SG MAG APR 2018 MAIN7

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporaryart-market-report-2017
Veteran NYC art dealer William Acquavella often told his clients, “You can remake your
money, but you can’t remake the painting, meaning: you can earn the cost back, but if you
miss the opportunity to buy the work when it is available, it is likely gone forever”.
The spectacular auction price of Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) on 18 May 2017 illustrates the enormous
financial potential of Contemporary Art. Untitled was acquired on May 8, 1984 for $20,900 and 33
years later it fetched $110.5 million. The initial investment yielded an average annual growth rate
of +29.6% for a third of a century, whereas the S&P 500 posted only +6.5% annual growth.
This magazine deals with Jack Armstrong the founder of Cosmic X art form and we believe that his
paintings now appraised in the low millions are set for a meteoric rise this year because of their
scarcity and the expected media blitz. Featured on the front cover are Armstrong’s boots. “Van
Gogh painted pictures of Boots, but did not paint on his own boots. These pristine 1968 Tony Lama
Boots, purchased at Sears, in 1968 by my father, and were only worn a few times by him, and once
by me.“ Shame his uncle, astronaut Neil Armstrong, didn’t borrow them to take the first step for
mankind on the moon! The price tag of $6M may be cheap for an artist who produced only 100
paintings and vowed never to paint another canvas. These boots whilst useless to walk on the
moon will make you unique on earth. These boots are really meant for “talking” not walking!
Armstrong’s fame spread worldwide with the launch of his Cosmic Harley Davidson in 2010 with a
reported sale of over $3M and now offered at $12M by it’s current owner. It is still being written
about today. He launched his ARTbike at Dubai’s Big Boys Toys in 2014 with a price tag of $3M and
created great concern from exhibitors such as Mercedes Benz, as he attracted a major share of the
publicity from both TV and Press. Armstrong returned to his home in Mexico where and has not
been seen in public since. Serious illness prevented him from appearing at a Court Hearing in
California to answer a rape allegation which he vehemently denied and which experts in law have
decried as a setup. All sorts of rumors abound as to his whereabouts and there have even been
reports of his death. However his “boots” are alive and well! Given the price of his cosmic
paintings and with savvy collectors such as Alice Walton, the Walmart Billionaire, and world class
architect Narenda Patel, I’m sure many people would like to be in his financial boots.
About half of his art pieces are in private hands and with the contemporary art market red hot and
no eager sellers, the value of his Cosmic X art will explode on the first public sale announcement.
Prices of $20M upwards could be achieved in the next few years because of the scarcity factor. You
may want to buy someone a unique present or just add a hedge to your portfolio!
Only 100 people in the world can ever own an Armstrong painting!
STAR GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL INC.
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