Top Four German Contemporary Artists in 2019

Kunstpompass 2018

The Kunstkompass is an annual ranking of the world’s most famous artists. According to the Kunstkompass 2018, the following four German artists are amongst the current top ten most famous contemporary artists worldwide.

Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter was born in 1932 in Dresden. The painter, sculptor and photographer is one of the most important contemporary artists worldwide. His painting Abstraktes Bild 599 from 1986 ( = abstract painting 599) is the highest sold painting by a living European artist. It got sold for $46.306.800 at Sotheby’s London in 2015.

Georg Baselitz

Georg Baselitz was born in 1938 in Kamenz. The painter, graphic artist and sculptor is especially known for his neo-Expressionist paintings. His main topics destruction and World War II strongly influenced him in his artwork. One of his guiding principles is to disturb conventional perceptions with his art – for example since 1969, his paintings show everything upside down.

Rosemarie Trockel

Rosemarie Trockel was born in 1952 in Schwerte and is a Conceptual artist from Germany. She studied at Kölner Werkschulen with Werner Schriefers as her teacher. Her artwork especially gained much positive attention in the US. One of her main concepts as an artist is the woman as a topic of art. Rosemarie Trockel is also a lecturer at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer was born in 1945 in Donaueschingen. He is considered one of the most famous and successful German artists after World War II. His art is influenced by German history (especially the time during World War II) as well as mysticism and literature.

Featured image (cropped): Gerhard Richter – Lothar Wolleh Wikimedia – CC BY-SA 3.0