OKN Movers - October 2026

William Kentridge takes the top spot on October's OKN Movers 100, up three places from #4. One name is entirely new to the top 25, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa, debuting at #6. And the biggest move on the whole board belongs to Charles Gotthard, who jumps from #97 to #20.

Who entered

Kagiso Patrick Mautloa is the only name in the top 25 that wasn't ranked at all last month. A debut at #6 is a strong opening position for a first appearance on the list.

Biggest climbs and falls

Charles Gotthard's move is the number of the month. #97 to #20, a 77-place jump in a single snapshot. Kate Gottgens is the biggest riser inside the established top 25, up from #14 to #2. Kentridge's rise from #4 to #1 rounds out the month's climbers.

The falls are smaller but consistent. El Anatsui drops the furthest among established top-25 names, #8 to #12. September's top three all slipped two places each: Mikhael Subotzky from #1 to #3, Ayanda Mabulu from #2 to #4, Brett Murray from #3 to #5. Two names fall out of the top 25 entirely, Azaria Mbatha and Walter Westbrook, though both remain on the ranked 100, just outside it.

Top-25 turnover for the month sits at 8%. Two names in or out of twenty-five. A normal month, not a reshuffle.

What the data says

Every name in October's top 25 carries Okasen's verified tier, same as September's debut list. The pool behind the ranking grew slightly too, from 1,130 to 1,168 candidate artists.

Two recent sales sit behind this month's board. William Kentridge, now #1, sold at Aspire Art for ZAR 119,550 on 2026-08-25. Diane Victor, #8, sold at Strauss & Co for ZAR 80,000 on 2026-08-19. Neither sale alone explains a rank; Movers scores a pattern of activity across sales, shows and representation, not one result. Both artists' recent activity sits inside the window that fed this snapshot.

The broader tier context: the OKN Verified 100 index, the benchmark this cohort belongs to, is up 39.4% year over year. Read the Movers ranking as momentum, not market size. A high rank says an artist has been unusually active lately. It says nothing about how large their market is or what their work is worth.