Nelson Mandela’s Historic Prison Paintings To Be Sold As NFTs

Nelson Mandela’s first non-fungible tokens will be headed to the auction block at Bonhams, featuring the late South African president’s watercolor portraits from his time in the Robben Island prison.

A single image will be sold on NiftyGateway for US$699, with the entire set going for US$3,495. There will be an upper limit of 10,000 NFTs available, as per The Guardian.

The collection will comprise five paintings, and The Motivation, a piece of handwritten text explaining how Mandela visualized the works on the remote island, each bearing his signature.

Makaziwe Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s daughter who partnered the auction house on the sale, said: “NFTs are an exciting way to democratize art, and I’m delighted to share my father’s legacy in new forms.”

“When my dad was on the island, he was surrounded by gray. Remember, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He never thought he would walk out of prison. But the paintings say we should never despair,” she added.

Part of the proceeds from the sale will go towards building a memorial garden for Mandela in Qunu, where he is buried.

Giles Peppiatt, the director of modern and contemporary African art at Bonhams, explained that digital assets allow the art to reach “new audiences that probably don’t go to art galleries and museums.” 

“These are people who live a lot of their life through their phones, through the internet,” she said.

If you’re thinking of snagging an NFT for yourself, be sure to act fast on March 9.

“However many are sold in that six-hour window is the edition,” said Peppiatt, reminding buyers that the auction will end when it reaches its time limit or upper limit of sales.

[via The Guardian and Bonhams, cover image via Bonhams]