Edmund Chen sells NFT painting for $53k

Local actor Edmund Chen has stepped into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The 61-year-old auctioned off an NFT painting for 15 Ether on Feb 22 — worth $53,237.10 on the day of the auction — Shin Min Daily News reported.

The painting, titled Spring — Cherish the Moment, is part of a series of blockchain paintings conceived by Edmund himself called Eternal Collections.

According to the Chinese daily, Edmund has three other NFT artworks that are in production. They are named after the remaining seasons — Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Using an artwork he did in 2013 — also titled Cherish the Moment — that made him a Guinness World Record holder as a "blueprint", Edmund came up with the idea for the four blockchain paintings.

"Once the four paintings of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are complete, they will form a long painting which has a high collection potential and value and will be a rare set of NFTs," he said.

According to Edmund, Spring alone took two months to complete. 

He said: "Because it is a blockchain, I tried to draw it on a tablet. It took a long time because I was not familiar with the tablet's drawing programme. Fortunately, my son (Chen Xi) was instructing me, but it still took about two months to revise until I was satisfied."

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Spring was sold in a private auction on Feb 22 to an entrepreneur identified as Queenie Yang.

In an Instagram post on Feb 28, Edmund said his NFT "aims to create a platform for artists and modernising the preservation of traditional art".

When asked how he was going to use the money, Edmund told the Chinese daily: "This is a very encouraging start and the money will be fully invested into upcoming development work and the platform."

bryanlim@asiaone.com