Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, best-selling author, longtime spokesperson for Weight Watchers, and self-described global humanitarian, is trying on a new hat: digital art gallery owner.

The Duchess Gallery’s ambitions are grandiose; the details, however, are sketchy. He promises to coin “Cinematic Fine Arts,” a somewhat vague mix of digital art, AI art, animated paintings, special effects, and spoken word poetry. The result, she says, will be a new form of storytelling, one that brings cutting-edge technology to the traditional aesthetic.

Ferguson’s latest business venture comes through a partnership with curated NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, with technical production support provided by BLKPRL Studios and Candy Studios.

The gallery’s first show, “Gateway To The Self,” is a collaboration between the Duchess herself, actor Laurence Fuller, and artists David Cheifetz, Mathijs, Jenni Pasanen, and Tania Rivilis. The news was announced during Miami Art Week 2022 with the launch on December 22.

Cover Art: “Gateway to the Self” Exhibition

“As technology evolves, traditional aesthetics may find new life in this contemporary viral world,” Ferguson said in a statement. “I am delighted to work collaboratively with renowned artists and also highlight emerging artists from around the world to expand my passion for storytelling through art.”

The few aesthetic details provided suggest that the gallery will focus on works that put a contemporary spin on the traditional paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic movements of the 19th century. As inspiration, the press release cites the influence of poets John Keats and Charles Baudelaire on contemporary painters, though it is unclear who exactly today’s poets are in the analogy.

If the work Duchess Gallery hopes to coin and the platform are ill-defined, the gallery’s goals are equally dubious and have a complex savior undertone. “I intend to collaborate with and feature artists from around the world,” Ferguson said. “I am especially interested in highlighting artists from impoverished countries, who otherwise would not have the chance to showcase their talent on a world stage.”

At a time of rising confidence in all things cryptocurrency and with NFT trading dropping 97 percent year-over-year, will the British royals’ entry into the NFT scene provide some timely credibility? Nifty Gateway certainly thinks so.

“Seeing the Duchess of York enter the digital art space is incredible validation for the medium,” Griffin Cock Foster, founder of Nifty Gateway, said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to present this beautiful and exciting collection from the Duchess of York at Nifty Gateway.”

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