Sygnum Bank and Artemundi symbolize Warhol’s work Marilyn Monroe

Sygnum, the world’s first digital asset bank, and Artemundi, a pioneer in art investing, have teamed up to symbolize the work of Andy Warhol Four Marilyns (inversion).

• The artwork was tokenized using Sygnum’s Desygnate solution, with 5,000 Art Security Tokens (AST) exclusively available to Sygnum customers
• Prices of Warhol artworks sold between 2003 and 2017 rose an average of 14.2% per year
• Token holders will have their ownership fully recognized within the Swiss DLT legal framework

Warhol – a key figure in the history of Pop Art

Andy Warhol is the creator of some of the most iconic works of art of the 20th century and has been among the top ten best-selling artists for over two decades. His works are present in many prestigious collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Based on a publicity photograph from his film ‘Niagara’, Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe series has seen long-lasting price appreciation. Since 2000, this series has generated 17% of all Warhol auctions, despite representing only 3% of volume, and has consistently outperformed the global Warhol and Artprice indices.

Issuance of 5,000 Art Security Tokens (AST) through Swiss bank Sygnum

Sygnum’s Desygnate platform symbolized that of Andy Warhol Four Marilyns (inversion), currently priced at CHF 5.7 million. The 5,000 WHL1 tokens issued are available for subscription exclusively to Sygnum’s professional and institutional clients via the Sygnum online banking portal, and for trading via Sygnum’s SygnEX secondary market. All transactions will be settled in Swiss Francs using Sygnum’s Digital CHF (DCHF) Stablecoin, backed by the legal certainty of direct physical ownership of the artworks under the Swiss Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

Fatmire Bekiri, head of tokenization at Sygnum Bank, says: “Warhol’s iconic Four Marilyns truly immortalizes one of the most illustrious stars of cinema’s golden age. By leveraging blockchain technology, we are building a future where owning such world famous paintings could one day be as easy as buying a can of tomato soup – like those also made famous by Warhol.

The art market is complex and often requires deep technical knowledge, personal connections and millions of dollars to enter. Sygnum’s tokenization solution, combined with Artemundi’s experience in art investment, reduces financial barriers by enabling fractional ownership and democratizes access to pieces of art history from masters like Warhol and picasso.

Javier Lumbreras, CEO of Artemundi, says: “Artemundi’s strategic portfolio is made up of masterpieces by artists so unique that they can be considered ‘monopolies’ of universal recognition. They have a history of growth that continues for generations”

About Warhol’s Four Marilyns

Four Marilyns (inversion), 1979-1986, shows the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe repeated four times in black and white. Andy Warhol returned to this image of the actress in his works, using different color palettes and varying the number of repetitions on a canvas. In this work, the artist used his signature screen printing technique and reversed the original color palette to show Marilyn’s likeness in negative.

About Sygnum

Sygnum is the world’s leading digital asset bank and a global digital asset specialist. With the Swiss banking license of Sygnum Bank AG, as well as the Capital Markets Services (CMS) license of Sygnum Pte Ltd in Singapore, Sygnum enables professional and institutional clients or qualified investors (e.g. corporates, banks and other financial institutions) to invest in the digital asset economy with confidence. Sygnum operates an independently controlled, scalable and scalable regulated banking platform. Our interdisciplinary team of banking, investment and distributed ledger technology (DLT) experts are shaping the development of an ecosystem of trusted digital assets. The company is founded on Swiss and Singaporean heritage and operates globally. To learn more about Sygnum, please visit www.sygnum.com.

About Artemundi

Artemundi is an industry-leading art investment firm with decades of experience, thousands of successful deals and over $1 billion managed in art. Many people know the art, but our unique expertise is based on a deep understanding of the financial behavior of the underlying asset. Artemundi has taken traditional art collecting and investing to a whole new level without the excessive fees associated with traditional dealers and auctions while paving the way for transparent business practices. The company has a proven track record of expertly managing art funds and other services, as well as adopting pioneering technologies to create new investment opportunities through blockchain and securing art .

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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