The NFT Louvre Exhibit That Wasn't: Untangling the Public Mess of a Non-Event
Last week, AI artist Claire Silver announced her NFTs would be displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris – which The Louvre denied shortly after. Here's what happened.
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Monday, March 6, Claire Silver, a well-regarded non-fungible token (NFT) artist who uses artificial intelligence (AI) in her work, excitedly announced on Twitter and through an exclusive article in Variety that she would be exhibiting her art at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
According to Variety, her work was going to be presented at the Louvre "courtesy of Superchief Gallery NFT" and would premiere on March 21. The "Superchief-Louvre show," as Variety wrote, would be a showing of her latest collection titled "can i tell you a secret," which would be a series of 100 pieces created with AI.
Silver, whose work has been auctioned off by Sotheby's and displayed in galleries around the world, also shared on Twitter that her one-of-one NFT artwork "Love in the 4th Turning" would be on exhibit at the Louvre.
The news garnered praise and support from artists and collectors across the NFT space, who saw the exhibition as a sign of how digital art is gaining legitimacy in the traditional art world. Other museums, including Paris’ Centre Pompidou, the British Museum and the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) have recently embraced NFT art, so a showing at the Louvre initially seemed plausible.
Yet, Silver's announcement was immediately met with skepticism online from members of the traditional art space – some suggested the exhibition would likely be at the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping mall situated near the Louvre museum, while others cruelly implied that Silver was duped by unrealistic expectations.
On Friday, March 10, the Louvre confirmed that Silver would not be exhibiting there, leading to an outpouring of support for Silver by disappointed NFT enthusiasts left questioning how the embarrassing mixup happened.