Particle, a non-fungible tokens platform co-founded by former Christie’s post-war and contemporary art chairman Loïc Gouzer, will be dividing Banksy’s iconic Love is in the Air painting into 10,000 NFTs. Earlier this year in May, the company purchased the painting at a Sotheby’s auction for $12.9 million (far above its $3-5 million estimate) and is now planning to make it the first piece they fractionalize and auction. The company publicly displayed the physical painting, possibly for the last time, at Art Basel 2021 in Miami.
How It Works: Particle will “legally destroy” the painting by donating it to a non-profit organization it has established, ensuring that the physical piece is never sold and that the “value can’t exist in two places.” The alternative would be to burn it, which was done to another Banksy in March. A digitized version of the painting will then be split into 10,000 100-by-100 unique sections sold for $1,500 each in early January. The owners of the NFT will receive a digital collector’s card, permission to view the painting in real life, and “the right to call theirs.” Particle will also earn royalties from any resale of the NFTs.
