MARLENE DUMAS | Kissing

Galerie Stampa, Basel
Private Collection, Europe
Sale: Christie's, 9 February 2006, lot 223
Purchased from the above sale by the present owner

Dominic van den Boogerd, Barbara Bloom and Mariuccia , Eds., Marlene Dumas, New York 1999, p. 103, illustrated

Colour: The catalogue illustration is fairly accurate although the tomnality of the background tends more towards a softer cream in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Each sheet is attached verso to the backing board in several places and undulates slightly. Some of the edges on each sheet are deckled and there are artist's pinholes to the upper edge of each sheet.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Ethereal and yet lifelike, otherworldly and yet poignantly figurative, Kissing is an immaculate filmic narrative of passion and eroticism by the South African born artist and painter Marlene Dumas. Rendered in a dreamlike ink wash on paper, the softness of the figuration – the delicacy of the forms’ outlines – represents pictorially an experience suffused with rising pleasure and anticipation of euphoria. With consummate sensualism, Dumas arranges with Kissing an erotic exchange between artist, viewer, and picture. The division of the work into four diaphanous stills leaves an enticing liminal space in which the viewer can imagine the rapturous intensification of each. This work on behalf of the viewer amplifies the artist’s own bodily presence, as Dumas’ gestural, expressive brushstrokes caress the contours of the figures; imbuing the paper with a heightened sexuality. As Dumas herself puts it, “I am not disengaged from the subject of my gaze. With photographic activities it is possible that those who take the picture leave no trace of their presence, and are absent from the images. Paintings exist as the traces of their makers and by the grace of these traces. You can’t take a painting – you make a painting” (Marlene Dumas cited in: Dominic van den Boogerd, Barbara Bloom, Mariuccia Casadio, Marlene Dumas, London 1999, p. 122). Dumas’ painting in watercolour and ink wash began in the early 1990s. While Dumas delights in artistically conjuring sexual apotheosis – the water-saturated, fluid figures of the Models series providing tantalising glimpse of unknown ecstasies –  Dumas’ other works in the medium, such as the Rejects series, evoke an emotional vulnerability conferring a pathos to her erotic work. Pervading her work like a musical motif, this tonal duality grants Kissing an implacable sadness that somehow sharpens and refines the pleasures depicted.