San Francisco MoMA collects its first NFT

San Francisco’s MoMA has acquired its first NFT, a work entitled “ Final Transformation #2” by artist Lynn Hershman Leeson.

THE NFT WORK ACQUIRED IN THE COLLECTION

The final work Transformation #2 is a clip from Leeson’s 1997 film “ Conceiving Ada,” starring actress Tilda Swinton as mathematician Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program in the 19th century.

One of the two existing editions of the work was donated to SFMOMA by Altman Siegel Gallery and Lynn Hershman Leeson to be auctioned at the museum in 2022 as part of the Art Bash Auction, an annual auction that raises funds for community education and outreach.

THE NEW ACQUISITIONS OF THE MOMA MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco’s MoMA new acquisitions policy has seen as many as 62 new works of art enter the collection, including historic pieces by artists such as Wayne Thiebaud and Cindy Sherman. As many as 18 works from the new acquisitions concern unpublished artists, including the NFT Final Transformation #2 by Lynn Hershman Leeson.

THE STATEMENT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM

Christopher Bedford, Director of MoMA San Francisco said: “These recent acquisitions represent an incredible range of artistic vision and capture SFMOMA’s commitment to collecting works by artists from around the world. I am grateful to the SFMOMA curatorial team for their vision and ongoing dedication to expanding the voices and narratives represented in our collection.”

NFTs IN ITALIAN MUSEUMS

In Italy, there is still a long way to go in the acquisition of NFT works of art. We will have to wait for 2026 to see the birth of the already announced National Digital Art Museum of Milan, which already has its director identified in the figure of Ilaria Bonacossa, who has been working tirelessly for over a year to build solid foundations for the museum.