Picasso’s granddaughter and great-grandson’s attempt to sell NFTs under his name sparks family dispute
A few weeks ago, Picasso’s granddaughter Marina Picasso and great-grandson Florian Picasso announced that they will release more than 1,000 NFTs based on a never-exhibited ceramic bowl that Picasso made in 1958. This NFT collection is initially titled “PicassoMan & the Beat”.
Accompanying the NFT launch, Florian teamed up with John Legend and Nas to release a song titled “Tomorrow” written by John Legend. The imagery on a large ceramic bowl was to become the basis for five short animations set as snippets of the new song.
However, the NFT drop has led to a family dispute. The Picasso Administration, which manages works held by five of Picasso’s three surviving children (Maya Widmaier Picasso, Claude Picasso and Paloma Picasso, and grandchildren Marina and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso), halted the NFT drop.
According to the structure of the foundation that manages Picasso’s intellectual property, any NFT plans would have to be authorised by Claude. However, he objects to the plan. The lawyers of the family stated that his heirs have not authorised the launch of any such “Picasso NFT”. The estate also warned that without its permission, the crypto collection would be deemed counterfeit.
“What’s happening is that some members of the family don’t agree with the project, and don’t want the name mentioned,” Florian told the Associated Press. Hence, to “clear the air”, Florian’s representatives clarified that the NFT collection will be based on Florian’s work, not that of his great-grandfather. “Maybe we should have been a bit more clear from the beginning,” said Cyril Noterman, the longtime business manager for Florian Picasso, who is a DJ and music producer.
“We, and our team, have been working on this project for over 11 months and ‘Man and the Beat’ is the genesis collection of a long-term ambition we have,” Florian stated. They then decided to proceed with the NFT release.
However, as reported by ARTNews yesterday (7 February), the first part of the NFT sale, the “Visage de Couleur”, did not perform well, at least for now. Nearly a week after the sale began on 1 February, there are still 900 of a possible 1,000 NFTs available. According to the press statement, one lucky buyer of the 1,000 pieces will receive a physical ceramic from Marina Picasso’s private collection.
The other two parts of the sale, “Visage de Demain” and “Visage de Lumière”, featuring two additional colours of the same design that took place on Nifty Gateway on 3 February, are somewhat more successful. Winning bidders are invited to a March event in Cannes, France at Villa La Californie, where Picasso lived from 1955 to 1961.