Collector’s Treasure: Marlene Dumas – Intimate Relations Catalogue
Pretoria – Marlene Dumas is an extraordinary talent, recognized as a leading international visual artist.
The artist, who hails from South Africa and currently resides in Amsterdam, has achieved the status of the top-selling female artist globally.
In May 2025, her 1997 artwork, Miss January, fetched a staggering $13.6 million at Christie’s auction in New York.
This sale marked a record for a living female artist at that time.
Marlene Dumas, born on 3 August 1953 in South Africa, spent her formative years in Stellenbosch but opted to distance herself from that environment.
She made the political choice to relocate to Amsterdam, driven by her opposition to the apartheid regime.
“Intimate Relations” serves as a catalogue for an exhibition that toured South Africa.
The exhibition was displayed at the Iziko South African National Gallery in 2007 and the Standard Bank Gallery in 2008.
The co-curation was a collaboration between Marlene Dumas and Emma Bedford.
This exhibition catalogue (in book form) is now out of print and is considered quite rare.
It is a true treasure for those who appreciate South African art, documenting Dumas’s inaugural solo exhibition in her home country.
The catalogue pays tribute to the cherished Afrikaans poet, Ingrid Jonker.
Additionally, it references Shakespeare’s Ophelia, linking to Jonker’s tragic drowning.
The catalogue showcases a diverse and substantial collection of Marlene Dumas’s works and is priced at R 500, with an additional courier fee of R 100. It’s a must-have for collectors.
The pieces are both intimate and profoundly expressive.
“Intimate Relations” can be purchased from Magic Tree Books, located at 1051 Pierneef Street, Villieria, Pretoria.
If you’re in the area, we invite you to explore our shelves.
To place an order: mia.appletree@gmail.com
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