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African painters

430 artists

Painting in Africa is far older than the easel: the rock paintings of the Sahara and southern Africa go back thousands of years, and Ethiopian churches, Ndebele houses and Mauritanian walls carry painting traditions of their own. Modern easel painting arrived in the colonial period and was quickly made African. Pioneers such as Mahmoud Saïd in Egypt, Aina Onabolu and Ben Enwonwu in Nigeria, and Irma Stern and Gerard Sekoto in South Africa opened the way.

Around independence, movements across the continent asked what a modern African painting should be: the Zaria Art Society and the Oshogbo school in Nigeria, the Khartoum School of Ibrahim El-Salahi, the Casablanca School, the École de Dakar. Self-taught painters built their own traditions, from Kinshasa's popular painting of Chéri Samba to Tanzania's Tingatinga. Today painters such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Marlene Dumas and Amoako Boafo are among the most sought-after in the world. These are Africa's painters with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first.

Profiles

Artist

William Kentridge

South Africa · 1955–

William Kentridge makes films from charcoal drawings he draws, erases and redraws, the Drawings for Projection, and operas and sculpture about South Africa.

Writer and painter

Breyten Breytenbach

South Africa · 1939–2024

Breyten Breytenbach, the great Afrikaans poet who opposed apartheid, was jailed for seven years and painted throughout his life. He died in Paris in 2024.

Painter and minister

Farouk Hosny

Egypt · 1938–

Farouk Hosny, an abstract painter from Alexandria, was Egypt's Minister of Culture from 1987 to 2011 and narrowly lost the race to lead UNESCO in 2009.

Artist

Yinka Shonibare

Nigeria · 1962–

Yinka Shonibare dresses headless figures in Victorian costume of "African" Dutch wax print, a fabric with a European history, to question empire and identity.

Painter

Baya

Algeria · 1931–1998

Baya (1931–1998) was sixteen when Galerie Maeght showed her paintings in Paris with a preface by André Breton. Her life, her women and her gardens.

Sculptor

El Anatsui

Ghana · Nigeria · 1944–

Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui turns thousands of flattened bottle caps into shimmering metal "cloths". His life, his materials and where to see the work.

Painter

Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Nigeria · 1983–

Nigerian-born painter Njideka Akunyili Crosby layers paint, collage and photo transfers into interiors that hold two homes at once. Her life and methods.

Painter and DJ

Leon Botha

South Africa · 1985–2011

Leon Botha, a Cape Town painter and hip-hop DJ with progeria, appeared in Die Antwoord's Enter the Ninja and made art about his condition. He died at 26.

Painter

Marlene Dumas

South Africa · 1953–

Marlene Dumas, born in Cape Town and in Amsterdam since 1976, paints faces and bodies from photographs in loose, wet washes. A leading painter of our time.

Painter and poet

Sharon Dede Padi

Ghana · 1976–2026

Sharon Dede Padi (Padiki), a Ghanaian painter and poet, set the Guinness World Record for the largest leaf-print painting. She died in July 2026, aged 50.

Artist

Ibrahim Mahama

Ghana · 1987–

Ibrahim Mahama wraps buildings in stitched jute sacks that once carried Ghana's cocoa and charcoal, and has built art centres in his home city of Tamale.

Painter and artist

Lubaina Himid

Tanzania · 1954–

Lubaina Himid, born in Zanzibar in 1954, became the first Black woman to win the Turner Prize in 2017. She represents Britain at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Painter

Esther Mahlangu

South Africa · 1935–

Esther Mahlangu took Ndebele wall painting from her village to Paris, a BMW Art Car and the world's museums. Her life, her technique and her legacy.

Artist

Wangechi Mutu

Kenya · 1972–

Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu builds hybrid figures from collage, bronze and soil. From Nairobi to the first-ever Met facade commission in 2019.

Painter

Hassan El Glaoui

Morocco · 1923–2018

Hassan El Glaoui, son of the last Pasha of Marrakech, became a painter with Winston Churchill's help and painted horses, riders and fantasia for seven decades.

Painter

Vladimir Tretchikoff

South Africa · 1913–2006

Vladimir Tretchikoff, the Russian-born painter in Cape Town from 1946, made Chinese Girl, the "Green Lady", one of the 20th century's most reproduced pictures.

Painter

Chaïbia Talal

Morocco · 1929–2004

Chaïbia Talal, a widowed cleaner who began to paint after a dream in her thirties, became Morocco's most famous self-taught painter, shown in Paris from 1966.

Painter and sculptor

Ben Enwonwu

Nigeria · 1917–1994

Ben Enwonwu (1917–1994) sculpted Queen Elizabeth II, made Anyanwu and painted Tutu, the "African Mona Lisa" that sold for £1.2 million in 2018.

Painter and musician

Twins Seven-Seven

Nigeria · 1944–2011

Twins Seven-Seven, sole survivor of seven sets of twins, became the most famous painter of the Oshogbo school, filling his works with Yoruba spirits.

