Kanye West’s early artwork now valued at millions: Watch

An art collector claims early artwork by Kanye West could now be worth millions.

Entrepreneur Vinoda Basnayake bought a set of West’s teenage drawings after they appeared on the TV show Antiques Roadshow in 2021. At the time, the pieces were valued between $16,000 and $23,000.

Basnayake now says the collection is worth around $3.1 million after a new evaluation in late 2025, Page Six reported.

The collection includes five drawings and paintings that West made as a student in Chicago in the 1990s. One piece, a drawing of his late mother, Donda West, is now said to be worth about $335,000.

Basnayake has not shared how much he originally paid for the artwork. Basnayake claimed that the earlier TV valuation was too low because it treated the pieces as typical “celebrity art.” 

The appraiser said the TV valuation “materially missed the bigger picture because they approached the work as typical celebrity art, which on its own doesn’t usually command major value,” Basnayake added.

The newer appraisal now looks at the work as part of West’s early creative journey. 

“The pieces should instead be contextualized as the opening chapter in the creative journey of Kanye West, someone who went on to become one of the best-selling producers, musical artists, and fashion designers of an entire generation,” per the USPAP’s appraiser.