Masterworks.io

Cy Twombly, ‘Untitled’, 1969. Purchased in 1994 for $244,500 and sold in 2015 for $4,421,000, resulting in an 18.1x return. ------ Although seemingly divided, the composition is united by the rhythmically looping gray lines across the surface of both sheets of paper. Their horizontal rows clip and collide into each other while staying distinct, like sentences written across a page.... The top portion of the sheet is folded over, leaving a slim horizontal border. This delineation was a metaphorical device that Twombly used to suggest the relationship between higher and lower realms; between heaven and earth, or sea and sky. #art #alternativeinvestments

Philip Guston, ‘Summer Kitchen Still Life’, 1978-79. Purchased in 1991 for $187,000 and sold in 2017 for $6,612,500, resulting in a 35.4x return for the seller. ------ This work is brimming with autobiographical components - the half eaten sandwich, heap of cigarette butts, an open book, all bring personal elements to the historically rigid and staged world of still life painting.... Guston adopted his own distinct brand of painting by merging elements of figuration with abstraction. By the end of his career, when this piece was created, he had honed in on his practice of placing his innermost emotions on the canvas. #art #alternativeinvestments

Lucio Fontana, ‘Concetto Spaziale, Attese’, 1967. Purchased in 1999 for $234,524 and sold in 2015 for $5,149,806, resulting in a 22.0x return for the seller. ------ Stretching up and down this canvas are three nearly parallel slashes. The monochromatic red base lends these cuts a sinister edge, reminiscent of the slasher horror films that were gaining popularity during this era. ... The slits that Fontana utilized can be viewed as anti-brushstrokes, subtractions from the canvas rather than additions. Lucio Fontana, one of the most iconic artists of the Italian post-war period, is the father of Spatialism, an Italian art movement that aimed to bring art off the canvas and into the third dimension. #art #alternativeinvestments

René Magritte, ‘L'Appel Des Cimes’, 1948. Purchased in 1985 for $61,600 and sold in 2015 for $1,690,000, resulting in a 27.4x return for the seller. ------ This "picture within a picture" challenges our perception of reality, quite literally blending the edges of where the real world ends and the artwork begins. This fits squarely into the artist’s canon of displaying everyday images in an unexpected manner. ... Magritte’s work masterfully creates a dreamlike state - being engrossed in a world with the sense that something just isn’t right. If you look carefully, you’ll notice an eagle’s head among the jagged mountain peaks, entirely unexpected but an oddly fitting element within this landscape. #art #alternativeinvestments

Alexander Calder, ‘Model for Rosenhof’, 1952. Purchased in 1993 for $178,500 and sold in 2012 for $3,218,500, resulting in an 18.0x return. ------ The base of this sculpture, ominous in its craggy treachery, yields to a white, airy construction above, as though there are clouds floating gracefully atop a mountainous peak. ... This arrangement of spheres is capricious in its organization - at any moment, a slight breeze or push of the hand drives them into revolution and oscillation. Calder’s sculptures are not contained in their compositional materials or representational elements, but are lent a freedom to express themselves. Calder made art a symbiotic process, in which the participation of the viewer could bring art to life. The present work shows us this dynamic in its most graceful form. #art #alternativeinvestments

Kazimir Malevich, Self-Portrait, 1909-10. Purchased in 2004 for 162,050 ($297,815) and sold in 2015 for 5,749,000 ($8,697,662), resulting in a return of 35x for the seller. --- Self-Portrait is one of three depictions of himself that the artist created at the end of the first decade of the twentieth century. Inspired by the bold Fauvists, most notably Henri Matisse, Malevich’s work of this time displays rich hues that evoke intensity and embolden the composition. Also inf...luenced by Russian folk painting, this early period soon gave way to Cubist inspired works, and finally his mature abstract methodology of ‘Suprematism’. This work was originally a part of the famed collection of Mr. & Mrs. George Costakis, known today as one of the major collectors of Russian avant garde artworks. Many of their works now reside in The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #kazimirmalevich

Roy Lichtenstein, Woman II, 1982. Purchased in 2001 for $457,000 and sold in 2013 for $3,707,750, resulting in a return of 8.1x for the seller. --- By 1982, Lichtenstein had already achieved international renown as a leading member of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. The artist focused on large works of public art and installations, as well as paintings that portrayed the aesthetic of Abstract Expressionism, seen through his unique lens of Ben Day dots. Woman II is part o...f a small series of works created in the same year that evoke the female figurations of Willem de Kooning’s famed series from the early 1950s. Also part of this series, Woman IV (image 2), a slightly smaller and further extended variation of the featured work, sold at auction in 2018 for $2.4m. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #roylichtenstein

Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1950. Purchased for $429,000 in 1992 and sold in 2014 for $12,205,000, resulting in a return of 28x for the seller. --- 1950 was a pivotal moment for Mark Rothko, who had just started explorations into Color Field Painting, an evocative movement that would add another dimension to the post-war artistic landscape and become inspiration for generations to come. Untitled from 1950, is a brilliant vermillion with a golden section towards the top of the w...ork and extends a monumental grandness although it is only 33 in. by 30 in. in scale. Also painted in 1950, is the artist’s masterpiece White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), which is an astounding presence at nearly seven feet tall by five feet wide, and sold at auction in 2007 for over $72.8m. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #markrothko

Auguste Rodin, Baiser, 1890. Purchased in 2000 for $2,756,000 and sold in 2018 for 12,608,750 ($16,659,941), resulting in a return of 6x for the seller. --- Known by its full title, Baiser, moyen modèle dit "Taille de la Porte" - modèle avec base simplifiée, which translates to Kiss, medium model called "Door Size" - model with simplified base, was conceived in 1885 as part of the artist’s masterpiece La Porte de l'Enfer (The Gates of Hell) and cast shortly thereafter.... The work depicts an intimate embrace between two ill-fated lovers from Dante’s acclaimed The Divine Comedy. The romantic entwinement achieved renown independent of the masterpiece ensemble, which was commissioned by the French government in 1880. This particular cast was gifted to a close family friend of the artist, Dr. Paul Vivier, whose expertise nourished the artist’s companion, Rose Beuret, back to health after she had suffered a heart attack earlier that year. With Rose’s recovery, the famed sculptor bestowed Baiser upon the healer, as an avid sign of gratitude. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #augusterodin

Keith Haring, Untitled, 1985. Purchased in 2010 for $1,082,500 and sold in 2014 for $3,749,000, resulting in a return of 3.4x for the seller. --- At nine and half by nearly twelve feet, Keith Haring’s Untitled embodies the artist’s signature bold lines and graphic presentation, featuring a central figure pulled in four directions. The red ‘X’ appears in other works of this year that illustrate the artist’s activism against the South African apartheid. Haring’s large scale ...canvases from this time period are only one part of the artist’s legacy, which includes a number of murals throughout the world, on nearly every continent. Shortly after completing this work, the artist collaborated with 1,000 New York schoolchildren to create CityKids Speak on Liberty (1986), a ninety by thirty foot banner in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The banner remains the artist’s largest work ever created, and was sold privately to benefit The CityKids Foundation in 2017. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #keithharing

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1992. Purchased in 2005 for $1,248,000 and sold in 2010 for $11,282,500, resulting in a return of 9x for the seller, with an annual appreciation of 49.2%. --- By 1992, Gerhard Richter had already achieved international acclaim, after his early works during the ‘60s and early ‘70s prompted his inclusion in the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of 1972. Abstraktes Bild, numbered 780-4, demonstrates the artist’s mastery of the addition an...d subtraction of paint, and retains the heightened key of a wide spectrum of colors and paint application. Exhibited in New York City alongside other canvases from the early ‘90s at Marian Goodman Gallery in the fall of 1993, the featured canvas is akin to Abstraktes Bild (774-4) (image 2), which was exhibited just before the autumn solo. Slightly smaller than the number 780-4, this piece is another brilliant abstraction from the series and sold for $16.9m in 2014. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #gerhardrichter

Jeff Koons, Flowers, 1986. Purchased in 2009 for 337,250 ($554,844) and sold in 2015 for 785,000 ($1,197,282), resulting in a return of 2.3x for the seller. --- In 1986, Jeff Koons’ work was featured at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York as part of ‘Neo-Geo’, a group show of four artists that focused on the images of objects, rather than directly interacting with the object in their work. Shortly after, Koons produced his famed ‘Banality’ series which drew international atte...ntion. Flowers is an understated precursor to this major body of work, and is part of the artist’s Statuary series. One of Koons’ most famous masterpieces to date, Rabbit (image 2, 1986) also stems from this body of work. The polished stainless steel sculpture sold last May for a record of $91m, claiming the title of ‘most expensive price realized at auction’ for a living artist. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #jeffkoons

Henri Matisse, Odalisque au Fauteuil Noir, 1942. Purchased in 2004 for 6,613,250 ($12,047,358) and sold in 2015 for 15,829,000 ($23,947,694), resulting in a return of 2.3x for the seller. Painted at the start of 1942 in Nice at his studios in the Hôtel Régina, Odalisque au Fauteuil Noir (Odalisque with Black Armchair) is a romantically detailed portrait of Nézy-Hamidé Chawkat, a descendant of the Abdul Hamid, the last Sultan of Turkey. Reminiscent of 19th century Orient...alism, the work positions the sitter among an array of soft patterns, eminent in the fabric, foliage and wallpaper. The Odalisque was a favorite subject of the Post-Impressionist, and preceded the cut-out and outlined aesthetic that Matisse developed later in his career. Also favored by collectors, the Odalisque couchèe aux magnolias (Odalisque lying with magnolias) (image 2, 1923) remains the top auction record for the artist, since it sold in 2018 for over $80.7m. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #henrimatisse

