CCA alum and visiting artist Jules de Balincourt's (BFA Painting and Ceramics 1998) market value is fast approaching the half-million-dollar mark per painting, as reported last week by the Wall Street Journal.

Also reported, Charles Saatchi, the cofounder (with his brother, Maurice) of global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and owner of London-based Saatchi Gallery, was among the first at Christie’s, the world-leading art auctioneer with 53 offices in 32 countries, in London to purchase the French-born artist’s works, where The People that Play and the People that Pay sold for $343,907. (Not quite a record-breaking deal, but close; at its June auction Christie's sold de Balincourt’s U.S. World Studies II for $417,834!)

Note the artist’s first work at auction, Great Outdoors, sold at Christie’s in May 2007 for $33,600. Clearly the Brooklyn-based artist is positioned in the market as one of the major players in the contemporary art scene.

The Paris-born painter isn’t slowing down, either. Premonitions, de Balincourt’s spring solo exhibition, which ran April 1–24 at Deitch Projects in New York, is considered his most comprehensive and diverse exhibition to date, with over 15 new abstract and figurative paintings that ranged in size from an album cover to a mural. The Village Voice's Christian Viveros-Fauné recently described the artist: "More elusive, assured, and parody-resistant than most painters his age. . . ."

CCA's Community

An undeniable feather in the cap of California College of the Arts—not only for his demonstrable commercial success, but also because Jules de Balincourt represents the innovative, community-minded artist for which CCA is known to cultivate.

In 2006 de Balincourt founded Starr Space (formerly known as Starr Street Projects), a Brooklyn-based alternative art space that for three years offered diverse community programming, art events, church parties, and fundraisers. His goal, as stated on the ArtObserved website, was to "encompass even more diverse happenings, leading to a regular congregation that reflects the quickening evolvement of the neighborhood." And from his public statement posted on Star Space site, the artist pays tribute to everyone responsible for "fostering an incredible sense of camaraderie and community."

Such appreciation and commitment to community quickly identifies de Balincourt as one of CCA's own.

About Jules de Balincourt

Jules de Balincourt's prominence as a fine artist, known for frequently using stencils, tape, knives, and spray paint in the creation of his work, is as vibrant and exciting as his paintings—ones that have adorned the walls in such world-renowned galleries and museums as Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Palais de Tokyo in Paris, to name just a few. He's been featured in high-profile exhibitions including Greater New York at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Museum of Modern Art in New York, and USA Today at The Royal Academy in London.