DAKAR, May 20 (Xinhua) The 14th Dakar Biennale of African Contemporary Art kicked off Thursday in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, with China invited to partic
April 20, 2021
Sotheby’s recently concluded its bi-annual Modern & Contemporary African Art auction, exceeding the lower end of its pre-sale estimate by over 40% to net £2.7 million ($3.7 million). Participants hailed from 34 countries, with over a third of buyers transacting with Sotheby’s for the first time, making the auction houses’ third online-only auction of contemporary African art a major success.
The category was created by Sotheby’s only four years ago to champion the work of African artists. Since then, it has achieved over 80 record-breaking sales, underscoring the rising global interest in this category. According to Sotheby’s estimates, on average around a third of bidders since the launch have originated from Africa, North America, and Europe, with 10% from LatAm and Asia. Yet around 70% of the sales between this period were African collectors.