Ethiopian-American artist Julie Mehretu, has broken the record for the most expensive artwork by an African-born artist to be auctioned. Her painting ‘ Walkers With the Dawn and Morning’ went for $10.7m at a Sotheby’s auction in New York Wednesday evening,
‘Walkers With the Dawn and Morning,’ the title taken from a Langston Hughes poem, is an abstract creation using ink and acrylic on canvas.
Mehretu painted it as part of an exhibition created in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and its impact on the US city of New Orleans.
Mehretu, in fact, held the previous record of $9.3m, which was set last month.
Walkers With the Dawn and Morning combines “all aspects of her inimitable style of mark making, including architectural drawing, brightly coloured vectors, and calligraphic sweeps”, Sotheby’s said.
Mehretu was born in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in 1970, but moved with her family to the US in 1977 at a time of political strife.
She has become one of the most prominent names in the fast-growing contemporary African art world. Earlier this year she was chosen to create BMW’s next Art Car.
The top prices for African artists at auction are generated by women. Two other artists in this top tier are the South African artist Irma Stern and the Nigerian American artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
