August 31st, 2021 – The State Hermitage Museum and Binance NFT, the NFT marketplace of the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem Binance, announced the start of sales of digital artworks from a limited digital collection. NFTs were created by the museum based on artworks from its collection. The auction opens on August 31st at 12:00 PM (UTC) time and will last until September 7th at 12:00 PM (UTC).
As a part of the project titled “Your token is kept in the Hermitage”, the museum has released a limited edition NFT with digital copies of the world’s masterpieces from its art collection. The series of works includes digital reproductions such as “Madonna Litta” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Judith” by Giorgione, “Lilac Bush” by Vincent Van Gogh, “Composition VI” by Wassily Kandinsky, “Corner of the Garden at Montgeron” by Claude Monet.
Each digital artwork has two NFT copies: one of them will be stored in the Hermitage, and the second will be sold as an auction on the Binance NFT marketplace.
Each digital copy is personally signed by the Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky. At the same time, the director of the Hermitage not only assured the authenticity of a limited series of works, but also created an independent work by applying his signature, date and exact time of signing, thereby giving them absolute uniqueness, immortalized in the blockchain. The place of signing – the Hermitage building itself – is also saved in the metadata.
The starting bid for each digital work is $10,000 BUSD. All proceeds from the sale will be transferred to the State Hermitage Museum. The winners of the auction will also receive an NFT in a video format with the moment of signing the copy of the purchased NFT by the Director of the Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky.
Any Binance.com users can participate in the auction. Binance’s NFT marketplace uses the same account system as Binance.com. New marketplace users will need to register with Binance.com.
“The Hermitage is a conservative innovator – a conservative museum that uses the latest technology. These include our project “Your token is kept in the Hermitage” and all our NFT efforts. We are expanding digital opportunities for acquaintance with the collections of the Hermitage, with its halls and buildings. These are ways that emphasize, on the one hand, the democratic nature of the museum, and on the other, the accessibility of the luxury of visiting it”, – said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage.
“But we are not going to solve any financial issues with the help of tokens, we have no market expectations related to their launch. We want to see how this form will be perceived. NFT is a philosophy, it is an aesthetics of possession. Digital art copies fill the Internet, where basically everyone has access to them, but NFT is a sense of ownership, and in our case, a sense of belonging to the Great Museum”.
“We are witnessing a historic moment – one of the world’s largest museums enters the NFT market. The Binance NFT marketplace has become the connecting thread of the world of art and technology, and this is a great honour for us,” – said Helen Hai, Head of Binance NFT
About The State Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage keeps a collection of over three million works of art and monuments of world culture. It includes painting, graphics, sculpture and objects of applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic material.
The State Hermitage is included in the list of especially valuable objects of the national heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation and is under the patronage of the President of the Russian Federation.
About Binance
Binance is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and infrastructure provider for the cryptocurrency industry with a portfolio of financial products that includes the largest digital asset trading exchange by volume. Trusted by millions of people around the world, Binance is designed to expand the freedom of money for users. It offers a unique portfolio of cryptocurrency products and opportunities. These include: trade and finance, education, research and data, charity, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and much more.
About Binance NFT marketplace
Binance NFT Marketplace is an open space for artists, creators, crypto enthusiasts and NFT collectors with the best liquidity and lowest fees. Consisting of premium and recurring marketplaces, Binance NFT offers valuable collectibles and an easily accessible trading marketplace for all users.
Details: nft.binance.com