Inspired by some of the greatest artists from the past, from Diego Velázquez to Pablo Picasso, George Condo (b. 1957) is one of the foremost contemporary artists of his generation.
Condo’s immediately recognisable style and recent market rise has made his work a popular art investment.
Born in New Hampshire in 1957, Condo was a casual artist and musician in a band called The Girls, until he met Jean-Michel Basquiat, who convinced him to move to New York and pursue a career as an artist. In his early years in New York, Condo worked in Andy Warhol’s studio, the Factory, and became close with some of the most exciting artists of the day, like Keith Haring.
Early in his career, he worked in a style he coined “artificial realism”, which combined techniques, subjects, and styles from art history’s most celebrated artists. Condo would later change his style to what he would describe as “psychological cubism”, which take the form of multi-layered paintings that explore the complexities of the human psyche.
Whilst Condo has been an active artist for nearly forty years, it’s only more recently that his market has significantly grown; it wasn’t until 2012 that one of his works hammered down above the $1 million mark at auction.
To some degree, this can be seen as a result of celebrity marketing: Condo’s controversial design for Kanye West’s 2010 album cover, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, propelled him into the public consciousness, seeing a wider interest develop in investing in George Condo. Around a similar time, he had his first truly major exhibition at New York’s New Museum in 2011, which would later travel Rotterdam, London, and Frankfurt over the following year. His rising profile in both the art and wider cultural world, saw Condo become an artist to invest in over the coming years.
Yet, it wasn’t until around 2018 that Condo’ prices would really begin to take off. On the primary market, his newer style – the “psychological cubism”, which combined both drawing and painting within one artwork – were hugely popular among collectors looking to invest in Condo, but extremely difficult to get access to. So, as demand outweighed supply, when they did arrive on the secondary market at auction, the prices exploded.
Condo’s auction record now stands at $6.85 million, and with his paintings regularly appearing at major auctions and exceeding $2 million, he is firmly a blue-chip artist. His recent velocity is demonstrated by six of his top ten records having been set since 2020. Meanwhile, all ten can be classified as examples of his Drawing Paintings – technical paintings that embody his idea of psychological cubism. This shows that when it comes to investing in Condo, certain paintings are more in demand than others, but with the right painting, it can be an excellent art investment.
Mintus is delighted to offer an original Warhol painting as an art investment offering on its platform. Sign up and create a free account here to view our Condo.
Get StartedRegister as an investor now to explore our art investment opportunities.
We answer some of your common questions here.
We welcome any owner who wants to unlock liquidity from their collections to contact our Fine Art Team. This includes individual investors, galleries, institutions, and artists. Please reach out if you're interested in listing your artwork on the Mintus platform.
All artwork offered by Mintus is stored in climate-controlled, specialist art storage facilities, under a Mintus account. Current paintings are held in a facility in Delaware.
Artwork is acquired through our unique relationships with the world’s most renowned collectors and galleries. Our Fine Art Team marries their own expertise with insights from fellow industry experts to identify one-of-a-kind investment opportunities from established artists with high-growth potential. Our team examines metrics such as the artist’s market track record, recent price velocity and momentum, and the size of their international collector base when making investment decisions.
If you need support you can send an email to support@mintus.com or schedule a call using the links on each page of our website. If you need to make a complaint you can write to complaints@mintus.com. A description of our complaints policy is set out in the Investment Terms & Conditions for each investment.
Mintus Trading Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom under firm reference number 942522. For more details on our regulatory permissions please see the Financial Services Register.
For more information on risks, see the Memorandum for the relevant artwork and the important disclosures.
Mintus does not sell NFTs. NFTs are digital assets. Mintus enables qualifying investors to participate in the art market by purchasing interests in high value, physical artworks. Mintus’ platform facilitates investment in real, iconic artworks created by established artists.
Mintus is planning to in the future introduce a Secondary Market for investors in permitted locations, which will facilitate selling of shares to buyers, dependant on demand. Further details, including the timing relating to launching any such Secondary Market, will be notified to customers in due course.
According to the regulations, certain investments can only be made available to investors who fall within these categories and Mintus must also follow appropriateness requirements when registering investors.
Fees are dependent on the specific artwork and the specific structure of the investment opportunity. Fees are clearly shown in advance for each artwork / investment opportunity, as displayed in the Memorandum that relates to the artwork / investment opportunity; this document is available to download from the profile of each artwork under the Opportunities section.
Both individual investors and institutions can invest in artworks. Individual investors will need to declare themselves to be ‘high net worth individuals’, ‘sophisticated investors’ or 'qualified investors' during the account creation process. Individual investors will also need to pass an appropriateness assessment. Professional investors including wealth managers, private banks and family offices should contact our team for more information on investing as an entity or managing multiple client accounts on the platform.
For the opportunities listed, a minimum investment of $3,000 is required however investments can be for any amount above this and generally range from $15,000 to $100,000. International payments are accepted.
Funds can be sent from any denomination into our USD bank account. We will show you the estimated cost in your chosen currency during the investment process, however, this may change at the point of transfer and does not account for fees charged by your bank. When transferring, your bank may show an estimated conversion; alternatively, the funds can be sent in your local currency and converted at the point of receipt. Other transfer services such as Wise display exact fee and currency conversion rates to ensure you're sending the subscribed amount.
Mintus does not provide tax advice. We recommend that investors obtain their own tax advice as every person has specific tax circumstances. Generally, income and profits generated from your investment can be subject to either income tax or capital gains tax (depending on the individual investor and the specific structure of the investment). Artworks are not income-generating during the period they’re held. If you are unsure about your tax or other legal requirements, please speak to a professional advisor.
Not directly. In order to take an investment from one artwork to another, shares would need to be sold to a willing buyer on the future Mintus Secondary Market and then proceeds reinvested on the platform. The Secondary Market will only be available in permitted locations.
Typically, valuations occur at the end of June and December, with reports distributed to investors as soon as possible thereafter.
All actions in relation to the asset are at the discretion of Mintus. Mintus will communicate with investors on a six-monthly basis with an update on the net asset value, and any further news will be communicated on an ad-hoc basis.
Distributable profits will be made available to investors as soon as possible, once all sale-related administration is complete.
Profits will be received into your Mintus wallet, with the option to withdraw the profits into a bank account or reinvest on the Mintus platform.
Please fill out the form below to get in touch with us, and we'll contact you as soon as possible.