Masterworks

Masterworks is the only scaled route to contemporary-art exposure: over $1B in art, fractional shares of Basquiat and Picasso under Reg A. Access changed in 2026: Masterworks is now referral-only, and every candidacy begins with the sponsorship of a current member, confirmed on masterworks.com September 25, 2026. The fee stack, not the canvas, decides your return: a 1.5% annual management fee (paid via Management Fee Shares), 20% of the profit on sale (Class B shares), and a one-time 10% expense allocation embedded in the offering price at each work's initial Reg A offering, per Masterworks' SEC Form 1-A/A offering circular filed May 6, 2026. Shares are priced at $20 each. Masterworks does not publish a fixed minimum on its site; there are no membership dues, and fees apply at the offering level. Platform-reported results, per masterworks.com checked September 25, 2026: 530+ works acquired, 32 sold, with $77M+ distributed to investors including original capital, and net annualized returns on sold works of 16.5%, 17.6% and 17.8%; unsold inventory still dominates. Target holds are 3 to 10 years, with a thin internal secondary market that opens 90 days after an offering closes. Founded in 2017 with no enforcement actions. Persistent critic concerns: markups at acquisition, fee drag, and selection bias in reported results (sold works are not a random sample). You cannot force a sale, and art pricing is opaque and cyclical.