Worldwide art roundup: November 2021

Anonymous student turns portrait of campus head as NFT

Photos of the Rector of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Reini Wirahadikusumah, went viral on social media because they were used as digital assets in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT). There are 2 photos that are sold on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, by a user with the username ITB1920. It is suspected that ITB students took this step as a form of protest because the descriptions for the 2 NFTs are critical of the rector.

“Too Chubby” doll of Princess Elizabeth sold at auction

The Princess Elizabeth doll by German makers Schoenau & Hoffmeister with its original tag has sold at auction for £750. It was a rare doll of the Queen as a toddler that her mother reportedly disapproved of because it made her look “too chubby”. The owner of the doll was Betty Fox, 95, who passed away in 2019. The doll was part of a collection of about 500 dolls that worth between £40,000 and £60,000.

First printing of US Constitution sold at auction

A first printing of the United States Constitution was sold for $43 million at Sotheby’s auction house, a record price for a history document. The copy is one of 13 surviving first copies of the founding document. It was sold by New York philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman. Proceeds from sale will benefit the new owner’s namesake foundation which promotes educational causes related to Constitutional history. A group of crypto investors known as Constitution DAO raised a fund to purchase the copy, but they lost.

Rare Einstein’s manuscript of relativity theory sold at auction

Albert Einstein’s manuscript containing calculations for the relativity theory was sold for €11 million or $13 million through Christie’s auction house in Paris. The sale of the 54-page manuscript made between 1913 and 1914 broke the record for an autographed scientific document. Einstein’s colleague Michele Besso was the one who kept hold of the manuscript. The buyer of the manuscript is not yet revealed.