You may have seen art exhibits featuring some of the best visual arts by well-known and some richest painters. People flock to buy their favorite artists’ artwork.
Some of the paintings were auctioned for more than $100 million. So, if you are an exceptional painter, there is little doubt that you could become a millionaire.
The following is a list of the top ten richest painters globally, as measured by their net worth.
1. John Currin: Estimated Net worth $1.43 Billion
John was born in the United States of America in the year 1962 in Boulder, Colorado. He is the richest painter in the world.
Furthermore, as a teenager in Connecticut, he studied painting privately with Lev Meshberg, a prominent and historically educated Russian artist from Odesa, Ukraine.
In 1984, he acquired a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and in 1986, he received an MFA from Yale University. Honeymoon Nude, Nude on a Table, and Stamford after Brunch are three of his most well-known pieces.
John began to extract art from typically clichéd subjects when he displayed a series of portraits of teenage girls culled from images in a high school yearbook at White Columns in New York City in 1989.
2. Edward Ruscha: Estimated Net Worth $1.2 Billion
Ed was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on December 16, 1937. Edward Ruscha is a Pop Artist who lives and works in New York City. And also one of the richest painters in the world
However, His work is a representation of iconic Southern California. He has approximately 50 paintings that have sold for over a million dollars. And one for $6 million with a bit of leftover.
In addition, His work encapsulates the essence of iconic Southern California. He has about 50 paintings in his collection that have sold for more than a million dollars. One sold for $6 million with some money left over.
In addition, for many years, Ed’s work and life were enjoyed as a celebrity. Ed created and printed the iconic sign of Hollywood and the 20th-century fox logo in the 60s.
Last year Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world. Bought ed’s hurting the world #2 for $52.5 million.
3. Damien Hirst: Estimated Net Worth $700 Million
Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol, England, and has always excelled in the arts. He studied fine arts at Goldsmiths, University of London, and arranged a student exhibition in the city.
In addition, Hirst’s work was shown in various art shows throughout the city after he graduated. During the 1990s, he became well-known.
Furthermore, Damien Hirst is one of the most commercially successful painters of all time, best known for his installation art, which frequently conveys death imagery.
He created history in 2008 when he bypassed the gallery system entirely and auctioned off his art at Sotheby’s, where it went for a record $198 million.
Typically, in 2008, he made waves when he sold out his art display, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, entirely through auction rather than through galleries.
It brought in an estimated 198 million dollars, smashing previous auction records for the most revenues by a single artist.
4. Amish Kapoor: Net Worth $700 Million
Kapoor traveled to London in 1973 to study art at Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design after being born in Mumbai, India, in 1954. He is one of the richest painters in the world
Since then, he’s remained in London, built a successful career with projects including Cloud Gate, Sky Mirror, Kensington Gardens, Temenos, Leviathan, and ArcelorMittal Orbit.
Furthermore, He’s won various awards throughout the years, including the Premio Duemila Prize, the Turner Prize, the Unilever Commission for the Turbine Hall at London’s Tate Modern, and a knighthood.
5. Jeff Koons: Estimated Net Worth $400 Million
Jeff Koons is an American artist who is best known for works like Bouquet of Tulips and Banality. He is 65 years old. And also, one of the richest painters in the world.
Moreover, Jeff Koons attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the Art Institute of Chicago. He is well known for the Balloon Dog (Orange) artwork, which sold for $58.4 million at auction.
In addition, He has won several honors, including the Medal of Arts from the United States State Department in 2013 and the Wollaston Award from the Royal Academy of Arts in 2008.
6. Jasper John: Estimated Net Worth $300 Million
Johns was born on May 15, 1930, in Augusta, Georgia. He is most known for his work in painting and printmaking, which he contributed to the Abstract Expressionist, Neo-Dada, and Pop Art movements.
Flags, Numbers, Maps, and Stenciled Words are some of his most well-known pieces.
Furthermore, before being deployed to Sendai, Japan, during the Korean War in 1953, he studied at the University of South Carolina and Parsons School of Design.
After returning to New York in 1954, he met his long-time companion, Robert Rauschenberg.
In New York City, Johns co-founded the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, popularly known as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, with fellow gay friends and composer john cage.
Additionally, He’s worked in painting, printmaking, and sculpture and has collaborated on multi-media projects with choreographers Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Elaine de Kooning, and David Hayes.
Johns’ work is housed in the National Gallery of Art, which has the most extensive collection of his work.
7. David Choe: Estimated Net Worth: $300 Million
At 44 years old, David Choe is one of the youngest artists on the list of richest painters. A Korean-American graphic novelist noted for his murals of American figures surrounded by fierce, raw street patterns.
In his self-described “dirty style,” his painted figures explore regions of degradation, yearning, and affection.
However, Choe made the prudent request to be paid in Facebook stock rather than cash when Mark Zuckerberg asked him to paint some murals in 2007.
Choe received a vast fortune when Facebook went public in 2012.
8. Andrew Vicari: Estimated Net Worth $210 Million
Andrew Vicari was born in Port Talbot, Wales, on April 20, 1938. He studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London, taught by Lucian Freud.
In Saudi Arabia, he is recognized for painting portraits of the Royal Family. Vicari sold Prince Khaled 125 paintings from the First Gulf War for £17 million in 2001.
In addition, In France, he has created a thriving business painting portraits of the country’s renowned and wealthy. Vicari was named the richest living painter in Britain in 2004 despite his lack of fame in his nation.
