Is Contemporary African Art Ready to Jump?

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Jan 13th 2010 at 7:01AM

The first decade of the new millennium was the domain of Latin America, Asia, Turkey and Russia. A robust art market emerged in the Middle East, which brought with it plenty of interest in the region's artist. But, what about Africa? The continent has been underrepresented in galleries and at auction, but it looks like collectors eager to try something new may be developing an appetite for African art.

The region's offering is both large and incredibly diversified, according to a report by Artprice, and over the past 20 years, several African artists have been able to garner some attention at international art fairs and major exhibitions. Pieces have been featured sporadically, with a show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1989 and anther two years later at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The Africa Remix exhibition toured from 2004 to 2007 ... and that's about it.

There's been a bit more action in the auction market, with Sotheby's becoming the first major house to sell contemporary African art in June 1999, when it sent the Jean Pigozzi collection under the gavel in London. It generated less than $16,000 but still set a record. Since then, Sotheby's hasn't dedicated any London or New York sales to African art (aside from its work with South African auctioneer, Stephan Welz & Co). Bonhams has taken more of an interest in the category, holding an African art sale back in April and moving 64 percent of the lots offered.

And, there's plenty of potential. The Artprice index for contemporary African art gained 370 percent from January 2002 to January 2007, and it's only fallen 25 percent since then. South African Marlène Dumas and Ethiopian Julie Mehretu have found their way onto collectors' radars, with Dumas' "Jule, die Vrou" selling for $5.5 million and quintupling the presale estimate at Christie's in 2004. Last February, another piece by this artist, "The Teacher (sub a)" sold for nearly $3 million. Mehretu's "Dervish" fetched $330,000 in June 2009, and "Transients" brought in $314,000 -- despite the global art market slump.

The market for contemporary African art is still small, but there's obviously plenty of potential. Even as the art market hints at a recovery, collectors will probably look for something new, especially with memories of European and Latin American price drops still fresh in their minds.

[Photo by magnafica via Flickr]

Tags: africa, art, art auction, art auctions, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, artist, Artists, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction house, auction houses, AuctionHouse, AuctionHouses, auctions, bonhams, BonhamsAuction, Christies, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, sothebys, south africa, SouthAfrica

Filed under: Auctions, Art

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Edie Jan 13th 2010 7:26PM

There has always been a market for ancient and contemporary(West and Southern) African art, and the collectors tend to see the aesthetic as fitting the Modern art movement. The real question is will the luxury market create marquee names and desire for specific types of African art?