Capital Kunstkompass 2023: The talents and stars of the scene

The art barometer for over 50 years

The trend-setting Capital art compass has been produced annually since 1970 by art journalist Linde Rohr-Bongard from Cologne and is a valuable source of information for anyone interested in contemporary art and the art market. But that wasn't always the case. When the business magazine presented its artist rankings for the first time, The reactions to this were devastating. The sculptor and painter Heinz Mack considered the list of the 100 most important artists to be distasteful and asked for his name to be removed; the gallerist Hein Stünke threatened to pour oil over the art compass and burn it; the French art critic Pierre Restany grumbled: “A lovely scandal. ”

But the art compass is by no means based on pure arbitrariness, but follows an objective system. Because although the quality of art cannot be measured, its response within the professional world can be measured. Auction or work prices are therefore not valued and weighted with points, but among other things Exhibitions in over 300 renowned museums, reviews in trade magazines, awards and acquisitions from leading museums.

The top 10 most important artists

As the contemporary art scene is constantly evolving, the ranking of artists featured in Capital Kunstkompass is also changing from year to year. However, little is happening within the top 10: Compared to 2022, all positions have remained the same.

Enthroned in first place is how (almost) always Gerhard Richter. The artist from Dresden, born in 1932, has been defending his top position in the ranking for 20 years now. The painter, sculptor and photographer is known worldwide for his diverse and influential oeuvre. It covers a wide range of styles and techniques — from photorealism to pop art to abstraction. One of his most famous series is the “Photo Paintings,” in which he reproduces photographs in a blurred, painterly style, often exploring themes such as family, history, and contemporary life. Richter made international headlines when his “Abstract Picture 599” was sold at Sotheby's London in 2015 for the equivalent of 41 million euros. This year, too, a work by the master brought in tens of millions: “4096 colors” was in London for more than 20 million euros auctioned off.

Linde Rohr-Bongard commented on the exceptional German artist's leading position for decades: “No one gets past Gerhard Richter. And it will probably stay that way.” With exhibitions such as “100 Works for Berlin” at the Neue Nationalgalerie, he once again scored significant points this year and extended his lead irrevocably.

The next ranks of the Kunstkompass 2023 are also unchanged:

2 — Bruce Nauman (1941), United States, Mixed Media

3 — Georg Baselitz (1938), GER, painting, sculpture

4 — Rosemarie Trockel (1952), GER, mixed media

5 — Cindy Sherman (1954), USA, photo art

6 — Tony Cragg (1949), GBR, sculpture

7 — Olafur Eliasson (1967), DEN, sculpture, installation

8 — Anselm Kiefer (1945), GER, painting, installation

9 — William Kentridge (1955), RSA, drawing, film art

10 — Imi Knoebel (1940), GER, painting, installation

The famous German artist Imi Knoebel, who is actually called Klaus Wolf Knöbel, has been in 10th place since 2021. As a former Beuys student, he will work with ZERO and the minimalism movement associated. Knoebel often uses simple geometric shapes and bright colors in his works. His blaze of colors, which he creates from over 500 shades he developed himself, is also reflected in window works of art - for example in the cathedral of Reims or in Basel (Basel window).

Günther Uecker is one of the artists with the highest point growth in 2023, rising from 20th to 18th place this year. Like Imi Knoebel, Uecker was also part of the ZERO movement. An international art group that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by an emphasis on minimalism, light and the use of unconventional materials — such as nails, with which Günther Uecker created many of his works.

These are the stars of tomorrow

With the 100 “Stars of Tomorrow”, two trends of recent years continue: On the one hand, female artists are becoming increasingly important. Around half of the 100 “Stars of Tomorrow” are female and have won leading positions. On the other hand, the art scene is becoming more global. Many of the painters, photographers and mixed media artists come from regions that were previously not or barely represented in Kompass — such as Japan, Denmark, Kuwait, Brazil, Kenya, Argentina or Iraq. The top three places on the Kunstkompass 2023 are therefore:

1 — Yayoi Kusama (1929), JPN, installation, pop art

2 — Jeppe Hein (1974), DEN, mixed media, participation art

3 — Isaac Julien (1960), GBR, Media Arts

Olympus: Top artists who have already died

And then, of course, there are the artists who have influenced and continue to influence entire generations of artists with their life's work. That is why “Olympus” in Kunstkompass 2023 honors legends such as Andy Warhol (1st place), Joseph Beuys (2nd place), Christo/Jeanne-Claude (10th place) or Roy Lichtenstein (12th place). Die

Top 20 contemporary artists who have already died have remained largely unchanged in terms of names and rankings for years. For art collectors and investors, this is a clear indication that you can hardly go wrong with a work by Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein. But these are - if they are auctioned at all - highly sought after and correspondingly expensive. Investors who love art and want to benefit from possible increases in the value of “their” paintings or sculptures should therefore find out about digital shares. On specialized Marketplaces like FINEXITY Investors can invest from as little as 500 euros in selected masterpieces by great artists curated by experts and diversify their portfolio with relatively stable assets.