Furthermore, Andrew Vicari is currently based at his studio outside of Nice, France, where he works and lives. He also owns properties in Riyadh and Monte Carlo.
9. David Hockney: Estimated Net Worth $150 Million
He was the fourth of five children, born on July 9, 1937. Hockney was born with synesthesia, which causes him to see synesthetic colors in response to musical stimuli.
In addition, He attended the Royal College of Art in London and was part of the “Young Contemporaries” exhibition, which heralded the entrance of British Pop art.
Furthermore, David Hockney has a net worth of $150 million and is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer.
However, after one of his paintings sold for $90.3 million in November 2018, Hockney became the world’s most expensive living artist.
Another of his works sold for $28.5 million earlier this year. Over the years, Hockney has garnered numerous prizes and honors for his art.
He was offered a knighthood in 1990, but he declined. In 1988, he received The Royal Photographic Society’s, Progress Medal.
In 2003, he received The Royal Photographic Society’s Special 150th Anniversary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in appreciation of a sustained, substantial contribution to the art of photography.
Additionally, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II inducted him into the Order of Merit, limited to only 24 members.
10. Takashi Murakami: Estimated Net Worth $92 Million
Takashi Murakami used the phrase “super flat” to define the aesthetic aspects of Japanese artistic traditions and postwar Japanese culture and society. And one of the richest painters in the world.
His paintings are inspired by Japanese culture, and while he has worked in flat image, illustration, and animation, his fashion collaborations have garnered the most attention. However, when he worked with Louis Vuitton on a project.
Takashi Murakami has become a household name. He also designed Kanye West’s album cover, and the world is enamored with his style.
At Art Basel, one of his painted sculptures sold for more than $2 million.
11. Bridget Riley: Estimated Net Worth $85 Million
He was born in England on April 24, 1931. Op (optical illusion) artist who created a reputation for herself in the United Kingdom. In 1967, she completed her first stripe paintings.
In addition, “No painter, dead or alive, has ever made us more aware of our eyes than Bridget Riley,” art critic Robert Melville reportedly said about Bridget Riley.
It’s a fantastic description of her spectacular Op-art paintings, which have sold for millions of dollars.
However, her crisp, repeated lines catch your eye like a Magic Eye picture and then pull you in. Untitled (Diagonal Curve), a work she created in 1966, sold for $5.7 million at Christie’s London.
But this isn’t her first high-roller price tag; two of her pieces have already sold for more than $5 million at auction. That’s how the world’s wealthiest artists operate.
12. Antony Gormley: Estimated Net Worth $50 Million
Antony Gormley is a sculptor from the United Kingdom. The Angel of the North, a public sculpture in Gateshead, England, commissioned in 1994 and installed in February 1998, is one of his most well-known works.
Gormley was voted number four on The Daily Telegraph’s list of the “100 most powerful individuals in British culture” in 2008.
However, Gormley was ranked the fourth most influential person in British culture by The Daily Telegraph in 2008, at the height of his stardom.
The Turner Prize, numerous honorary doctorates and fellowships, the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for the set design for “Babel,” an OBE, and a knighthood have all been bestowed upon him.
Moreover, according to Wikipedia, his auction record is £3,401,250 for a maquette of the Angel of the North. His current net worth is estimated to be over $50 million.
13. Banksy: Estimated Net Worth $50 Million
Banksy has never been identified himself. And it is thought that his unwillingness to do so began as a means of evading prosecution for vandalism.
Banksy is also one of the richest painters today. However, Banksy doesn’t require an introduction, which is odd given that no one knows who he is.
On the other hand, Banksy has progressed from being a stencil street artist to selling works for millions of dollars at major auction houses.
In addition, His humorous impressionist piece “Show me the Monet,” finished in 2005, sold for approximately $10 million at Sotheby’s.
Another piece, “Devolved Parliament,” sold for $12 million in London in 2019. And his graffiti-style piece “Forgive Us Our Trespassing” sold for $8.3 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
14. Gerhard Richter: Estimated Net Worth $40 Million
Richter’s art is inspired by the works of Pablo Picasso and Jean Arp, and his creativity knows no bounds; a single medium is not his home.
Furthermore, He paints in abstract and photorealism styles is an expert photographer, and has even done glass sculpture, all in the same current manner. He is well recognized for his textured multi-colored abstract oil on canvas paintings.
However, Gerhard Richter’s 1987 abstract painting Abstraktes Bild sold for $27.6 million via live stream in October 2020, making him the most expensive Western artist to sell at an Asian auction.
This wasn’t his first significant sale; in 2011, a painting he completed in 1997 sold for $20.8 million.
15. Chuck Close: Estimated Net worth $25 million
Chuck Close is a well-known portrait artist who works on a large scale. His art is distinctive in that he creates these large works despite using a wheelchair since 1988.
This hasn’t stopped his paintings from becoming some of the most sought-after in the world.
In addition, Originally, Chuck Close was known for his photo-realistic hyper-realism paintings. He has adjusted his style since his paralysis, but his creativity has not decreased. Chuck is also on the list of richest painters in the world
Furthermore, He paints on large canvasses one square at a time with a brush tied to his wrist, creating wonderfully detailed portraits utilizing a low-resolution grid of squares.
However, Close and other artists sued the New York auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s in 2011 for royalty fraud. A bold step that may push him to start selling on Etsy soon.
