Millionaire under investigation for burning Frida Kahlo art in NFT stunt

At the end of July, art collector and crypto millionaire Martin Mobarak invited a select few to his mansion in Miami. His party celebrated the launch of its ‘exclusive NFT collection’ in such a provocative manner that Mexican authorities are now investigating the matter.

Mobarak’s project Frida.NFT plans to stamp 10,000 digital copies of Fantasmones Siniestros (Sinister Ghosts), a colorful artwork drawn by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in 1944. The millionaire claims to own the original, which he displayed at his event. It was placed on a martini glass filled with dry ice and fuel – and then immediately set on fire.

Now, the artwork has “transitioned into the metaverse,” Frida.NFT’s website claims. Collectors can purchase a copy of the digital artwork for 3 ether, worth about $4000 at press time.

One percent of all proceeds will reportedly be donated to several charities in Mexico, including the Museo Frida Kahlo, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Autism Society, and the Children’s Craniofacial Association. Mobarak stated that these organizations are close to his heart as the father of a child fighting rare diseases.

“We are going to change the lives of thousands of children,” Mobarak told partygoers before the artwork was burned. “I hope everyone can understand it and I hope everyone can see a positive side to the legacy this is going to leave.”

Mexican authorities are investigating Mobarak for NFT stunt

Fantasmones Siniestros was last valued at over $10 million. Originally, Kahlo gave the double-sided drawing to the Venezuelan art critic Juan Rohl. It came into the possession of a New York gallery, was sold in 2004 to the Vergel Foundation, and then to a private collector in 2013, Vice reports.

However, art collectors are skeptical about the burnt artwork’s provenance. The crypto millionaire claims that he bought the work in 2015 from the gallery in New York, called Mary-Anne Martin Fine Art. Only, Martin says she had never heard of him before last week. “The whole thing is scary,” she told Vice.

The viral video of Mubarak destroying the artwork made its way to Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature. On Monday, it announced it had opened an investigation as the country’s leading cultural authority into the destruction.

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“In Mexico, the deliberate destruction of an artistic monument constitutes a crime under the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments and Zones,” it said.

The institute is currently determining the provenance of Mubarak’s drawing, which Frida.NFT claims was verified by Mexican art dealer Andres Siegel on the day it went missing. The authentication certificate says the burned work matches Kahlo’s style and materials used: “This work on paper corresponds to a page torn from Frida Kahlo’s diary (1944-1945).”

Mobarak is a Mexican tech entrepreneur who created AGCoin, a cryptocurrency that claims to be backed by silver. Mobarak calls himself an “art alchemist who transforms physical art into digital gold.” The Florida businessman says he plans to burn other works of art from his private collection and stamp them as NFTs.

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