MARLENE DUMAS

Early Years

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1953, Dumas grew up on a vineyard in Kuils River during the height of apartheid, an experience that would later inform her art's political and emotional depth. She studied Fine Art at the University of Cape Town from 1972 to 1975, where she was exposed to diverse cultures and ideas for the first time. In 1976, Dumas moved to the Netherlands to attend Ateliers '63 in Haarlem, later studying psychology at the University of Amsterdam. She has lived and worked in Amsterdam since 1976.

Marlene Dumas Artworks

Dumas's art practice centres on figurative painting and drawing, exploring themes such as sexuality, race, guilt, innocence, and the tension between public and private selves. Her works often draw from media imagery, art history, and personal photographs, transforming 'second-hand images' into emotionally resonant, first-hand experiences.

Early Developments and Seminal Works

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dumas began exhibiting internationally, developing her distinctive style through paintings, collages, and works on paper. Her early works, such as Love vs Death (1980), reflect her engagement with existential and political themes. This early painting is recognised as a monumentally chaotic early work that foregrounds many of the existential and emotional themes that define her practice. The painting is large in scale and notable for its raw, expressive brushwork and complex composition. In this artwork, Dumas explores the tension between opposing forces through a dynamic arrangement of figures and forms that appear to collide and dissolve into one another.

Portraiture and Identity

Dumas is renowned for her unconventional portraiture, including series like Great Men (2014–ongoing), which addresses homophobia, and The First People (1990), a set of monumental paintings of newborns that challenge traditional power dynamics. Her subjects range from public figures to strippers, infants, and herself, constantly probing the boundaries of vulnerability and strength.

Major Paintings and Series

Key works include The Image as Burden (1993), an iconic painting that explores the relationship between artist, subject, and image, and The Visitor (1995), which broke auction records for a living female artist. Dumas's paintings often evoke intimacy and discomfort, confronting viewers with desire, shame, and mortality.

Awards and Accolades

• Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts (2011)
• Düsseldorf Art Prize (2007)
• Johannes Vermeer Award (2012)
• Hans Theo Richter Prize for Drawing and Graphic Art (2017)
• Honorary degree, University of Antwerp
• Represented the Netherlands in the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Exhibitions

Marlene Dumas has been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at important institutions. Below is a selection of important exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions

• Marlene Dumas: The Image as Burden, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2014–2015)
• Measuring Your Own Grave, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; MoMA, New York; The Menil Collection, Houston (2008–2009)
• Broken White, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo; Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (2007)
• Cycladic Blues, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens (2024)
• Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2022)

In addition to the above, Dumas' work has appeared regularly in thematic exhibitions at the following institutions.

• Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Tate, London
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Further Reading

Dumas's work has been widely reviewed in leading publications, including Frieze, The Guardian, Financial Times, and Artforum.

FAQs

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