Alexis Kestler
As an evocative visual medium, Instagram provides immense opportunities for artists to share their work and directly engage global audiences. With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram has become a vibrant online art gallery where creative talents across mediums showcase and promote their art.
For contemporary artists, establishing a strong Instagram presence is now imperative for accelerating their careers. By strategically using Instagram to exhibit their work, artists can bypass traditional gatekeepers, generate new collector leads, and even orchestrate six-figure sales through their smartphones.
In 2022 and beyond, achieving “Insta-fame” has increasingly become synonymous with mainstream artistic success. In this post, we will showcase 10 painters, sculptors and multi-disciplinary artists who rank among the world’s top art sellers on Instagram.
We’ll analyze how these leading creatives have leveraged Instagram to dramatically elevate their profiles, as well as provide tips for artists striving to maximize their brand influence and sales through social media.
Our List of The Top Selling Artists on Instagram
1. Takashi Murakami – Bringing “Superflat” Pop Art to 2.5M Followers
Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami has amassed monumental global influence from his iconic “superflat” style blurring high and low art.
With his explosive anime-inspired sculptures, smiling flower motifs and his clever branding, Murakami has become a specialist in artistic spectacle. On Instagram where he shares glimpses into his candy-colored universe, Murakami has attracted over 2.5 million enraptured followers.
Through this digital gallery, the artist promotes his limited edition $10K+ prints and showcases exhibitions at venerated spaces like the Gagosian and factions of his sprawling art corporation. For artists on Instagram, Murakami represents the extraordinary sales, celebrity and cultural clout achievable when artistic vision synthesizes with marketing prowess on social media.
2. Damien Hirst – Pioneer Provocateur Commanding 915K Followers
As the prominent leader of the Young British Artists in the 1990’s, Damien Hirst employed sensationalism to catapult himself into the upper echelons of wealth and fame for living artists. Today with a net worth estimated around $384 million, Hirst sells his work for dizzying sums including his iconic shark in formaldehyde sculpture fetching over $12 million.
On Instagram where nearly 1 million fervent fans follow his account, Hirst reveals his polarizing dots, butterflies and pharmaceutical artworks exhibited in far-flung global locations. Controversy, opportunism and shameless self-promotion propel his enduring prominence. For artists focused on sales, Hirst embodies defiantly courting public intrigue to broker nine-figure fortunes.
3. Daniel Arsham – Captivating 1.2M Followers with Eroded Sculptures
Merging archaeology and pop culture into dystopian sculptures, installations and spatial interventions, Daniel Arsham has enticed over 1.2 million followers into his fictional excavated universe. Through manipulating architectural spaces and casting mundane objects like basketballs, phones and cameras to look relic-like, Arsham transports his audience to contemplate past, present and future simultaneously.
On his popular Instagram chronicle, Arsham reveals his collaborations with brands like Adidas, previews his unearthly exhibitions worldwide and offers collectors access to purchase signed limited editions. For artists cultivatingmystique and desire through exquisitely executed contextualizations of their work on Instagram, Arsham delivers a masterclass.
4. Shantell Martin – From Black and White Lines to $30K Drawings
British artist Shantell Martin began attracting notoriety in the early 2010’s from her meditative live black and white drawings, arriving at final images through unplanned stream-of consciousness connections of line and form. As her large-scale murals, drawings and commercial collaborations with brands like Hennessy and Tiffany & Co permeated more cities, her Instagram presence also amassed over 200k dedicated followers.
Through this audience cultivated from her minimalist mark-making, Martin sells original works for up to $30,000 as well as apparel, home goods and affordable prints often representing earlier drawings. For artists focused on process-driven work or developing a signature style, Martin demonstrates leveraging Instagram both as creative outlet and direct sales portal.
5. Alexa Meade – Inventive 2D Painted Worlds Reaching 240K
Alexa Meade rocketed into art market prominence over the last decade from her eye-deceiving paintings transforming people into dynamic two dimensional works of art. After early viral buzz, the Juilliard-educated and DC-based artist gained representation through renowned contemporary galleries like the Saatchi Gallery in London.
On her Instagram documenting her innovative painting process and final portraits encapsulated in dramatic scenes, Meade has captured an audience of over 240k fervent followers. With major exhibitions and placements in celebrity music videos propelling her fame and market value, Meade‘s paintings now command five figure price points on the primary and secondary markets. For artists focused on expanding possibilities for their mediums or pioneerng new genres, Meade provides inspiration on rising rapidly from visual experimentation showcased through Instagram.
6. Jen Stark – Mesmerizing through Color, Light and Nature
Los Angeles native Jen Stark has built avid collectors and over 200k passionate Instagram followers drawn to her vivid colorful paper sculptures and installations. Using a rare technique of sculpting paper to create organic forms resembling plant growth, coral reefs and concentric universes, her works capture mesmerizing movement through precision patterns, colors and shadows.
