Julie Mehretu

Julie Mehretu
Mehretu in 2020
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Empire
EducationEast Lansing High School
Alma materKalamazoo College,
Rhode Island School of Design
OccupationPainter
AwardsMacArthur Fellow

Julie Mehretu (born November 28, 1970) is an Ethiopian American contemporary visual artist, known for her multi-layered paintings of abstracted landscapes on a large scale. Her paintings, drawings, and prints depict the cumulative effects of urban sociopolitical changes.

Mehretu is included in Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[1] The following year, The New York Times described her as a "rare example of a contemporary Black female painter who has already entered the canon."[2]

In October 2023, Mehretu broke the auction record for an African artist at Sotheby's Hong Kong, with her piece Untitled (2001), which sold for $9.32 million.[3]

In 2023, she was one of two women artists whose work was among the top ten in contemporary auction sale price.[4]

  1. ^ "Julie Mehretu: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (August 8, 2023). "Julie Mehretu's Reckoning With Success". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Rabb, Maxwell (October 9, 2023). "Ethiopian painter Julie Mehretu breaks auction record for an African artist". Artsy. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  4. ^ Network, Artnet Gallery (March 5, 2024). "5 Quick Takeaways From the Artnet Intelligence Report". Artnet News. Retrieved March 9, 2024.