Aharef

One of the most frequent comments about onethousandpaintings.com that I read was: "Why haven't I thought about that!" I had excactly the same reaction when I learned about Australian artist Anthony White's artwork "The money series".

Although there is some conceptual overlap between the two projects (i.e. the numbers), they are very different ideas in many regards. In onethousandpaintings, all numbers are for sale immediately, all numbers look alike, the price depends on the number of paintings sold, and the range of numbers is limited. In contrast, each painting of the money series is unique in style (different colors, different fonts), the price is what the painting depicts, the range of numbers potentially unlimited. But what I find extremely cool about the money series is something else: The number x is only for sale after x-1 has been sold.

Anthony started with 1$, painted it, and sold it for exactly that price (bad deal for him initially ;-). When 1$ was sold, he painted 2$, and sold it for 2$. When 2$ was sold, he painted 3$, and sold it for 3$. And so on. Up do date, Anthony has 3 currency series (Australian Dollar, US Dollar, and English Pound). He is just about to start a Euro series. The US Dollar is currently at 54, the English Pound at 56, and the Australian Dollar at 131. Some of the single digit paintings trade for 500 AU $ now.

I like the idea and the paintings so much that I couldn't resist buying. I just bought 55 pounds, and reserved 75 US $. I have also written about Anthony and his paintings on the onethousandpaintings.com site. Check it out, it's fantastic stuff.

(Links: the money series on onethousandpaintings.com, anthonywhite.net and an interview with Antony on the art news blog)