For David Hockney, NFTs, entirely virtual works of art, would be a "scam"

"

".

Contrary to the enthusiastic frenzy surrounding NFTs and the rise of digital art since the start of the year, David Hockney does not appear to be convinced by what some already call a "

”.

Since his peaceful retirement from Normandy, the world's most expensive living British painter has scrutinized the digital collage of the American Beeple, which was sold for $ 69.3 million in March, and confessed to not understanding the craze for the work: “

"

To read also: Open letter from David Hockney to France: "I am 83 years old, I am going to die ..."

Along with Jeff Koons, the British painter is one of two living artists not to have been overtaken by Beeple, just propelled to the third rank of the most expensive current artists in the world during the thunderous sale of his work

.

A real earthquake in the art world, the record sale of the 100% virtual work, authentically certified by its

unique

NFT (non-fungible

), attracted the attention of David Hockney, but without convincing.

According to him, the NFT ecosystem would be nothing less than "

" he said in an interview recorded for the Waldy podcast & Bendy's Adventures in Art.

Interviewed by the English art critic Waldemar Januszczak, the painter confessed that he did not quite understand what he was talking about.

“

”he said playfully.

Physical art versus virtual art

Based on tamper-proof

technology (the “

”), NFTs function as universal digital certificates of authenticity affixed alongside the most diverse objects: a clip, an image, a text, a music.

In a buoyant context for cryptocurrencies and speculation, this market, initially focused on collectibles, has invested in recent months in the field of contemporary art, auction houses and even galleries.

Their technical principle of operation, based on the cryptocurrency system, as well as the essentially digital nature of the currency and the objects exchanged, can however confuse more than one, like David Hockney, 83 years old.

“

, ”wondered the painter.

Read also: NFT works of art arrive in galleries

If he has not himself converted to NFT, like other major figures of contemporary art such as Damien Hirst, David Hockney has long been interested in new technologies with which he had fun playing. experimenting, like his fax work in the 1980s. In recent years, he has also been learning digital art through his iPad.

But if the tablet may have joined the artist's technical palette, the works he creates with it only exist in his eyes when they are printed, which marks their entry into the real world.

“

”, supported the artist, for whom, obviously, digital art only has meaning in the service of a physical production, not virtual.

“

David Hockney wondered.

This observation of the inescapable materiality of art has been derided by Beeple himself.

In reaction to David Hockney's comments on the necessary printing of digital art, the 39-year-old American artist took the side of humor by writing Sunday on Twitter: "

"

Despite his skepticism about NFTs, David Hockney remains optimistic and confident about the future. Converted into a champion of nature and Norman spring, the millionaire painter no longer seeks any light other than that of the sun beating the green countryside of Calvados. "

," said the painter.

”. An isolation conducive to creation, disconnected from the brilliance of virtual art, which he had already sung in his open letter to France, just a year ago: "

"