Gideon Appah
Growth#58
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
7/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
8/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
0/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
1/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Auction History
- Liquidity
- Moderate and increasing. Phillips actively inviting consignments as of 2025.
- Record Price
- $88,900 USD for 'Day' at Phillips New York, 2023
- Primary Market
- Represented by Pace Gallery (2022-present), Gallery 1957, and Mitchell-Innes & Nash. Primary market pricing undisclosed - 'Request Price & Availability' policy indicates gallery-controlled market.
- Market Activity
- 12+ auction lots documented since 2020. Active secondary market through major auction houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips).
- Price Trajectory
- Accelerating upward trajectory. Record jumped from sub-$10,000 in 2020 to $88,900 in 2023.
- Market Transition
- Pre-2022 (pre-Pace): $5,000-$20,000 range. Post-Pace representation (2022+): $20,000-$88,900+ range, indicating significant market elevation.
- Recent Transactions
Work Date Venue Medium Size Matilda 3 (2021) January 2025 Rago Auctions oil on canvas 31.5 x 23.5 inches Lonely Stallion August 2024 Christie's oil and acrylic on canvas 78.75 x 78.875 inches Portrait of a Man in White Suit May 2024 Christie's oil and acrylic on canvas 63 x 55 inches Head of a Nubian Boy (2019) May 2023 Sotheby's charcoal on paper 16.5 x 11.625 inches Bathers on a Hot Afternoon July 2022 Christie's oil and acrylic on canvas 81.75 x 92.875 inches (diptych) - Price Range Historical
- $5,256 - $88,900 USD (2020-2025)
- Market Position
- Market Positioning
- Market Segment
- Emerging to mid-career contemporary African art. Transitioning from emerging to growth category with Pace representation.
- Peer Comparisons
- Part of Ghanaian art renaissance alongside Amoako Boafo (record $881,000), Serge Attukwei Clottey. Positioned as 'leading painter of his generation' and 'rising star' within African contemporary art market.
- Fair Participation
- Frieze London (2022 debut with Pace), Frieze Seoul (2023), Art Basel Hong Kong (2024, 2025), 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair (New York 2018, Marrakech 2025), multiple editions
- Collector Demographics
- International collectors from Europe, US, Africa. Featured in major private collections and museum acquisitions.
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
Title Dates Venue Significance Type Beyond the Shadows June 11-22, 2025 Gallery 1957, Paris Recent Paris debut with curatorial essay by Kimberly Drew solo The Play of Thought March 21-April 27, 2024 Pace Gallery, Seoul First solo exhibition in Asia, accompanied by digital catalogue (Pace Publishing) solo How to Say Sorry in a Thousand Lights March 15-April 15, 2023 Pace Gallery, London First solo exhibition with Pace Gallery, reviewed in Frieze, AnOther Magazine solo Forgotten, Nudes, Landscapes February 19-June 19, 2022 Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond First US institutional solo exhibition. Exhibition catalogue published (texts by Amber Esseiva, Dominic Willsdon). Included in Frieze's 'Top 10 Shows in the US of 2022' solo More Luck September 8-October 15, 2022 Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York — solo Blue Boys Blues November 5-December 5, 2020 Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York — solo Love Letters June 29-August 15, 2019 Gallery 1957, Accra Exhibition catalogue published solo Corps et âmes March 2025-ongoing Pinault Collection, Bourse de Commerce, Paris Major institutional group exhibition exploring body and soul in contemporary art group Ghana Pavilion, 23rd International Exhibition 2022 Triennale di Milano Represented Ghana at prestigious international triennial group - Publications
Title Year Author Publisher Type Gideon Appah: The Play of Thought 2024 Text by Esme Allman Pace Publishing Digital exhibition catalogue Gideon Appah: Forgotten, Nudes, Landscapes 2022 Texts by Amber Esseiva and Dominic Willsdon Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University Exhibition catalogue African Artists: from 1882 to Now 2021 — Phaidon Monograph Love Letters 2021 Interview by Danny Dunson, text by Katherine Finerty Gallery 1957 Exhibition catalogue - Museum Collections
Institution Location Status Royal Ontario Museum Toronto, Canada Permanent collection Absa Museum (Absa Money Museum) Johannesburg, South Africa Permanent collection Musée d'Art Contemporain Africain Al Maaden Marrakesh, Morocco Permanent collection Amorepacific Museum of Art Seoul, South Korea Permanent collection (recent acquisition) Kistefos Museum Jevnaker, Norway Permanent collection (recent acquisition) Pinault Foundation, Bourse de Commerce Paris, France Featured in 'Corps et âmes' exhibition (March 2025) - Awards and Recognition
Institution Year Award Barclays L'Atelier Art Competition 2015 1st Merit Prize Award Kuenyehia Art Prize for Contemporary Ghanaian Arts 2015, 2016 Top Ten Finalist Henrike Grohs Art Award 2022 Shortlisted — 2024 Inaugural Watermill Center Visual Arts Fellowship
Career & Biography
- Career
- Expanded Biography
- Education
- Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, 2012. Initially focused on watercolor to explore color theory.
- Early Career
- First medium was charcoal from his grandmother's kitchen. First solo exhibition 'Sensation' at Goethe Institute, Accra (2013), one year after BFA graduation.
- Key Influences
- Kerry James Marshall, Barkley L. Hendricks, Charles White, Bob Thompson, Joseph Yoakum. Also cites Yinka Shonibare, Chris Ofili, El Anatsui, Julie Mehretu as inspirations.
- Source Material
- Newspaper clippings (1950s-1980s), Ghanaian film stills (especially post-independence cinema), family photographs, personal memories, folklore, tarot imagery
- Working Location
- Lives and works in Accra, Ghana. Studio located just outside Accra near pepper plant farm.