Artist

Otobong Nkanga

Nigeria · 1974–

Otobong Nkanga, a Nigerian-born artist in Antwerp, makes tapestries, installations and performances about land, mining, trade and the body.

Painter

Irma Stern

South Africa · 1894–1966

Irma Stern brought German Expressionism to South Africa in the 1920s; derided, then celebrated, her portraits now sell for millions. Her home is a museum.

Painter

Ibrahim El-Salahi

Sudan · 1930–

Ibrahim El-Salahi fused Arabic calligraphy and African forms in the Khartoum School, drew his Prison Notebook in 1975–76 and had a Tate Modern retrospective.

Painter

Mahmoud Saïd

Egypt · 1897–1964

Mahmoud Saïd (1897–1964) left the law to paint Egypt's people and light. His Les Chadoufs set a record for an Arab artist at auction in 2010.

Painter

M'hamed Issiakhem

Algeria · 1928–1985

M'hamed Issiakhem lost an arm at fifteen and became a founder of modern Algerian painting, friend of Kateb Yacine and designer of banknotes and stamps.

Painter, sculptor and novelist

Mahi Binebine

Morocco · 1959–

Mahi Binebine, a former maths teacher from Marrakech, paints masked figures, sculpts in bronze and wrote the novel behind the film Horses of God.

Painter and stained-glass artist

Afewerk Tekle

Ethiopia · 1932–2012

Afewerk Tekle, Ethiopia's most famous painter, made the vast stained-glass windows of Africa Hall in Addis Ababa and painted his country's history and people.

Painter, filmmaker and poet

Hussein Shariffe

Sudan · 1934–2005

Hussein Shariffe, a pioneer of Sudanese modern art linked to the Khartoum School, showed in London in 1957, taught, made films and died in exile in 2005.

Painter

Chéri Samba

DR Congo · 1956–

Chéri Samba started as a sign painter in Kinshasa and became one of Africa's best-known artists, with comic-strip paintings full of text, humour and politics.

Painter

Amoako Boafo

Ghana · 1984–

Amoako Boafo, the Vienna-based Ghanaian painter, models Black sitters' skin with his fingers. His rise set off an auction frenzy; he founded dot.ateliers.

Printmaker and painter

Bruce Onobrakpeya

Nigeria · 1932–

Bruce Onobrakpeya, of the Zaria Art Society, invented printmaking techniques drawing on Urhobo culture and founded the Harmattan Workshop in Agbarha-Otor.

Painter and poet

Malangatana

Mozambique · 1936–2011

Malangatana Ngwenya (1936–2011) painted crowded, visionary canvases, was jailed by the Portuguese secret police and became a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

Sculptor and painter

Adam Henein

Egypt · 1929–2020

Adam Henein carved calm, timeless figures in granite and bronze, led the design team restoring the Great Sphinx and founded the Aswan sculpture symposium.

Painter and illustrator

Hussein Bicar

Egypt · 1913–2002

Hussein Bicar painted luminous portraits and scenes of Nubia and the Egyptian countryside, and drew for Akhbar el-Yom and the children's magazine Sindbad.

Painter

Nzante Spee

Cameroon · 1953–2005

Nzante Spee painted dreamlike, crowded scenes mixing cubism, surrealism and caricature, and founded a Bamenda art centre that trained a generation of painters.

Artist

Adel Abdessemed

Algeria · 1971–

Adel Abdessemed, born in Constantine, left Algeria during the civil war and made provocative works such as Coup de tête, the giant bronze of Zidane's headbutt.

Painter and activist

Inji Aflatoun

Egypt · 1924–1989

Inji Aflatoun (Efflatoun), surrealist, communist and feminist, was jailed from 1959 to 1963 and painted the women imprisoned with her: her best-known works.

Painter, sculptor and designer

Amon Kotei

Ghana · 1915–2011

Amon Kotei, a Ghanaian painter, sculptor, surveyor and musician, designed the coat of arms of Ghana, approved in 1957. He died in 2011, aged 96.

Painter and designer

Kofi Antubam

Ghana · 1922–1964

Kofi Antubam, Kwame Nkrumah's state artist, designed the chair of state and other symbols of independent Ghana, and wrote Ghana's Heritage of Culture (1963).

Storyteller and painter

Mohamed Mrabet

Morocco · 1936–

Mohamed Mrabet, a Tangier storyteller who never learned to read, dictated more than a dozen books to Paul Bowles and has drawn and painted since 1958.

Painter

Skunder Boghossian

Ethiopia · 1937–2003

Skunder Boghossian blended Ethiopian scrolls and icons with surrealism in Paris, was the first contemporary African artist bought by MoMA, and taught at Howard.

Artist

Ghada Amer

Egypt · 1963–

Ghada Amer, born in Cairo, stitches images of women and words into her paintings, turning a craft taught to women into a language of desire and freedom.

