Inspired by insights from Artprice, we have gathered a list of the most successful African artists as of today. What emerges from this list is that mobility seems to be a key success factor. Indeed, the majority of well-represented artists live outside Africa, which improves their chances of success at auction or contest.

Julie Mehretu

Nationality: Ethiopia
Occupation: Painter
Most Expensive Artwork: Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation, ink and acrylic on canvas, painted in 2001, sold for $4.6 million on May 2013, Christie’s New York 

Julie Mehretu, 1970 born in Addis Ababa, grew up in Michigan, studied in Dakar and Rhode Island, and then finally settled in New York. Her work feature large-scale paintings built-up through layers of images, marks, and media. In 2003, she sold Ringside – a large drawing for the equivalent of $74,000. In 2010, she crossed the million-dollar threshold for the first time by selling The Seven Acts of Mercy for $2 million. Since then, she repeated this performance four times at different auctions.       

William Kentridge

Nationality: South Africa
Occupation: Painter, Videographer
Most Expensive Artwork: Procession, Installation of 25 bronze sculptures, created between 1999 and 2000, sold for $1.5 million on March 2013, Sotheby’s New York.  

William Kentridge is born in 1955 in Johannesburg, where he lives and works as a videographer. In 1989, he created his first animation with a technique which is viewed as his signature ever since: a succession of charcoal drawings on the same sheet of paper. In 2011, he sold Preparing the Flute – a mock-up of a proscenium theatre in which extracts from Mozart’s Magic flute are dotted with animated sequences for nearly $500,000. Since 2010, Kentridge’s artworks value is growing on the art market, with one third of sales achieved in South Africa.        

Marlene Dumas

Nationality: South Africa 
Occupation: Painter
Most Expensive Artwork: The Visitor, oil on canvas, painted in 1995, sold for $6.3 million on July 2008, Sotheby’s London.

Marlene Dumas, 1953 born in Cape Town, lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She explores both the physical and psychological values of the human figure as a means to question today’s ideas of racial, sexual and social identity. In 1994, she made her first foray into auction with a painting – The Girl can’t help it sold for $2,500 in Amsterdam. In 1999, she crossed the $20,000 barrier and the price of her works started to rise accordingly. In 2003, she broke the $100,000 threshold three times, before reaching a total of $2.3 million two years later. Since then, nine new million-dollar sales have been posted and her record now stands at $6.3 million.            

Chéri Samba

Nationality: Congo-Kinshasa 
Occupation: Painter
Most Expensive Artwork: J’aime la couleur, acrylic and glitter on canvas, painted in 2007, sold for $98,500 in May 2010, Phillips New York.

Born in 1956, Cheri Samba lives and works between Kinshasa and Paris. He developed an art style based on cartoons and often underlines his pictures with concise texts dealing with social issues. During the last decade, two major exhibitions helped further his ranking and notoriety: 100% Africa in Bilbao (2006) and Think with the Senses Feel with the Mind in Venice (2007). These events led to a first major sale at New York in 2008 followed by a record two years later still in New York.  

El Anatsui

Nationality: Ghana  
Occupation: Sculptor
Most Expensive Artwork: Paths to the Okro Farm, aluminium and copper wire, created in 2006, sold for $1.4 million in May 2014, Sotheby’s New York.

El Anatsui is born in 1944, and has lived and worked in Nigeria for nearly 30 years. He builds sculptures and installations which use wood, clay, ceramics, and recycled objects in an adaptation of the traditional weaving technique. He has participated in several international exhibitions that helped to highlight his artworks to a large audience. Recently, he made a breakthrough at auctions when one of his sculptures Paths to the Okro Farm crossed the million-dollar threshold. He has also seen success locally, in Lagos, by selling some sculptures around $50,000 each.    

Sources: Contemporary Art Market 2014, Artprice Annual Report, Artprice.com