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TIMELESS REFLECTIONS
THE ORIGINAL EGON SCHIELE NFT-COLLECTION
TIMELESS REFLECTIONS.
THE ORIGINAL EGON SCHIELE NFT COLLECTION
The Leopold Museum is launching 24 selected paintings and drawings by Egon Schiele for the first, exclusive NFT collection by a museum in Austria and announces the release of a spectacular Schiele discovery.
Thanks to an innovative cooperation between the Leopold Museum with the NFT platform LaCollection and the Österreiche Post AG (Austrian Post), it will soon be possible to acquire works from the Leopold Collection as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). The sale starts on May 16 and ends on May 26.
The Leopold Museum's NFT collection makes it possible to acquire unique, limited edition digital twins of selected artworks. The NFTs are divided into three categories according to edition size, while one NFT of each artwork will remain in the Leopold Museum archive:
"Ultra Rare": edition of 2 copies per artwork
"Super Rare": edition of 10 copies per artwork
"Rare": open edition of up to 100 copies per artwork
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THE REDISCOVERED SCHIELE
A special highlight among the NFTs is the early work Leopold Czihaczek at the piano (1907), which was rediscovered after more than 100 years and can already be purchased as an NFT before it can be admired in the museum.
The 1907 Schiele painting Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, which was believed to be lost, has in fact been preserved in good condition in a private collection. The owners of the work have agreed to place the painting at the disposal of the Leopold Museum as a permanent loan. Following the cleaning and restoration of the painting, we want to make it accessible to the public as part of our permanent exhibition on Vienna 1900. The work will further be minted as a NFT (Non Fungible Token) and will be a bonus highlight in addition to the works selected for the imminent NFT Launch of Schiele works from the Leopold Collection. We hope that the proceeds will not only finance the painting’s restoration but will ideally also allow us to acquire the Czihaczek portrait.
EGON SCHIELE, Leopold Czihaczek at the Piano, 1910 © Private collection, permanent loan at the Leopold Museum, Photo: Leopold Museum, Wien
"We will reinvest the entire proceeds from the NFT sales into the restoration, preservation and acquisition of artworks – including the restoration of the sensational rediscovered Schiele painting.“
Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Director Leopold Museum
The painting shows Egon Schiele’s uncle and legal guardian, Leopold Czihaczek (1842-1929) playing the piano in his apartment in Zirkusgasse in Leopoldstadt, Vienna. Following the untimely death of Egon’s father Adolf Schiele (1850-1905), Czihaczek – who was married to Marie, one of the father’s sisters – assumed Egon Schiele’s guardianship in 1906. Schiele painted his uncle several times in 1907 and 1908, including in two large-scale paintings, one of which is this rediscovered one.
“The close-up view of the piano player, the framing of the head, shown in lost profile, by the bright window panes and the resulting focus on the sheets of music all convey an effect of being entirely immersed in the music. This effect is echoed in the hands which the artist rendered in a deliberately blurry manner and as if detached from the rest of the body."
Verena Gamper, Leopold Museum Research Center
What is an NFT?
- An NFT or Non-Fungible Token is a unique digital asset. For example, a €20 bill is an exchangeable (fungible) asset (token) because one €20 bill can be easily exchanged for another. A self-portrait by Egon Schiele would not be exchangeable (non-fungible) because it is unique and therefore could not be replaced by a similar self-portrait.
How can I purchase an NFT?
- Buy the NFT via auction or directly
- Pay with credit card or Ether
- Receive your NFT in your wallet within 24 hours
- Download your certificate of authenticity
- Access the 4K-JPEG
- Keep your NFT on the LaCollection marketplace or re-sell it
PURCHASE NFT!
EMPHASIS ON CLIMATE PROTECTION
For both the Leopold Museum and LaCollection, sustainability is an essential aspect of the project. To this end, trees will be planted with each sale of an NFT thanks to our cooperation with the green tech company EcoTree in order to offset the CO2 emissions caused by the generation of NFTs. Additionally, EcoTree works with vegetable carbon which allows for CO2 to be bound long-term in agricultural soils, making a direct positive impact on our climate.
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