Madness Around William Kentridge: Why This Drawn Drama Has Big-Money Energy
10.02.2026 - 15:05:25
Everyone is talking about William Kentridge right now – but is this charcoal chaos genius or just super hyped?
If you are into art that looks handmade, feels political, and still screams Big Money, this is your rabbit hole. Think black-and-white drawings that move like TikToks, but with history, trauma, and dark humor baked in.
And yes: museums, blue-chip galleries, and serious collectors are all fighting over him. The question is: should you care too?
Willst du sehen, was die Leute sagen? Hier geht's zu den echten Meinungen:
- Deep-dive William Kentridge videos that everyone rewatches
- Moody William Kentridge visuals for your IG art brain
- William Kentridge TikToks that turn drawings into drama
The Internet is Obsessed: William Kentridge on TikTok & Co.
William Kentridge is not the usual neon, selfie-ready art darling. His world is charcoal, paper, collage, opera, animation. It looks old-school, but hits like a political meme thread.
People share his work because it feels handmade and human. You literally see eraser marks, smudges, rough cuts. It is the opposite of clean digital perfection – and that is exactly why it stands out in your feed.
On social media, clips of his animated drawings and immersive installations are doing steady numbers. Not necessarily trending under one huge viral meme, but as a constant stream of "wait, what did I just watch?" moments from museum visits and exhibition walkthroughs.
Want to see the art in action? Check out the hype here:
The vibe online: respect. Kentridge is treated as one of those "if you know, you know" legends. Not everyone gets the politics or the South African history behind it, but people definitely feel the tension and drama in the visuals.
Masterpieces & Scandals: What you need to know
If you want to sound smart in front of any curator, collector, or art date, these are the William Kentridge works you drop into the conversation.
- "Felix in Exile" (and the whole Soho Eckstein / Felix Teitlebaum saga)
This is the Kentridge cinematic universe. A series of hand-drawn animations where two recurring characters move through a fictional Johannesburg full of mining, guilt, violence, and desire. Drawings are made, erased, redrawn, and photographed frame by frame. The result: shaky, breathing images that feel like memories breaking apart in real time. It is one of his early global breakout works and still a must-see clip on YouTube. - "More Sweetly Play the Dance"
A massive video installation that wraps around you like a marching band of ghosts. You see a long procession of figures – dancers, skeletons, people with IV drips, priests, politics, carnival energy and funeral vibes mixed together. It is shown in a dark space on multiple screens, turning the whole room into a moving drawing. This piece is a go-to museum blockbuster and super shareable on Instagram Stories because it looks epic from almost any angle. - "The Refusal of Time"
Think: steampunk meets philosophy. This installation uses moving machines, multiple projections, sound, and drawing to mess with your sense of time and history. There is a big breathing, pumping wooden contraption in the center and walls full of images that pulse with it. It is one of his most talked-about large-scale works and has toured major institutions around the world. People walk in curious and walk out filming everything.
Scandals? Not so much personal drama. The controversy here is more about what he shows: colonial history, apartheid, violence, power. He hits heavy topics, but wraps them in poetic, absurd, sometimes funny images. That mix of beauty and brutality is exactly why critics are obsessed.
The Price Tag: What is the art worth?
Let us talk numbers – because the Kentridge market is not playing.
William Kentridge is firmly in the blue-chip league. He is represented by top-tier galleries like Marian Goodman Gallery, and his work is in the biggest museum collections worldwide. That alone already screams High Value.
At auction, his more important works have reached the kind of top-dollar results that put him safely into the serious-investment category. Large drawings, major animations, and significant sculptures are fought over by international collectors. When standout pieces hit the block at big houses, they tend to sell strong rather than quietly.
For you, this means: Kentridge is not a quick-flip speculative newbie. He is a long-game artist whose market has been built over years through museum shows, biennials, and institutional love. If you ever buy into this name, you are entering the realm of art that is considered cultural capital, not just decor.
Background check: William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg, studied politics and African studies, and later moved through theatre and acting before locking into drawing and animation. That mix of performance, politics, and drawing is still in everything he does. He has shown at massive international events, directed operas, and had major retrospectives in top museums. In other words: this is not hype built on one viral video, but on decades of consistent work.
See it Live: Exhibitions & Dates
Kentridge is one of those artists whose work hits completely differently in real life. Screens are nice, but the installations and the size of the drawings turn everything up by ten.
Right now, museums and galleries around the world regularly program his shows, including immersive video installations and drawing-heavy exhibitions. Exact new openings change fast, so if you are planning a trip or want to stalk the next must-see event, you should go straight to the source.
- Official artist site – for an overview of projects, performances, and institutional shows.
- Marian Goodman Gallery – for gallery shows, new works, and viewing rooms.
If you cannot find a show in your city: No current dates available for your location means you hunt down a nearby museum or keep an eye on the gallery site for upcoming tours. His big installations often travel, so what is in one city now might be in your country later.
The Verdict: Hype or Legit?
If you want clean, decorative wall candy, this is not your guy. If you want art with a brain, a heart, and a dark sense of humor, William Kentridge is a must-know name.
Why he matters for you:
- For culture nerds: Kentridge is a gateway into South African history, memory, and post-colonial debates – but told through moving drawings that feel like strange dreams, not school lessons.
- For social scrollers: His installations, parades, and projections are total content machines. You get moody videos, dramatic silhouettes, and visually strong shots that look expensive and smart on your feed.
- For new collectors: The top works are already in the High Value space, but prints, editions, and smaller works sometimes surface through galleries and fairs. It is not entry-level cheap, but it is solid "art history in the making" territory.
Bottom line: William Kentridge is not just Art Hype – he is legit. The market respects him, museums love him, and the internet keeps rediscovering him every time a new show opens.
If you see his name on a poster in your city, treat it as a Must-See. Bring your camera, your curiosity, and a friend who likes to argue about politics and images. You will walk out with more questions than answers – and that is exactly why this work sticks in your head long after the exhibition is over.
