10 Most Expensive Pieces Of African Art That Have Ever Been Sold

'Senufo Female Statue' The Senufo Female Statue, carved by an artist known as the Master of Sikasso, is a Cote d’Ivoiran rare piece that sold for a record $12 million last November. It was owned by Myron Kunin, an African art collector who sold $41.6 million worth of his collection at Sotheby’s in New York. 'The Teacher' This portrait taken from a class picture from Marlene Dumas’ childhood in South Africa sold for $3.3 million in 2005. It is a provocative piece by the 60-year-old inspired by the politics of her apartheid upbringing. 'Construction of the Suez Canal' One of the most important works in the Egyptian modern art movement, Construction of the Suez Canal is considered a masterpiece. It is a watercolor and gouache piece created by Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar in 1965. It sold for $1 million at a Christie’s auction in Dubai in 2014. 'Bahora Girl' South African artist Irma Stern painted this gem that sold for $3.59 million at Bonhams auction house in London in 2010. The painting is from Stern’s time in Zanzibar, where she said she was influenced by the beauty of the local Indian women. This was one of many of her pricey pieces inspired by these travels. In 2011, Stern’s painting, Two Arabs, was the highest price ever for a painting sold in South Africa, for $1.8 million. In 2012, another of her paintings of a distinguished Omani Arab man, titled Arab, sold for $1.46 million. 'Fang Ngil Mask' A celebrated 19th century mask by the Gabonese Fang people garnered more than $7.5 million at auction in Paris in 2006. The Ngil masks (sometimes referred to as the gorilla mask) were worn by men of the same name during the initiation of new members and the persecution of wrong-doers. The mask, which is said to have inspired artist Pablo Picasso, brought in four times its estimated price of $1.9 million. 'Fang Mabea' Statue In 2014, a unique Fang Mabea statue, which was owned by Felix Feneon and Jacques Kerchache -- two important collectors and critics who sought greater recognition of African art in Europe — and was produced in Cameroon in the early 19th century, became one of the most valuable pieces of ethnographic art ever sold, at $5.17 million. 'Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation' This painting by Ethiopia-born Julie Mehretu, an artist best known for her densely layered abstract painting, sold for $4.6 million at Christie’s New York in 2013. Despite spending most of her life in the U.S., Mehretu has maintained her ties with Africa, including a year of college at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. 'Les Chadoufs' Les Chadoufs sold for $2 million in 2010. It is a painting by Mahmoud Said and serves as a powerful metaphor for an Egyptian Renaissance. 'Reliquaire Nkundu' In 2012, a Jean Willy Mestach wooden African sculpture from the northwest Mbandaka region of the Democratic Republic of Congo sold for $3.5 million at the Christie’s auction house in Paris. 'Self-Portrait' Preeminent modernist painter Gerard Sekoto is recognized as the pioneer of Black South African art. His most famous work, Self-Portrait, sold for $178,676 at an auction at Bonhams in London in May 2006. The amount does not match other sale prices, but Sekoto is the best-performing Black South African artist in auction sales. 'New World Map' Tapestry In 2012, Bonhams achieved a world record for the Ghanaian artist, El Anatsui, when a huge woven tapestry of flattened bottle caps, titled New World Map, sold for $850,544 in London. One of the world’s foremost contemporary artists, Anatsui’s work draws on African cultures and is particularly concerned with the erosion of inherited traditions by external forces.

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