A Parisian street artist is receiving hundreds of dollars every day in bitcoin donations from his painting that speaks about “fiat and money printing.”
Pascal Boyart’s latest mural, “Confessions of a Red Jester”, is a modern interpretation of the 1862 painting “Stańczyk” by Polish romanticist painter Jan Matejko. The original depicts a lonely jester against a lively ball in the background.
Boyart said he has earned about 0.0514 bitcoin (BTC) or around $500 in the five days to July 10. Since 2017, the artist, famed for his practical graffiti frescoes, has received over 1.3 BTC or $12,100 in donations from various artworks. His website also accepts donations in ethereum, litecoin and monero.
The latest piece, which can be seen on Paris’ rue de Montmorency, features a QR code, together with a “spray-painted Bitcoin logo and a wallet address”, allowing for direct BTC donations from admirers.
Boyart’s rendition takes the crypto-angle a step further, with fiat money littering the floor around the solemn jester’s feet.
The French artist’s past work has examined the relationship between art and money. In an interview published on Medium in 2018, Boyart said that digital financial assets represent a type of “freedom that’s reminiscent of the early days of the internet.”
He stated that bitcoin’s decentralization is a “good thing for creativity”, – and, therefore, good as a means for facilitating donations. Boyart said the top cryptocurrency provides a “more direct relation with the people who love art” and “more horizontality in the business of art.”
What do you think about Boyart tying art to bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
