The fund, which now holds around $30 million worth of art, aims to acquire artworks with a minimum price of $1 million and a $10 million median price. The restrictions are meant to ensure that the fund is focused on artists whose market’s have longevity. “We believe the art space is also subject to the 80–20 rule, or the Pareto Principle, where only the value of the artists sitting at the tippy-top of the pyramid can stand the test of time,” said Sun in a statement.
Sun’s establishment of the fund and his subsequent art buying spree is part of a larger effort to capitalize on the recent growth of the NFT market. In the days after the announcement, Sun confirmed that the fund purchased a $20 million Picasso painting titled Femme Nue Couchée au Collier (Marie-Thérèse), from 1932, and a $2 million Warhol, Three Self Portraits (1986), at Christie’s in London during their modern and contemporary evening art sale on March 23. This was all announced just after he revealed he was the underbidder on the record-breaking NFT by cult digital artist Beeple, which sold for $69 million in an online sale at Christie’s.
On April 18, Sun announced on social media that he had also purchased a collection of NFT works by Pak during an online auction staged by Nifty Gateway and Sotheby’s. In total, the auction of Pak’s NFTs brought in $17 million. Sun also said he bought Ocean Front, an NFT artwork by Beeple, for $6 million on March 23, and that this piece was the first one to be tokenized by JUST NFT.
