Counterintuitively, the economic chaos caused by the pandemic may also have helped boost interest from wealthy collectors.
“Investors of that nature don’t want to keep cash,” says Mr Peppiatt. “They were getting nothing for it in the bank. So they bought art.”
The rapid expansion of online auctions and promotions on platforms like Instagram have also helped by boosting the exposure of African artists.
But having your work sell for big prices at auction doesn’t mean an artist can immediately break out the champagne.
Artists usually sell their work via a gallery, which exhibits and markets their art. The gallery typically takes around 50% of the sale price.
If a buyer sells the piece again and perhaps doubles their money, the artist will see little of that profit.
In Europe the maximum royalty fee payable to the creator of the work is 4% of the sale price at auction.
High auction sale prices may mean your gallery is able to charge more for your other work, but the increase there is unlikely to be stratospheric, according to Mr Peppiatt.
Owning around 500 pieces of contemporary and modern African art, UK businessman Robert Devereux is a prominent collector. He has some at his home, loans out others, but much is kept in storage.
