The Startup Bringing The Art Market to Everyday Investors
This piece was written by the Cracked Shop to tell you about products that are being sold there.
Have you ever wanted your very own Picasso or Basquiat? Of course, you have -- everyone wants that. But investing in art is for people who belong to country clubs and say things like “chap” and “indubitably,” right? Right?
Well, not anymore. The startup Masterworks is giving everyone the chance to take advantage of contemporary art as an investment opportunity alongside famous collectors like Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey. Masterworks is the first and only platform dedicated to democratizing the art market, allowing you to add blue-chip art to your portfolio. No, that’s not collages of fancy tortilla chips -- blue-chip art is that which was created by the most renowned and widely recognized artists, whose position in the auction market has been solidified by exceptional sales volumes over the course of decades. You know, the big bois.
Researchers at Masterworks found that since 2000, the top of the art market has shown price appreciation at an average annual rate of 8.9%, while the stock market has lagged behind it significantly, growing at a rate of 3.4% in the same time period. In other words, contemporary art prices outpaced stocks nearly threefold. Plus, art has very low correlation with the S&P 500, arguably making it a less volatile investment on average than, say, bitcoin or NFTs. From 1995 to 2020, contemporary art has seen losses over three-year investment horizons only 4% of the time. You’ve taken bigger risks at frat parties.
If you’re convinced, let Masterworks save you time by conducting the intensive research required to understand demand in the art market. Their revolutionary platform and expert data team take the work out finding blue-chip artists for you so you can invest in paintings by iconic artists like Warhol, Picasso, and Monet without stepping foot in a stuffy auction house.
Masterworks has a track record that speaks for itself. In October 2020, Masterworks successfully sold Banksy’s Mona Lisa for $1.5 million, resulting in an internal rate of return of 32% (net of all costs and fees) over one year. After the successful sale of Banksy, Masterworks went on to sell George Condo’s Staring into Space in December 2021 for $2.9 million, resulting in a 31.7% IRR (net of all costs and fees) for investors.
Just because you’re so special, Cracked readers can enjoy priority access to their latest offerings and start building a portfolio of blue-chip artwork. Join over 300,000 Masterworks members investing in contemporary art.
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