieces by Egon Schiele on our platform”, Jean-Sébastien Beaucamps, CEO and co-founder of LaCollection
Austrian Post: strong partner in the crypto industry
Another important technology partner of the NFT project is the Austrian Post, which provided advice during the preparation and will play an active role in the implementation.
“In all business areas, we aim to identify new trends and innovations, examine them and, if possible, implement them. Through our use of blockchain and crypto technology, we took on the pioneering role in this country in 2019 and developed expertise. We can now also offer it to our partners. The joint implementation of the NFT project with the Leopold Museum is an important step that will soon be followed by others. These developments are an excellent example of Austria Post’s innovative strength,” says Georg Pölzl, CEO of Österreichische Post AG.
Focus on climate protection
For the Leopold Museum and LaCollection, sustainability is at the heart of the project. To this end, with every NFT purchase, trees are planted with the help of green technology company EcoTree, which offsets the CO2 produced by the NFT generation. In addition, EcoTree also works with biochar, which binds CO2 in agricultural soils in the long term and thus has a direct positive effect on the climate.
The Leopold Museum: The most complete Schiele collection in the world
The Leopold Museum houses the collection of Austrian art from the second half of the 19th century and the modern era, founded by Rudolf Leopold and today comprising more than 6,000 objects. Nowhere else can the concept of art and the intellectual world of Vienna around 1900 be recreated so directly and the historical developments in art, from Mood Impressionism to Art Nouveau to Expressionism , can be understood so completely. The highlight is the Vienna 1900 exhibition with the world’s largest collection of works by the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele, with masterpieces by Gustav Klimt and the internationally most comprehensive permanent presentation on Oskar Kokoschka , as well as other works of Viennese modernism and Viennese craftsmanship. Werkstätte.
The works of the individual categories summarized:
Ultra Rares: Dead Mother I, 1910 – Self-Portrait with Lantern Fruit, 1912 – Portrait of Wally Neuzil, 1912
Super Rares: Stylized flowers on a decorative background, 1908 – Kneeling auto-nude, 1910 – Newborn with raised knees, 1910 – Seated man with arms raised (Arthur Roessler), 1912 – Old gable, 1913 – Embracing couple, 1914 – Young girl with spread legs, 1918 – Crouching nude, self-portrait, 1918 – Skull Gustav Klimt, 1918
Rare: Portrait of a young girl, 1906 – Leopold Czihaczek at the piano, 1907* – Bare trees, houses and aedicule (Klosterneuburg), 1907 – Houses in front of a mountain slope, 1907 – Young girl with folded hands (Gerti Schiele), 1910 – Female nude with forearms raised, 1910 – nude self-portrait, crouching, 1912 – nude with crossed arms, 1914 – Poldi, 1914 – arch of the house in Krumau, 1914 – reclining girl with a bow in her hair, 1918
*The rediscovered painting Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, 1907 will be available as a “Special Rare” at the price of 999 euros.
More information at:
[https://www.leopoldmuseum.org/de] (https://www.leopoldmuseum.org/de)
[https://lacollection.io/] (https://lacollection.io/)
[https://ecotree.green/en/] (https://ecotree.green/en/)
[https://crypto.post.at/] (https://crypto.post.at/)