‘This Is a New Renaissance:’ Why the Pseudonymous Digital Art Collector Cozomo de’ Medici Just Gave a Major NFT Collection to LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has just announced a major donation, courtesy of one Cozomo de’ Medici, an anonymous NFT collector. The museum touts the gift of 22 digital artworks by 13 international artists, almost half of whom are women, as the first donation of a collection of NFTs to a U.S. museum.

“This is a good step to bridge the worlds of digital art and contemporary art,” Cozomo de’ Medici told Artnet News on a Zoom call with the video off. “I firmly believe that they both can benefit from each other.”

“There are other donors who have seeded different parts of the museum, with gifts of ceramics, tapestries, Asian art, Islamic art—all these these great collections at LACMA have begun with with single large donations,” de’ Medici said, referring to figures like William Randolph Hearst, the greatest individual donor in the institution’s history. “The big hope here is that a well-rounded seed collection of digital art will inspire other collectors to to follow.”