- Technical Process
- Primes canvas, sketches composition, transfers prints from paper using glue and water mixture, carves out images after drying, then applies paint. Recently transitioned from acrylics to oils for fluidity and movement.
- Artistic Evolution
- Early works focused on daily life in Accra (lottery numbers, barber shops reflecting family occupations). Evolved from expressionistic collages with found materials (posters, prints) to recent oil paintings with flattened perspective and rich impasto technique.
- Artistic Philosophy
- Prioritizes atmosphere and exploration of memory over faithful reproduction. Paintings exist 'out of time, out of place.' Process described as intuitive translation of inner self to exterior world.
- Identity
- Verified Getty Data
- Gender
- male
- Ulan Id
- 500780980
- Full Name
- Gideon Appah
- Birth Year
- 1987
- Birth Place
- Accra, Ghana
- Nationality
- Ghanaian
- Professional Roles
- artists (visual artists)painters (artists)
Artistic Profile
- Visual Language
- Color Theory
- 'Drawn to colors that possess the quality of muteness.' Builds up color through multiple light layers for subtlety and softness. Uses non-representational color (grey-green sky, reddish sky, turquoise-to-purple figures).
- Compositional Strategy
- Flattened perspective influenced by film stills and photographs. Cinematic, scenographic quality. Low horizon lines to create monumental figures. Viewer positioned as voyeur. Balance of figuration and abstraction.
- Themes and Subjects
- Movements and Periods
Period Characteristics Key Works Early Career (2012-2017) Collage-based works with found materials. Heavy use of acrylics, spray paint, enamel on hessian. References to daily Accra life (lottery numbers, barber shops, tailor shops). More explicitly autobiographical. Venus 72 (2015), Rot (2015) Transitional (2017-2020) Introduction of Ghanaian cinema references. Figures in white suits outside movie theaters. Beginning of exploration of nightlife and leisure culture. Still using mixed media but more refined. Night Watcher (2020), Roxy 2 (2020-21), Remember Our Stars (2020) Mature Style (2020-present) Shift to oil painting with layered impasto. Dreamlike nude and semi-nude figures in coastal/utopian landscapes. Flattened perspective. Jewel-toned palettes (royal blue, crimson, dark orange, white). Surrealist elements (disembodied heads, floating hands). More universal, less specific to place. Lonely Stallion (2020-21), The Balcony - Red Picture (2023), Nudes on the Coast (2024) - Techniques and Mediums
- Unique transfer process combining printmaking, collage, and painting. Carving into glue-transferred images before painting creates distinctive textural quality. Recent mastery of oil paint for 'fluidity and movement' while maintaining textural richness.
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Major Reviews
Title Date Significance Author Context Publication Gideon Appah's Fascination With the Fragmented Body May 12, 2022 Major contemporary art publication review Simon Wu Review of ICA VCU exhibition. Wu noted Appah is 'an astute student of images' with works having 'provisional, immediate quality reminiscent of digital engagement.' Frieze The Top 10 Shows in the US of 2022 December 16, 2022 Critical validation from leading art publication Lisa Yan Zhang ICA VCU exhibition included in year-end top shows list Frieze Magazine Gideon Appah, the Painter Melding Fantasy and Ghana's Postcolonial Reality March 15, 2023 — — Feature on Pace London exhibition. Discussed his engagement with Ghanaian cinema and postcolonial history. AnOther Magazine Studio Visit: Gideon Appah August 14, 2023 (published March 2024) — Osman Can Yerebakan In-depth studio visit and interview. Described as 'among the leading figures of a new generation of Ghanaian painters.' BOMB Magazine — March 17, 2025 Mainstream luxury magazine coverage Mark Guiducci Coverage of Bourse de Commerce exhibition featuring Appah Vogue — June 18, 2025 Major European newspaper coverage Philippe Dagen Review of Paris Gallery 1957 exhibition Le Monde — June 5, 2025 — Megan D. Robinson Feature interview: 'The Vivid Imagery of Gideon Appah's Surreal Landscapes' Art & Object — — Leading international art market publication — Multiple features including coverage of Accra art scene and market growth The Art Newspaper - Critical Positioning
- Described as 'leading painter of his generation,' 'rising star,' positioned within Ghanaian art renaissance. Critics emphasize his unique synthesis of memory, cinema, folklore, and postcolonial history.
- Publications and Media
- Featured in Artforum mentions, Contemporary AND, Art Basel Stories, multiple Korean publications (W Korea, Maeil Business Newspaper, Hankyung), Émergent Magazine, Florr Magazine, Portray Magazine (December 2024)
Gallery & Representation
- Representation
- Fair Representation
- Consistently shown at major fairs: Frieze (London, Seoul), Art Basel Hong Kong, 1-54 (New York, Marrakech), with gallery booths.
- Geographic Reach
- Works available through primary galleries with 'request pricing' model. Active secondary market at major auction houses.
You've seen Gideon Appah's trajectory. The question isn't the data — it's what it means for you. Egon provides acquisition strategies calibrated to your collection and budget.
Get Personalized AnalysisActive Market Signals
Signal Timeline & Strength Analysis
Gallery moves, auction records, institutional acquisitions, price milestones — tracked over 90 days
Collector Demographics & Buyer Analysis
Geographic distribution, institutional vs. private buyers, collector profiles, and secondary market activity
Personalized Acquisition Strategy
Optimal entry points, comparable pricing analysis, timing recommendations, and portfolio fit assessment
Go Deeper with Personalized Intelligence
You now have Egon's market assessment of Gideon Appah. The next question is personal: does this artist belong in your collection? Egon analyzes collection fit based on your aesthetic thesis, existing holdings, budget, and investment goals — delivering acquisition strategies no public index can provide.