A major art auction held at the Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi has set new benchmarks for East African art, fetching a total of $356,219 for artworks from various East African countries. The auction, a collaboration between Nairobi-based Circle Art Agency and South African auction house Strauss & Co, sold 90% of the 68 lots on offer. The sale involved modern and contemporary art from Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, and Mozambique.
The star of the auction was a painting by Edward Saidi Tingatinga, the Tanzanian artist whose vibrant style gave rise to the Tingatinga School of Painters. The painting, titled Untitled (Landscape with Lion and Bird), fetched $58,708, four times its highest estimate, and set a new world record for Tingatinga's works at auction. This significant sale highlights the growing demand for East African art.
Sudanese artist Salah Elmur's 2019 painting Untitled (Seated Figure) sold to a telephone bidder for $27,096 after 24 bids. A second work by Elmur, Untitled (Composition with Figures in Blue and Brown), fetched $5,871. Kenyan artist Peterson Kamwathi's monotype diptych The Two Horse Race (2004) also attracted strong bids, selling to a telephone bidder after 31 bids for $16,258.
The auction saw particularly high demand for artists from Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, and Mozambique. Mozambican photographer Mario Macilau's untitled 2013 portrait from his Price of Cement series sold for $9,032 after 18 bids. An untitled oil on paper depicting a herd of elephants by revered Ugandan artist Jak Katarikawe sold for $6,774, more than double the high estimate.
The East African art market has been growing steadily in recent years, as investors and collectors seek alternative asset classes. According to Susie Goodman, Executive Director of Strauss & Co, the sale brought together a wide range of artistic practices and collecting interests. The auction's success demonstrates the increasing popularity of East African art.
Circle Art Agency, founded in 2012, has been working on building an art market in East Africa for both local and international collectors. The challenge, according to founder Danda Jaroljmek, has been bringing in the fragmented bits into a formal art market with a sustainable secondary market. The auction's success is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
The auction's organisers see the demand as telling of not just progress, but the lasting place of art in the world. According to Danda, the auction's success was proof that "when things are hard in the world, we need art." The auction's outcome demonstrates the growing importance of East African art in the global market.
Key points
- East African art market grows with $356,219 Nairobi auction
- Tingatinga's painting sets new world record at $58,708
- Auction demonstrates increasing popularity of East African art
