kanye west's high school artwork collection appraised at $23,000

a few of kanye west’s high school art portfolio pieces surfaced on the PBS ‘antiques road show’ and was examined by laura woolley, a specialist in pop culture memorabilia. ranging in medium from graphite to gouache and scratchboard, all the artworks were completed in 1995 by west when he was 17. at the end of the evaluation, the collection of five artworks was appraised between approximately $16,000 – $23,000 USD.

all images screenshots from video by PBS antiques roadshow

‘I think these pieces demonstrate an extraordinary facility as an artist, and I selected this grouping because it shows the different mediums [kanye] was working in.’ explained laura woolley. ‘despite the fact that some people might say he’s a controversial figure with his opinions and his career, I don’t think anyone can deny the fact that he has extraordinary talent and I think that in time I would expect these to continue to appreciate.’

by the age of 17, west had already studied art at multiple schools, including the art institute of chicago, chicago state university, nanjing unviersity in china and polaris school. according to an inscription on the memorabilia, west’s black and white prints were sold for $12.00 each or three for $30.00, and colored prints for $15.00 each or $25.00 for two.

portrait drawing in graphite

portait painting in gouache

landscape painting using scratchboard

portrait in graphite

project info:

artist: kanye west

show: PBS antiques roadshow