You Can Buy Shares of This Pablo Picasso Painting From a Series With Strong Historical Appreciation

Investing in artwork may not yet be as mainstream as stocks or real estate, but it’s an asset class that’s certainly gaining popularity with the rising interest in alternative investments.

According to Citi’s Global Art Market Report, contemporary art prices appreciated 14% annually from 1995 to 2020, outpacing the 9.5% average return from the S&P 500.

The online investment platform Masterworks is making this once exclusive asset class available to retail investors by securitizing select pieces of contemporary art and offering shares at $20 each.

Picasso Offering: One of the most recent offerings on the platform is Pablo Picasso’s Homme Assis (1969). This was one of the artist’s last paintings and is from his “Musketeers” series.

Other works from this series have commanded astounding prices at auction, including Mousquetaire à la pipe (1969), which sold for $30,965,000 in 2013, Homme à l'épée (1969) which sold for $22,565,000 in 2015 and Le Matador (1970) which sold for $22,781,992 in 2018.

Paintings similar to Picasso’s Homme Assis (1969) have appreciated at an annual rate of 12%, giving many investors reason to believe that this piece will return similar results.

Learn more about Masterworks and the platform's current offerings.

Pablo Picasso’s Sales Volume: Picasso is likely the most recognized artist of his era and frequently leads the art market in annual auction sales volumes. Between 2012 and 2020, he has ranked as either the first or second highest selling artist at auction by value.

Works by the artist sold for over $740 million at auction in 2018 alone, and Picasso works reportedly achieved in excess of $350 million in global auction sales in the first half of 2021.

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