Bonhams, which has been responsible for eight of the top ten world record prices for South African art, held the first auction dedicated to contemporary art from the continent this season. The top price in the Africa Now auction was £146,500, paid for El Anatsui’s Al Haji (1990, est £100,000-£150,000). Record prices were made for Africa’s emerging artists, including Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, an Ivorian artist who was brought into the London market by the dealer Jack Bell and whose works have been bought by Charles Saatchi, among others. His Untitled (2014) sold for £12,500 (within estimate), which pushed up the £9,375 record price for the artist set last year, although another of his pieces went unsold (est £7,000-£10,000). After the sale of the work, Giles Peppiatt, a Bonhams specialist, said: “Contemporary African art is the most exciting and dynamic area of the art world right now, and its significance will only continue to grow.”