Collector’s Gem: Marlene Dumas – Intimate Relations Catalogue

Pretoria – Marlene Dumas stands out as an exceptional talent, hailed as a prominent international visual artist.

Originating from South Africa and now based in Amsterdam, she is celebrated as the highest-selling female artist in the world.

In May 2025, her 1997 piece, Miss January, was sold for an astonishing $13.6 million at Christie’s auction in New York.

This sale set a record for a living female artist at that moment.

Marlene Dumas, born on August 3, 1953, in South Africa, spent her early years in Stellenbosch but chose to separate herself from that environment.

She made a significant political choice to move to Amsterdam, motivated by her opposition to the apartheid regime.

“Intimate Relations” serves as a catalogue for an exhibition that toured South Africa.

The exhibition appeared at the Iziko South African National Gallery in 2007 and the Standard Bank Gallery in 2008.

This project was co-curated by Marlene Dumas and Emma Bedford.

Now out of print, this exhibition catalogue (in book form) is considered quite a rarity.

It is a genuine gem for those who appreciate South African art, documenting Dumas’s first solo exhibition in her home country.

The catalogue pays homage to the beloved Afrikaans poet, Ingrid Jonker.

It also references Shakespeare’s Ophelia, alluding to Jonker’s tragic drowning.

This catalogue features a rich and varied collection of Marlene Dumas’s artwork and retails for R 500, with an additional courier fee of R 100. A must-have for collectors.

The pieces are both intimate and deeply expressive.

“Intimate Relations” can be purchased from Magic Tree Books, located at 1051 Pierneef Street, Villieria, Pretoria.

If you’re nearby, we encourage you to browse our selections.

To place an order: mia.appletree@gmail.com

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