On September 1, 2025, Frankfurt-based artist Mike Kuhlmann launched a remarkable 30-day art cycle on the digital platform vigee.art. Titled “The Vigée Letters – We Are to Love, We Are to Share”, the project is a fusion of visual art, literature, and social responsibility – an invitation to experience creativity as a force for both beauty and good.
A Dialogue Across Centuries
Each day for 30 days, Kuhlmann unveils a new artwork, accompanied by a letter addressed to Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, the celebrated 18th-century French portraitist and namesake of the platform. These letters are not mere footnotes – they are literary reflections on love, sharing, humanity, and the role of art. Together, the works and letters form an intergenerational conversation, culminating in the recurring message:
“We are to love – we are to share.”
Art That Gives Back
vigee.art, founded by a few visionaries, is built on a simple but powerful idea: every artwork should also be a charitable act. Each piece sold carries a Sharetyfee – a built-in donation from the purchase price directly supporting a social cause.
For Kuhlmann’s cycle, the model looks like this:
- 30 days – 30 works – 30 letters
- Limited to 5 editions per work
- €99 per edition
- 50% Sharetyfee donated to the Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation in support of a school agriculture project in Hawzien, Ethiopia
In this way, every collector becomes part of a shared gesture – art that is not only collected but also contributes to rebuilding lives.
The First Work: propheten – we are to love
The opening piece, “propheten – we are to love”, captures the innocence of childhood as a symbol of love’s transformative power. “Love is the fundamental energy of life. People live to love – and they survive through love,” Kuhlmann writes in his first letter to Vigée.
It sets the tone for the cycle: visual beauty intertwined with philosophical depth and grounded in real-world impact.
A Total Artwork: Image, Word, and Deed
With The Vigée Letters, Kuhlmann has created more than a series of artworks – it is a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total artwork that operates on multiple levels:
- Visual: paintings that move the eye and heart
- Literary: letters that enrich with reflection and dialogue
- Practical: charitable contributions that bring tangible help
Built with transparency and authenticity, vigee.art uses blockchain technology to ensure each edition is secure, limited, and verifiable. The platform is accessible to anyone who believes art should also be an act of giving.
A New Model of Digital Culture
For Kuhlmann, art achieves its highest purpose when it does good. As he explains:
“Art is completed when it does good. With The Vigée Letters, I want to show that painting, words, and sharing belong together. Each work is a sign – and together they are a gift: to Vigée, to art, to the world.”
Through this cycle, Kuhlmann and vigee.art set a new standard for digital culture: art as a transparent, secure, and socially meaningful act.