Painter

Bachir Yellès

Algeria · 1921–2022

Bachir Yellès of Tlemcen, painter and stamp designer, ran the Algiers school of fine arts for two decades and died in 2022 at 100, the dean of Algerian artists.

Artist

Anna Boghiguian

Egypt · 1946–

Anna Boghiguian, an Armenian-Egyptian artist born in Cairo in 1946, makes drawings, paintings and sprawling installations about cities, trade and history.

Painter and sculptor

George Lilanga

Tanzania · 1934–2005

George Lilanga turned the shetani spirits of Makonde carving into joyful paintings of long-eared dancing figures, and became East Africa's best-known artist.

Painter

Chéri Chérin

DR Congo · 1955–2025

Chéri Chérin, one of the founders of Kinshasa's popular painting, painted the city's politics, scandals and dreams with biting humour. He died in October 2025.

Artist

Romuald Hazoumè

Benin · 1962–

Romuald Hazoumè of Porto-Novo turns plastic petrol cans into masks and built La Bouche du Roi, a slave ship of 304 masks now owned by the British Museum.

Painter and sculptor

Dumile Feni

South Africa · 1942–1991

Dumile Feni, the "Goya of the townships", drew apartheid's suffering in powerful, distorted figures, above all African Guernica (1967), before exile in 1968.

Painter

Mohamed Hamidi

Morocco · 1941–2025

Mohamed Hamidi, a pioneer of the Casablanca School, taught at the city's art school and painted bold, sensual compositions of bodies and signs. He died in 2025.

Painter

J. H. Pierneef

South Africa · 1886–1957

J. H. Pierneef painted the highveld in ordered, geometric landscapes, above all the 32 Johannesburg Station Panels (1929–32), now read in political context.

Painter and teacher

Uche Okeke

Nigeria · 1933–2016

Uche Okeke, leader of the Zaria Art Society, formulated "natural synthesis" and revived Igbo uli drawing as a modern art at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Painter

Aina Onabolu

Nigeria · 1882–1963

Aina Onabolu, often called the father of modern Nigerian art, painted oil portraits in colonial Lagos to prove Africans could master any style.

Artist and filmmaker

Wael Shawky

Egypt · 1971–

Wael Shawky retold the Crusades from an Arab viewpoint with marionettes in Cabaret Crusades and made Drama 1882 for Egypt at the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Painter

Effat Nagy

Egypt · 1905–1994

Effat Nagy, sister of the pioneer Mohamed Naghi, made paintings and assemblages from Egyptian folk magic, amulets and painted wood; a Cairo museum shows them.

Photographer and painter

Zwelethu Mthethwa

South Africa · 1960–

Zwelethu Mthethwa won acclaim for colour portraits of South Africans at home. In 2017 he was convicted of murdering Nokuphila Kumalo and jailed for 18 years.

Painter and sculptor

Zoubeir Turki

Tunisia · 1924–2009

Zoubeir Turki, a member of the École de Tunis, drew the everyday life of Tunis and made the bronze statue of Ibn Khaldoun on Avenue Habib Bourguiba.

Painter

Mohammed Khadda

Algeria · 1930–1991

Mohammed Khadda, a printer's apprentice from Mostaganem, became a founder of modern Algerian painting, turning Arabic letters into a free abstract language.

Calligraffiti artist

eL Seed

Tunisia · 1981–

eL Seed, a French-Tunisian artist, paints Arabic calligraphy on a monumental scale, from a mosque minaret in Gabès to Perception, across 50 buildings in Cairo.

Painter

Farid Belkahia

Morocco · 1934–2014

Farid Belkahia (1934–2014) led the Casablanca art school, painted with henna on stretched leather and helped give Moroccan modern art its own materials.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits

Better known for other work

Writers, presenters and public figures whom Wikidata also lists here; their profiles explain the connection.

Writer and painter

Tahar Ben Jelloun

Morocco · 1944–

Tahar Ben Jelloun, the Moroccan novelist who won the 1987 Prix Goncourt, has painted for decades, shown at the Institut du monde arabe and in Rabat.

Queen and painter

Farida of Egypt

Egypt · 1921–1988

Queen Farida, King Farouk's first wife, became a painter after her divorce, encouraged by her uncle Mahmoud Saïd. She exhibited widely; Mathaf holds her work.

Politician, painter and poet

Mahjoubi Aherdane

Morocco · 1921–2020

Mahjoubi Aherdane, founder of Morocco's Mouvement Populaire and a champion of Amazigh identity, painted dreamlike canvases and wrote poetry in French.

Singer, composer and painter

Rabah Driassa

Algeria · 1934–2021

Rabah Driassa of Blida, the voice of Nedjma qotbiya and Hizia, was one of Algeria's most popular singers, and also a poet and painter. He died in 2021.