If you want to learn about the origins of the Crypto Art movement, look no further than The Blockchain Art Directory. Essential reading is compiled by Fanny Lakoubay of LAL ART.
Essential Reading
'What is Crypto Art' by Jason Bailey from Artnome: https://www.artnome.com/news/2018/1/14/what-is-cryptoart
'The History of Crypto Art' by Martin Lukas Ostachowski: https://ostachowski.com/about/what-is-crypto-art/history-of-crypto-art/
A conversation on the History of CryptoArt between Jason Bailey, Martin Lukas Ostachowski and Micol: https://verticalcrypto.art/a-conversation-on-the-history-of-cryptoart-between-jason-bailey-artnome-martin-lukas-ostachowski-mlodotart-and-micol-verticalcrypto
Andrew Steinwold: 'The History of NFTs' (very thorough research as most people start the history of Crypto Art with Rare Pepe: https://medium.com/@Andrew.Steinwold/the-history-of-non-fungible-tokens-nfts-f362ca57ae10
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Additional Reading
'The History of NFT Decoded': https://jingculturecommerce.com/decoded-nft-art-world/
A recent thread on NFTs: https://twitter.com/landforce/status/1365502258985762819?s=21
The $140,000 cryptokitty: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/cryptokitty-auction.html
The real CryptoPunks story: https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks?utm_source=nonfungible
'The Defiant Guide to Digital Art and NFTs' (back in November 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqveU599ojg
A comparison of different times in art history (to take with a grain of salt but interesting comparisons): https://felipether.medium.com/️-ethereums-artistic-renaissance-77de62df1a69