Erotic Painting By Marlene Dumas: In 2005, Dumas held the distinction of achieving the highest price ever at auction for a woman artist when her painting of 1987, entitled The Teacher (sub a), sold at Christie’s London in 2005 for £1.8 million ($3.3 million) . her current auction high was set when The Visitor (1995) sold in 2008 for £3,177,250 (over $6.3 million)
A superb, early erotic painting by internationally acclaimed Marlene Dumas, never before seen on the market adorns the catalogue cover of the first joint auction by the French and South African houses Piasa and Aspire on February 14 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Titled Oktober 1973, it is only the third Dumas painting ever offered at auction in South Africa. Estimated at £160,000 – £260,000 (R3–5million), the work is set to attract significant interest.
This erotic painting by world renowned artist Marlene Dumas is sure to set the art market alight when it comes to auction in Cape Town on 14 February 2020, in a landmark auction of modern and contemporary African art hosted by Aspire Art Auctions and the Paris-based Piasa.
Dumas, widely regarded as one of the most influential painters working today, grew up on a wine farm in the Cape, enjoying local schooling and university education, before relocating to Amsterdam in 1976.
Oktober 1973 was painted in Dumas’ second year at Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art during a time of local and global student uprisings seeking political and sexual liberation. This remarkable work, a refreshingly candid painting of a naked woman in the throes of erotic pleasure, fearlessly addresses many of the social issues of its time.
The large expanse of the pink torso with its green genitalia, pays homage to the powerful paintings of Pop artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Its painterly exuberance echoes that of the Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning who were exploring more gestural approaches.
However, it’s subject—erotic passion—was to become an abiding interest for the artist throughout her career. In many ways, this early painting prefigures later works such as those in her 2018 exhibition Marlene Dumas: Myths & Mortals at David Zwirner in New York.
Dumas has produced paintings, collages, drawings, prints and installations. She now works mainly with oil on canvas and ink on paper. The sources she uses for her imagery are diverse and include newspaper and magazine cuttings, personal memorabilia, Flemish paintings, and polaroid photographs.
The majority of her works may be categorised as ‘portraits‘, but they are not portraits in the traditional sense. Rather than representing an actual person, they represent an emotion or a state of mind. Themes central to Dumas’ work include race and sexuality, guilt and innocence, violence and tenderness.
French flair and passion from Piasa combined with South African energy and local knowledge from Aspire promises to deliver an auction sale of Modern & Contemporary African Art to remember on February 14th at 3pm in Cape Town.
This collaboration is unprecedented and represents the first time an African and European auction house have partnered to present a sale of African art, in Africa, for a global audience.
The landmark auction: Modern and Contemporary African Art takes place on Friday, 14 February at OroAfrica House in Cape Town. The curated collection comprises 198 lots, featuring 139 artists representing 27 countries from Africa and the diaspora. While presenting a broader pan-African offering, it spotlights key collecting segments from 20th Century modernism to contemporary production and photography.
Christophe Person, of French auction house Piasa, says: “The South African market is one of the most dynamic on the continent. But until now collectors have been mostly focussed on local artists and less on art from other African countries. What is special about this new partnership between Aspire and Piasa is that it offers a pan-African vision of contemporary creation.” Ruarc Peffers of Aspire, adds: ”We are delighted to be working with Piasa who have made significant inroads into the Contemporary African Art Market in Europe. Creating both depth and breadth geographically is one of the real excitements of this joint initiative.”
Ever-increasing global interest in art from Africa is changing the art market. To meet the growing demand, Aspire has partnered with Paris-based house Piasa, to introduce an Africa-focused auction that presents some of the best examples of modern and contemporary art produced on this continent.
VENUE
OroAfrica House, 170 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town
PUBLIC OPENING | VERNISSAGE
Tuesday, 11 February at 6 – 8:30 pm
PREVIEW DAYS
Wednesday 12 February 12 to 5 pm
Thursday 13 February 10 am to 5 pm
Friday 14 February 10 am to 3 pm
SALE ENQUIRIES:
Cape Town | +27 21 418 0765 | ct@aspireart.net
Johannesburg | +27 11 243 5243 | enquiries@aspireart.net
ABOUT US
Aspire Art Auctions is a South African-based, specialist auctioneering company and art consultancy formed to respond to the requirements of the continent’s rapidly growing art industry. Focused on modern and contemporary art, the company is headed by a grouping of partners and art specialists with formidable collective knowledge and expertise who ensures that works of art are presented in comprehensive historical and cultural contexts and on the best possible display platforms.