by Vanessa Schmitz-Grucker
Though her name only appeared in the auction world three years ago, her record already stands at $833,000 for a 161 x 121 cm/63.4 x 47.6 in drawing, Eastern Entrance, exhibited in 2016 at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. The work was sold at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on April 19, 2021. In 2020, the year the artist won the Jean Prat Prize, she had already caused a sensation at Christie’s New York when a tiny portrait (Untitled, 12.7 x 17.8 cm/5 x 7 in) fetched $77,500 after an estimate of $15,000/20,000. She has also disrupted the art world hierarchy by ranking 550th among the most successful artists with her drawings, without ever working in oils or acrylic.