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Purchased in 1997 for $195,000 and sold in 2017 for $8,647,500, resulting in a return of 44x for the seller with an annual appreciation of 21.5%. Marking the start of the artist’s mature period and international fame, 1982 was a pivotal moment for Basquiat. Exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles and Europe debuted the artist’s unique and raw urban aesthetic, contributing to an ongoing success and popularity that would become legendary. U...ntitled is one of many portraits that envision a central figure in the artist’s own brand of personal symbolism, interpreted by critics to represent a hero, martyr, monument and the artist himself, simultaneously. Record-breaking prices for the artist are often seen among paintings of this year. Another Untitled (image 2, 1982), sold at auction in 2013 for $29.2m, and Untitled (image 3, 1982) eclipsed over $110m in 2017 and remains the top auction record for the artist. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #jean-michelbasquiat

Paul Gauguin, Cavalier devant la Case, 1902. Purchased in 1998 for 969,500 ($1,617,417) and sold in 2007 for $4,856,000, resulting in a return of 3x for the seller. Cavalier devant la Case (Rider in Front of the Hut) was painted by the voyaging Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin towards the end of his life, after he had settled on the remote island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. The featured work depicts life in the small village Atuona, and is one... of a number of paintings by the artist that feature the motif of the rider. Le Cheval blanc (The White Horse) (image 2) is a celebrated example of the subject, painted in 1898, just before the artist’s relocation in 1901, and is presently in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Featuring the rider in the distance, Te Bourao II (image 3, 1897) is also among the last works the artist created in Tahiti, and sold at auction in Paris last year for 9.5m ($10.5m). #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #paulgauguin

Sigmar Polke, Menschen Wie Du + Ich (People Like You + I), 1988. Purchased in 2004 for $477,900 and sold in 2013 for 1,655,250 ($2,591,128), resulting in a return of 5.4x for the seller. Politically charged through the idyllic consumerist imagery frequently referenced in the Pop Art movement, Sigmar Polke’s Menschen Wie Du + Ich (People Like You + I) intimates at aspirations of a near unified Germany. Painted shortly before the Berlin Wall was razed after marking the di...vide for almost thirty years, Polke’s featured work imagines a fashionable and hardworking society, with time for family and leisure. By this point in the post-war artist’s late career, Sigmar Polke had already achieved international renown, and claimed the prestigious Golden Lion at the 42nd Venice Biennale in 1986. Nackte (Nude) (image 2) depicts another canvas created in 1988, which was also exhibited in the artist’s major solo exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris of the same year. This piece sold at auction in 2007 for 748,000 ($1,494,130), achieving 2.1x its pre-sale mid-estimate of 350k ($699k). #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #sigmarpolke

Christopher Wool, One Year No Halloween, 2004. Purchased in 2010 for $602,500 and sold in 2013 for $2,105,000, resulting in a return of 3.4x for the seller. Towering at a height of nine and a half feet, One Year No Halloween belongs to the artist’s experimentation with digital media, subtraction and erasure following his use of enamel to boldly depict messages like FOOL (1990), and most famously SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE CAR SELL THE KIDS (1988), which earned the artist... renown in the late ‘80s. His later Gray Paintings are perceived to create psychological drama and doubt, and reflect nature in their compositional chaos. Created only a few years after the featured work, Untitled (image 2, 2007), utilizes similar subtractive principles in the artist’s signature medium of enamel. Over ten and a half feet tall, the work sold at auction in 2018 for 10.4m ($14.4m), achieving 2x its pre-sale mid-estimate of 5.2m. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #christopherwool

John Chamberlain, Mr. Moto, 1963. Purchased in 2009 for 529,250 ($875,009) and sold in 2014 for $2,165,000, resulting in a return of 2.4x for the seller. Two years before the featured sculpture Mr. Moto (image 2 alternate view) was welded together out of painted automobile parts, John Chamberlain’s work was featured alongside that of Alberto Burri, Louise Nevelson, Arman, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and others in the 1961 Museum of Modern Art exhibition The Art of Assembla...ge. This invitation came swiftly after the artist’s first sculpture utilizing car scraps as raw material in 1959. While appearing massive given the boldness of the material, the work is only just under 30 inches in height, and has been exhibited throughout the decades since its creation. Most recently, the piece was included in the extensive survey of the artist’s work in 2012, John Chamberlain: Choices, which traveled between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. #artfinance #artinvesting #invest #investing #investment #alternativeinvestments #money #business #investor #entrepreneur #property #finance #trading #wealth #financialfreedom #luxury #art #artist #artoninstagram #johnchamberlain