Artworks created by Kanye West at 17 shown for the first time

Last Monday, an episode of the Antiques Roadshow aired in the United States, a reality show in which experts evaluate local antiques around America, where a distant relative of Kanye West showed off his artistic work for the first time. that the rapper and designer created during high school, at Polaris Charter Academy in Chicago, at the age of 17. Art expert Laura Wolley examined them by estimating the value of the collection at between 16,000 and 23,000 USD.

Kanye is more prepared for art than you might think: his school curriculum includes experiences at Hyde Park Academy, Chicago State University, Nanjing University in China and the Art Institute of Chicago, where, among other things, West has received an honorary doctorate in 2015. Laura Wolley, in commenting on the proceedings said:

“It's an interesting thing when you look at art that is done by a celebrity. Because a good portion of the value of that artwork can actually depend upon something I call 'the enduring legacy' of the celebrity. So we see the values rise and fall with the popularity of the celebrity... To have early pieces like this from someone who really will be an important cultural figure of our time, I think is really fantastic.”.

Among the other curiosities shown during the episode of Antiques Roadshow, a flyer, probably written by Kanye himself, appeared, retracing his artistic education on the occasion of his first exhibition in high school. The prices of the works indicated in the flyer were between 12 and 30 euros, now those same works are worth up to 8000 euros per piece.