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Marvel’s latest fine art collection features an audacious series of one-of-one works that unite handcrafted sterling silver sculptures with dynamic, onchain digital artworks. Monumental one-metre sculptures of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Thanos headline the release, each priced at £1.2 million, while smaller works range from £35,000 to £200,000. Sixty characters in total are reimagined; not as memorabilia but as rare works of art.

Following confidential private previews in London and New York, the collection arrived in Dubai on Saturday, 13 December, with a showcase and exhibition that underscores the city’s growing role in the global
art market.

“Dubai is a young city that’s becoming an important art market,” stated Alastair Walker, Chief Creative Officer of London-based Asprey Studio, which crafted the pieces. “It’s mix of tradition and forward-looking energy fits naturally with this project. Collectors here have a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and innovation.”

A 244 year legacy

By any measure, Walker is operating at the edge of contemporary art, with one foot planted firmly in centuries-old British craftsmanship, the other stepping boldly into a future shaped by code, blockchain, and living digital form.

Founded in 2022, Asprey Studio represents a new chapter for the 244-year-old British luxury house Asprey. While the parent brand is synonymous with fine and rare objects, Asprey Studio was conceived to explore the future of art itself, where physical mastery and digital innovation are not in opposition, but in dialogue.

That philosophy finds its expression in the Marvel collaboration. Rooted in Marvel’s comic-book legacy dating back to 1939— from Jeff Koons’s Hulk Elvis to record-breaking auction sales such as the $3.36 million Spider-Man page—the collection speaks directly to collectors of art, comic culture, and singular objects.

Each character exists only once. One sculpture. One digital artwork. No editions. No replicas.

When silver meets code

All works are produced entirely in-house at the 10,000-square-foot Asprey Studio Atelier in Kent, which is a state-of-the-art workshop completed in 2025. Here, master silversmiths, sculptors, and digital animators work side by side, collapsing the usual boundaries between disciplines.

The process begins digitally. Characters are reconstructed as clay-like 3D models, built from early Marvel comic frames. These models are then hand-animated frame by frame, drawing directly from Marvel’s deep archive. Only after the digital form is resolved does the work move into physical space, where it is cast and finished by hand in sterling silver through a meticulous, multi-stage silversmithing process.

Accessed via the Ethereum blockchain, the digital artwork is then designed to be subtly alive. They shift unpredictably over time, ensuring that no two viewings are ever identical.

“It moves very subtly and unpredictably,” explained Walker. The average person spends 27 seconds looking at art, so we wanted the artwork to look slightly different each time you see it.“

There are no shortcuts and no automation masquerading as craft. “The sculptures are handmade,” he added, “and the digital works are also hand-sculpted and animated frame by frame. We want to bring back the time and attention that real craftsmanship requires, both in silver and digitally.”

The artist behind the vision

Born in England and educated at Royal Holloway, University of London, Walker began his career in the film industry before establishing himself as a multidisciplinary artist. Equally fluent in coding-based digital imagery, drawing, painting, and 3D design, his practice reflects a restless curiosity about materials, techniques, and the evolving relationship between technology and human experience.

Rarely seen without a sketchbook, Walker captures ideas daily, many of which formed the earliest seeds of the Marvel collection. “We began by sketching each piece based on the original comic books,” he said. “A lot of those initial drawings made it all the way through to the final works.”

His work has drawn attention on the international stage. Highlights include the sale of the Asprey Bugatti Egg No. 10 at Sotheby’s for $83,000 (far exceeding its high estimate) and Scream at Christie’s New York. He has also led collaborations with the British Museum, including a 2025 project pairing a physical masterpiece with a digital inscription. That same year, he guided Asprey Studio into its first major art fair, Art Basel Miami, through the Zero 10 initiative.

For Walker, Marvel’s characters are not simply pop icons, but rather the mythology of our time.

“Comics are truly an artform,” he said. “Marvel comic-book artists are profoundly inspiring, combining dynamic storytelling, bold visuals, and emotional depth to create a visual language that continues to influence generations.”

Looking ahead

How will these works be seen decades from now? 

“They mark a moment in time,” Walker reflected, “when traditional craftsmanship is becoming rarer and digital art is developing quickly.”

Silversmithing is already on the red heritage list of endangered crafts, with fewer workshops and training pathways, and fewer young makers entering the field. Many of Asprey Studio’s master silversmiths have trained for 30 years or more. At the same time, hand-animated 3D work is being eclipsed by faster, automated methods.

Together, these works may come to represent not just fine art, but cultural artefacts—evidence of a moment when patience, skill, and imagination still defined both the physical and digital hand. 

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