Jan Harm Bakhuys
Marlene Dumas
PainterKnown for:
politically charged figurative painting; the Models series
Education:
University of Cape Town, Michaelis School of Fine Art; Ateliers '63, Haarlem
Marlene Dumas grew up in South Africa under apartheid and has lived and worked in Amsterdam since 1976, producing paintings and drawings that address the politics of representation - race, gender, sexuality, death - with a deliberately smudged, liquid technique that refuses the clean surfaces of photorealism. Her source material is consistently photographic - pornography, news images, personal photographs - which she transforms through her working process into something irreducibly painterly. Her The Teacher (Sub A) sold for $6.3 million in 2005.
Marlene Dumas's Gear List(3)
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Connection Source
WmagazineInterview
Connection note
Thins oil to near-turpentine consistency; grabs whatever paint is available rather than restricting to premium brands
Product description
Oil paint — pigment suspended in a drying oil, typically linseed — has been the dominant painting medium since the fifteenth century. It dries slowly, allowing extended blending, and produces a rich, luminous surface. Available from dozens of manufacturers at student through professional grades.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
