On July 26, generative art pioneer Vera Molnár released an NFT collection called “Themes and Variations” in collaboration with Martin Grasser, the creator of Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo, on Sotheby’s Metaverse digital art platform.

Originally minted at 1.23 ETH ($2,300), the project has taken off on secondary markets with numerous sales on OpenSea at 10 ETH ($18,750) and the highest sale recorded at 17.99 ETH ($33,700). The collection’s floor price sits at around 5 ETH.

The project’s momentum suggests that despite a widespread downturn, some bright spots could be emerging in the NFT market.

The collection of 500 NFTs features generative art with geometric imagery featuring either an N, F, or T, in a nod to the three letters symbolizing the tech trend that altered the perception of computer-generated art.

Generative Art Pioneer

With an art career that began in 1942 at the Budapest College of Fine Arts, Molnár gained widespread recognition with her continued in-depth exploration of the dynamic relationships between form and geometry with hand-drawn algorithmically generated patterns in her 1960s collection “Machine Imaginaire,” or imaginary computer. Her work is considered to be foundational to the world of algorithmic art.

Molnár's “Themes and Variants” collection represents an ongoing interpretation of the letters and inadvertent shapes that they create as a result of transcending beyond the intrinsic purpose of their fundamental forms.

NFT Market Malaise Continues

Although Molnár’s collection has amassed roughly $1.8M of volume in just a few days, elsewhere in the ecosystem, many projects considered to be blue-chip NFTs continue their downward trajectories.

Yuga Labs’ popular Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is now trading around 5.7 ETH, down from an average price of 18.6 ETH this January, OpenSea data shows.

Likewise, the original Bored Apes dipped below 40 ETH this month, a more than 50% drop since the year began.

The popular pastel-colored Doodles project on Ethereum has cratered from around 7.5 ETH in January to a floor price of 1.76 ETH today.

Meanwhile, Azuki saw a precipitous drop in July, down from 15 ETH at the beginning of the month to around 5 ETH, after the launch of its Azuki Elementals collection fell short of community expectations in terms of art and execution.