Julie Mehretu

Dissident Score represents a rare opportunity to acquire a museum scale, A calibre work from Julie Mehretu’s most important contemporary body of work. At nine by ten feet, the painting sits at the upper end of scale for the blur series and embodies the full ambition of this pivotal phase in her practice.

Art historically, the work belongs to Mehretu’s blur paintings, introduced around 2016 and widely regarded as a decisive evolution in her career. In this series, digitally altered source imagery drawn from global political and social crises is translated onto canvas through airbrush and gestural mark making, pushing representation toward abstraction while retaining emotional and intellectual force. This body of work has become central to her critical reputation and institutional relevance.

From a market perspective, works of this calibre are exceptionally scarce. For the past decade, primary works have been subject to long resale restrictions, resulting in no direct secondary private sale comparables for Dissident Score. Only twenty paintings from this series have been released in total. Nine were shown in London in 2018, ten in London in 2023, and a single work was presented for the opening of White Cube New York. The majority are materially smaller, and only a very small number approach the scale and quality of Dissident Score.

Demand at this level has been clearly demonstrated. At the most recent London exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey in September 2023, ten paintings from the series were placed at approximately three point five to seven million US dollars under strict conditions, including long resale restrictions and highly selective placement with top tier collectors possessing public or institutional facing spaces. This disciplined release strategy reinforces both scarcity and long term market stability.

Strategically, Dissident Score combines scale, institutional relevance, and philanthropic context, strengthening its long term significance within Mehretu’s oeuvre. Given the limited supply, restricted circulation, and sustained demand for this body of work, opportunities to acquire a painting of this calibre are likely to remain extremely rare.