You can now pay for a Polestar 1 with artwork

Swedish automaker Polestar for a limited time is offering a unique way to buy one of their performance electric cars, giving buyers the opportunity to pay for the €155,000 ($243,415 AUD) Polestar 1 which is in its final edition by trading in art they already own.

Polestar’s initiative comes off the back of the recent art boom which has seen new ways of trading art, from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to a pair of Kanye West-designed shoes that sold for $1.8 million at a recent auction. Auction prices for classic and contemporary art have also been soaring in post-pandemic times.

Theodor Dalenson, a leading private art advisor who serves as Polestar’s advisor on this initiative says that historically, many significant art transactions have taken place outside of the traditional art market.

“Going back several hundred years in time, art trading mainly took place between artists and patrons. Painters like Picasso were known to trade sketches for restaurant meals. Polestar’s initiative is essentially a very natural extension of the tradition of art being used as payment for precious goods.”

Polestar says that it will consider all forms of art from paintings to sculptures, photography to installations and more. Incoming proposals will be reviewed by Dalenson, and if deemed relevant they will receive a valuation estimate by the two largest auction houses in the world, Sotheby’s and Philips.

Polestar is expected to then onsell the art, either via the auction houses or through dealers that represent the artists. The art for EV scheme runs from 10 June 2021 and will run until 15 August 2021 across Europe and North America.

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