The Kunstkompass ranking does not reflect the financial success of German artists. He is guided solely by the resonance that their art causes in the modern art world. But often money and honor go hand in hand. Fame attracts not only the interest of the public, but also the opportunity to sell your paintings for an impressive amount. We present three of the most popular contemporary artists living and working in Germany.

Gerhard Richter. most famous German artists

Gerhard Richter (born February 9, 1932, Dresden) has been leading this ranking for many years in a row. His name in Germany is known to everyone who is at least somewhat interested in modern painting. His works sell well at famous auctions. The price record was set in 2015. The abstract composition created by the artist was sold for $44.5 million.

He literally burst onto the artistic Olympus. In 1967, he received his first award – he was awarded as a talented young artist. Only four years pass and his works are sent to the Venice Biennale. In 1973, a new grandiose victory – a personal exhibition in the USA.

“There is no single style in my works; you will not find any common details in them, ” says Gerhard Richter about his paintings. It seems that absolutely all areas of modern art are subject to him. His greatest popularity came from works created on the verge of painting and photography. His non-objective, bright compositions, which he creates using brushes, spatulas and scrapers, sell very well. The artist is unusually prolific; he created more than 3, 000 paintings. And he doesn’t intend to stop there.

Rosemary Trockel

This German artist Rosemarie Trockel (born November 13, 1952, Arnsberg) is known far beyond Germany. Now she not only continues to delight her fans with new original works, but also teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Many of Rosemary’s masterpieces are created in the style of neo-conceptualism. She names Joseph Beuys and Sigmar Polke as her teachers. The artist loves to experiment, just like all supporters of postmodernism.

In her works she masterfully mixes the high and the low, subverts values, and uses irony. In this regard, her works created from wool yarn are very interesting. One of her “knitted” works called “Made in Western Germany” was sold for a million dollars.

Another hobby of Rosemary is creating artistic collages from photographs. The Cosmos exhibition brought her great success and recognition in Europe. She showed the public her personal universe through the artistic worlds she created.

Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer (born March 8, 1945, Donaueschingen) is a famous German artist, sculptor, and photographer. His works reflected Germany’s national identity. A lot of paintings were created based on Scandinavian myths.

German painters Joseph Beuys and Georg Baselitz had a great influence on Kiefer’s work.

Kiefer gained worldwide fame for his large-scale paintings and original installations. He is a true master of abstract expressionism. The artist uses his own unusual technical techniques to implement projects.