On her Instagram, Stark reveals intricacies of her optical environments along with news of upcoming exhibitions, fairs, museum acquisitions and gallery representations cementing her prominence. For sculptors and installation artists, Stark provides inspiration on transporting audiences through innovative manipulations of materials and light emphasized beautifully through photography on Instagram.
7. Andrea Soos – From Miami Party Host to 100K Followers
Andrea Soos’ trajectory from struggling artist to blue chip success story underscores tenacity and creative entrepreneurship. After hosting yacht parties to fund her painting career in Miami, a few key influencer connections began sharing her vibrant abstract paintings on Instagram. Positive feedback and direct inquiries from these posts encouraged her to keep creating and promoting her art online.
Fast forward just a few years and the self-taught Canadian painter nurtured her Instagram following to over 100k organically through consistent high quality posts. Today she travels the world painting commissions for A-list celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and major luxury brands like Hermes. Soos signifies mastering self-promotion by providing value and accessibility.
8. Julia S. Powell – Contemporary Impasto Paintings Commanding 160K Followers
Oil painter Julia Powell has cultivated over 160k loyal Instagram followers drawn to her textural, vivid impasto portraits, figures and still lifes. After gaining initial traction sharing her student paintings on Instagram, Powell professionalized her presence providing followers behind-the-scenes glimpses into her process and inspiration.
Seeing direct sales inquiries and commissions accumulate through Instagram referrals, Powell made her account shoppable to facilitate purchase of her original colorful paintings listed up to $15K. For full-time painters, Powell signifies strategically providing value, access and convenience to convert social media engagement into sales.
9. En Iwamura – Playful Ceramics and Digital Aesthetics Reaching 80K
For sculptors working in ceramics or seeking to blend physical media with digital technology, Japanese artist En Iwamura’s Instagram presents inspiration on leveraging cultural heritage through contemporary practices. His fanciful handmade sculptural vases encapsulate figures and creatures seemingly ripped from video games and anime.
On his Instagram followed by over 80k international admirers, Iwamura reveals his latest creatures, shares his travel adventures and exhibits worldwide spanning Tokyo, Paris, New York and Dubai. For sculptors navigating digital spaces, Iwamura signifies amplifying cultural connectedness and accessibility.
10. Dan Lam – Boldly Fusing Influences into 400K Followers
Dan Lam represents the exponential career trajectories possible when artists independently take control of their narratives and digital channels. After early gallery representation fizzled, Lam decided to foster deeper relationships with collectors by showcasing herself and her work’s evolution transparently through Instagram.
Her eclectic exploration fusing abstraction with graffiti, text and figuration conceived 120K followers organically. That foundation enabled her to launch a hybrid experiential gallery on her own terms spotlighting fellow Contemporary artists, musicians and creators forging their own paths. The community goodwill, collaboration opportunities and sales revenue nurtured on Instagram liberated Lam’s scope of possibility as an artist and curator.
Tips for Artists Ready to Thrive Selling Their Art on Instagram
The artists thriving on Instagram outlined here offer aspiring creatives across all visual mediums proven advice on discovery, brand development and converting followers to sales on social media.
Here are 5 key tips to ignite your artistic career and earnings potential using Instagram:
Spotlight Your Unique Perspective and Personality
Collectors purchase based on emotion and connection. Share why you create, your inspiration sources, travels, process explorations. Allow your audience into your world by conveying passion and vulnerability.
Post Consistently High-Quality Images
Invest time into elegant, well-lit photography showcasing fine details of your work. Captivate scrolling feeds with striking compositions aligned to your brand identity. Provide scale through contextual backdrops hinting at your vision.
Strategically Target and Engage Your Niche
Identify fellow artists, curators, photographers resonating with your style and values for mutual promotion partnerships. Keep hashtags fresh and localized while interacting genuinely with your community.
Simplify Sales Channels and Transactions
Make impulse art purchases frictionless through optimized profiles and story links. Share testimonials reassuring trust and quality. Offer pre-orders, limited editions and affordable prints converting followers into lifelong collectors.
Continually Evolve Your Craft
Balance showcasing current gallery-ready pieces for availability while revealing experimental works hinting at future direction. Carving distinct niches drives authority, interest and perceived exclusivity spurring sales.
While undoubtedly challenging, leaning into original perspectives and leaving comfortable creative confines can spark immense career momentum amplified exponentially through social media.
The Future Looks Bright for Artists Combining Craft with Digital Community Building
As online art platforms like Instagram further dissolve barriers between artists and their audiences, social media now plays a pivotal role for emerging and established creatives in every visual medium.
Through the entrepreneurial examples of these top selling Instagram artists, mutual benefit results when artists willingly reveal their personal experiences while providing collectors transparency around pricing and access.
By embracing Instagram’s unfiltered creative exchange, artists can transcend traditional gallery gatekeepers and foster meaningful reciprocal relationships expanding the possibilities for their careers and the larger contemporary art world.
In 2023 and beyond, expect the artists boldly blazing these trails between physical and virtual spaces to inspire exciting new genres, movements and business models upholding artwork as society’s highest manifestation of imagination, truth and progress.
