The Top 10 Artists at Auction in 2025 (Overall Sales and Growth)
- Anthony Roberts
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Introduction
Building on our analysis from last year, we revisit the auction market to examine how artists of African descent performed in 2025.
Auction data offers one of the clearest windows into the art market. While it represents only a portion of total sales, it provides valuable signals about pricing benchmarks, demand, and overall market liquidity.
Why Auction Performance Matters
Auction results for individual works establish price benchmarks that help inform the value of comparable pieces by the same artist. In addition, the frequency and total volume of auction sales provide insight into an artist’s market liquidity—how actively their work trades in the secondary market.
What Auction Results Do Not Show
Auction data does not represent the full market for an artist’s work.
Primary market sales through galleries and private secondary transactions are largely opaque and typically excluded from publicly reported figures. In many cases, private sales exceed auction prices, meaning auction results should be viewed as a partial but informative measure of market activity rather than a comprehensive valuation.
Key Highlights from 2025
Jean-Michel Basquiat remained the dominant force in the market, generating $168 million in auction sales, far exceeding any other artist in the category.
Kerry James Marshall and Rashid Johnson moved into the 2 and 3 positions, reflecting continued institutional and collector demand.
Simone Leigh climbed to 4, rebounding after a slower auction year in 2024.
Sam Gilliam rounded out the top five, continuing to demonstrate steady posthumous market strength.
Across the 235 artists included in this analysis, total auction sales for artists of African descent reached $309 million in 2025, down from $332 million in 2024, representing a 7% year-over-year decline.
Despite the overall contraction, several artists saw significant growth.
Michael Armitage and Danielle McKinney recorded the largest sales increases with strong results in 2025, albeit from a relatively low base in 2024.
Noah Davis showed strong momentum, with auction sales growing 11x year-over-year.
Simone Leigh saw nearly 9x growth, reflecting strong demand following her major traveling museum show.
Hervin Anderson rounded out the top five growth stories with 7x growth in 2025.
