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Own (part of) an Andy Wharhol for twenty dollars

Brad Trevenen, Arts & Entertainment Editor

9-3-2018

In June of this year, Claude Monet’s “Coup de Vent” was purchased for $6.3 million. Now valued at $8.5 million, this appreciation rate is not typical, but it is indicative of the fine art market’s financial stability. And shortly, pending approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the ability to invest in fine works of art will be available to the public for as little as $20.

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The company responsible for this service is called Masterworks, founded by Scott Lynn (38), who’s been investing in works of art since he was 19. Founded in 2017, Masterworks is employing a blockchain which will represent individual investment with Ethereum tokens, with the eventual hope of allowing investors to sell and trade their tokens with others, providing more financial flexibility. Otherwise, paintings are sold through majority-wins voting, but no single individual may own more than 10% of a work of art, to limit voter affluence.

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Masterworks is not the first company to attempt this concept, companies like Maecenas and Feral Horses offer similar services. The latter gives artists partial ownership as their work trades owners, functioning like a royalty fee. The former is identical to Masterworks, but with a much steeper cost of entry. Both, however, take care of everything – transport, bidding, storage, acquisition – and Masterworks specifically nests profit in the final 10% of their bidding price; they also receive a 20% commission when the work is sold.

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Scott Lynn says that Masterworks’ is mainly marketed to millennials, and with enough involvement, works of art worth millions will easily find investments. The first two paintings that will be available for investment will be Andy Wharhol’s “1 Colored Marilyn (Reversal Series),” and Claude Monet’s “Coup de Vent.” Shares can be reserved now for Wharhol’s painting at Masterworks.io.

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