Collector who says he burned Frida Kahlo Work for NFT during investigation

by James · October 21, 2022

In late July, crypto businessman Martín Mobarak hosted a flamboyant event at his Miami home — complete with flamethrowers and posing models — where he burned a purportedly authentic Frida Kahlo drawing into a martini glass while a mariachi band played in the background. He then announced his plans to sell the work in the form of 10,000 NFTs. Now Mexico’s main cultural authority, the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), is investigating the incident.

In a statement shared with Hyperallergic, INBAL suggested that Mobarak may have violated federal law by destroying the work. The organization also stated that the collector did not seek the necessary permission to reproduce the drawing, and questioned its authenticity.

In the video of the stunt, Mobarak is handed a black bag that apparently contains Frida Kahlo’s “Fantasmones Siniestros” from 1944, a double-page drawing from one of the artist’s diaries. Mobarak unscrews the work from its frame, puts it in a martini glass and burns it while the ashes fall on dry ice. The camera pans away from the spectators as a crowd cheers.

“History was made,” Mobarak said in a statement sent to Hyperallergic. “I did this profound act so that children and the less fortunate around the world would have hope,” he added, explaining that his 11-year-old daughter has Crouzon syndrome. The project’s website, where Mobarak is selling the digital tokens for 3 ETH (around $1,350 for each NFT, and $13.5 million if he sells them all), explains that “part of the proceeds” will support the Autism Society, Children’s Craniofacial Association, Fundación Origen (an organization that helps women who have experienced violence), and Mexico City’s Frida Kahlo Museum and Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas.

Mobarak also promised revenue to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, which INBAL stated they do not have and will not accept. INBAL also stated that if the work is real, Mobarak’s action violated federal law: Frida Kahlo’s oeuvre has been designated a “national monument” since 1984, and its destruction is therefore illegal. In addition, the Bank of Mexico, as trustee for the estate of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, owns the reproduction rights to Kahlo’s work, but according to INBAL, Mobarak did not secure permission to reproduce the drawing.

When asked if he sought permission to make NFTs of “Fantasmones Siniestros,” Mobarak simply said, “I own the painting … By burning it, I immortalize [it.]” A statement about the project’s the website similarly avoids acknowledging that the work was destroyed, cryptically declaring that it was “permanently transferred to the Metaverse on July 30, 2022.”

James Oles, a professor and curator of Latin American art at Wellesley College near Boston, told Hyperallergic in an interview that Mexico’s enforcement of both copyright infringement and laws protecting the destruction of national monuments is limited, and that he doubted U.S. authorities would intervene.

Whether the drawing is really by Kahlo is also under investigation by INBAL. Mobarak claims that he bought the work in 2015 from a private collector. On the day he burned it, Mobarak obtained a certificate of authentication from a small gallery owner in Mexico City named Andrés Siegel. The certificate lists the drawing’s exhibition history, claiming it was displayed at institutions including Atlanta’s High Museum and the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City. (The High Museum confirmed in an email to Hyperallergic that it displayed the work in 2013, and the Nelson Atkins Museum said it received the work that year as part of a traveling exhibition but did not hang it.)

James Oles told Hyperallergic that “no one could tell from the video” whether the drawing was real or not.

Mary-Anne Martin, an established dealer who sold the drawing in 2004 and again in 2013, said VICE that she had never heard of Mobarak and called the situation “scary”. Martin has not responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.

Oles explained that the proliferation of fakes plagues Kahlo’s legacy. He added that while he can’t say for sure, when he saw the video of the drawing engulfed in flames, he thought the paper looked too sharp to have been 80 years old.

Oles also pointed out that if Mobarak actually owns the original but burns a fake – and even if he succeeds in making millions from the NFTs – the value of the original will be unaffected.

“It’s a brilliant idea,” Oles said. “The only proof would be to find the real thing one day. Or there is no evidence.”