The Baranoff-Rossiné family has agreed to the auction of ‘Abstract Composition’ with the original signed painting and frame accompanied by an NFT certificate to ensure its provenance and authenticity.

Mintable, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, announced that it will be auctioning an exclusive 20th century avant-garde piece entitled ‘Abstract Composition’ (1926) by famed painter, sculptor, and inventor Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné. The painting, housed in its original frame and signed by Baranoff-Rossiné, will be physically sent to the buyer, accompanied with an NFT authentication certificate to ensure its provenance and authenticity. 

The Mark Cuban-backed NFT marketplace has been working closely with Baranoff-Rossiné’s family to facilitate the additional sale of 9 purely-digital NFT representations of his works in a series of 3 auctions and 6 limited edition sales from 25 March 2021 onwards. 

Zach Burks, CEO of Mintable said: “Through their works, artists are blessed with the ability to radically reshape how we see, understand, and experience the world around us. As a space that has always been open to innovation, the emergence of NFTs comes as no surprise and at Mintable, we are thrilled to be pioneering a new cultural movement in this arena. As a man who straddled the art and technology worlds with such finesse, we could think of nobody better than Baranoff-Rossiné to immortalise with our NFTs. In working together with his family, we are delighted to be showcasing his works to a new generation of art lovers and collectors while exemplifying the promise of a new alternative medium.”

Baranoff-Rossiné (1888-1944) was a Ukrainian, Russian, and French painter, sculptor, and inventor who was part of the cubo-futurism movement. Trained at the St. Petersburg Institute for Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, he eventually moved to Paris and gained recognition in the local art and culture scene, befriending influential artists of the day including the likes of Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marc Chagall. His 1910 work 'Adam and Eve' was auctioned for US$5.3 million at Christie’s London in 2008. It was the 23rd most expensive painting ever sold at auction by a Russian painter at the time. 

A lauded progressive thinker and innovator, Baranoff-Rossiné is one of the leading figures of the Russian avant-garde movement. Baranoff-Rossiné’s works have been featured in over 100 global exhibitions at leading arts institutions including  D’Orsay Museum, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Capitani Gallery,  and many others across New York, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Moscow, St Petersburg, and Bakı. 

The artist’s grandson, named for his grandfather Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné’s said: “We are very excited to be presenting what is an art-world first in the NFT space. My grandfather was continuously experimenting with colour, textures, and light and — rising to prominence for his forward-thinking vision when it came to fusing art and music after creating an Optophonic Piano. The NFT space represents a new medium and frontier for creative expression which is only too fitting to showcase the collection in a never-seen-before way.”

Mintable is a leading NFT marketplace built on the Zilliqa and Ethereum blockchains. As the industry’s very first NFT generator, manager, and batch minter, and now next-generation marketplace, Mintable is designed to empower artists and creators to monetise their work while ensuring that consumers can purchase goods with assurance of their provenance and authenticity. Mintable’s UI is distinguished by its fast and easy transformation of content into sellable and tradeable digital assets. In the last month, over 70,000 NFTs have been created and listed for sale using Mintable’s gas-free minting option.

NFTs have been in the spotlight for the past few weeks following the successful Christie’s auction of a digital art piece for nearly US$70 million. NFTs can take the form of digital representations of artworks that are authenticated by blockchain. The proof of ownership consists of a tamper-proof digital signature that cannot be duplicated, providing assurance of the piece’s authenticity and digital provenance. Each time an NFT is sold, the right to own that asset is also transferred to the new buyer. This allows for the creation of scarcity, ultimately increasing the value of these assets and widening the range of monetisation opportunities for artists and content creators.

Art collectors and crypto enthusiasts can bid for 'Abstract Composition' alongside NFTs for Baranoff-Rossiné’s other works on https://www.mintable.app/. The auction will kick-off on 25 March 2021.