Art pieces created by Kanye West when he was a high school student have been bought by entrepreneur Vinoda Basnayake, Page Six reported. Basnayake reportedly bought West’s drawings after seeing the pieces on an episode of PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow.”
“Kanye’s cousin owned the trove, which was created by Kanye during his days as a student at Polaris School [in Chicago],” Page Six quoted a source as saying. The source did not reveal how much the paintings cost but the collections originally appraised on the PBS show were valued at between 16,000 and $23,000.
The drawings, reportedly first created in 1995 when West was 17 years old, include works he did in graphite, gouache on board, and scratchboard. “By age 17, he’s already been studying at these extraordinary artistic institutions,” the Antiques Roadshow appraiser Laura Woolley said, according to Page Six.
Kanye West attended the Hyde Park Art Academy, Art Institute of Chicago, Nanjing University in China and the Polaris School for Individual Education.
West’s wife Kim Kardashian, it will be recalled, posted on Instagram reminding her followers how good her husband was when it comes to artwork after some fans expressed doubt over the authenticity of a painting she claims was done by their seven-year-old daughter North. The post came with DNA emojis, insinuating that painting runs in the blood.
According to the Independent, the man who first brought West’s artwork to the Antiques Roadshow said he’s married to West’s first cousin, who received the artwork after West’s mother died in 2007. The portfolio is dated circa 1995, the year West turned 18, the report added.
