Have you ever dreamed of having your own gallery? Or even going to the university to pursue your dream as an artist? Well, if you are successful, you could be like KAWS, Jeff Koons, and many others. And yes, they do earn a lot of money. 

Besides them, there are many other painters who can make a lot of money from their work. So, here are the 10 Richest Artists in the world. 

Julie Mehretu – Undisclosed

Julie Mehretu is known to be one of the richest painters all around the world.  Her works have been sold at Christie's New York. She sold her painting, Retopistics: A Renegade Excavation for $1 million at auction. 

In addition to that, 15 of her pieces have sold for over $1 million and made her some solid bank. Not a bad deal for her, right? 

Georg Baselitz  – $20 Million

Georg Baselitz is also listed as one of the richest artists. Besides, he is also known to have a unique approach to painting, which is upside down. 

Chuck Close – Estimated Worth: $25 Million

Chuck Close is known to be a realism painter. His works have a unique approach, like an almost pixelated painting, but it actually wasn’t. 

Regardless of his condition, Chuck Close doesn't let paralysis keep him down. Instead, he has not stopped painting. 

David Hockney – Net Worth $40 Million

David Hockney is one of Britain's most prolific artists. He is not merely an artist, but also a photographer. And yes, he is listed as one of the richest painters out there. 

He also set another record by a living artist. Last November 2018, his work, Portrait of an Artist, was sold at an auction for $90 million. What a fantastic price, right?

Gerhard Richter  – Net Worth $40 Million

Gerhard Richter is not only one of the richest painters but he is also known for his textured multi-colored oil on canvas abstract style of painting. Inspired by Picasso and Jean Arp’s artworks, he has surely shaken the whole art scene. 

In October 2020, Gerhard Richter became the most expensive Western artist to sell at an Asian auction when his 1987 abstract painting Abstraktes Bild sold for $27.6 million via live stream.

Banksy – $50 Million

Yup, Banksy is included. The artist known to be a graffiti artist and his arts could be found all around the world. Though he is a graffiti artist, his works have been sold for a million dollars. His playful impressionist piece Show me the Monet completed in 2005 was sold through Sotheby’s for nearly $10 million.  

Another piece, Devolved Parliament, sold in 2019 London for $12 million. In addition to that, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery brought home $8.3 million for his graffiti-style piece, Forgive Us Our Trespassing. 

Bridget Riley – $85 Million

Known for her illusion works, Bridget Riley is also one of the richest painters. Her works have been sold for millions.  her work in 1966, Untitled (Diagonal Curve), was recently sold at Christie’s London for $5.7 million. In addition to that, she also sold two of her paintings for $5 million. 

Takashi Murakami – $92 Million

Yup, Takashi Murakami is also one of the richest artists. He has done many spectacular works.  One of his art pieces was sold for $2 million at Art Basel.

Jeff Koons – $500 Million

Jeff Koons, who is known for his balloon look-alike art pieces, is also one of the richest artists. His Balloon Dog (Orange) sold for $58.4 million and his Rabbit art piece sold at Christie's for $91 million.

Damien Hirst – Net Worth $1 Billion

Lastly, we got Damien Hirst as one of the richest artists. He has made animals in formaldehyde, colorful dots that also became the cover of the band 30 Seconds to Mars. As an artist and entrepreneur, his net worth is $1 Billion. 

And there you go, some of the richest artists in the world. Do you want to be like them?