Marlene Dumas - Lot with four books: Marlene Dumas – Intimate Relations – Johannesburg, Jacana Media and Amsterdam, Roma Publications 2007 In 4to, 21 x 26 cm., publisher’s original paperback with flaps, first edition, first printing, 139 pages, lavishly illustrated throughout, text: English, fine condition. This volume was produced for the first major retrospective exhibition of artist Marlene Dumas in her home country, South Africa—held at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town (November 7, 2007 – January 13, 2008) and the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg (February 5 – March 29, 2008). The book combines a rich selection of color and black-and-white plates with critical essays by prominent intellectuals and curators: Marilyn Martin: Preface. Emma Bedford: An essay on the dynamics of intimacy and relationships in Dumas’s work. Marlene van Niekerk: A piece titled "Mass for the Painter." Achille Mbembe and Sarah Nuttall: A reflection centered on the human face. It also includes writings and personal reflections by Dumas herself, such as poems, love letters, and the text "Adult Entertainment or What Do I Do." Over the years, this volume has become an essential reference for collectors and scholars of Dumas’s paintings. + Marlene Dumas – Miss Interpreted – Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven 1992 in 4to, 21,5 x 26,2 cm., publisher’s original pictorial glossy hardcover, first edition, first printing, 116 pages, lavishly illustrated throughout, text: Dutch, fine condition. Miss Interpreted was the first major solo museum exhibition by South African artist Marlene Dumas, held at the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven from March 15 to April 19, 1992. The exhibition and its renowned accompanying catalog represent a milestone in contemporary art. The title, Miss Interpreted—a play on words suggesting both "interpreted" and "misinterpreted"—reflects Dumas’s ironic and critical stance toward the tendency of critics and the public to over-interpret or rigidly categorize her work. The exhibition brought together approximately 65 key pieces created between the 1980s and 1992, including distorted serial portraits, somber images of children, and studies of male and female nudes. Among the seminal paintings on display was the celebrated work “Losing (Her Meaning)”. The catalog documents the complex relationship Dumas explores between written text and painting, highlighting how her titles and personal reflections do not serve to provide a definitive explanation of the work; rather, they are intended to spark the viewer's imagination, leaving the meaning open and fluid. The title of this event also inspired a well-known 1997 biographical documentary, “Miss Interpreted (Marlene Dumas)”—directed by Rudolf Evenhuis and Joost Verhey—which offers an in-depth look at the artist’s creative process. + Ilaria Bonacossa: Marlene Dumas – Milano, Mondadori Electa 2006 in 8vo, 17 x 21 cm., publisher’s original paperback with flaps, first edition, first printing, 108 pages, lavishly illustrated throughout, text: Italian, fine condition. This volume is part of Supercontemporanea, a series edited by Francesco Bonami, designed to offer accessible yet authoritative essays on the most significant figures in contemporary international art. The book examines the work of the renowned South African artist Marlene Dumas (born in Cape Town in 1953, but active in the Netherlands). The essay explores her distinctive painterly practice, which centers on the human figure and addresses complex, provocative themes such as the body, sexuality, suffering, apartheid, motherhood, and stereotypes regarding race and gender. Bonacossa traces the artist’s career, highlighting her unique expressive style—one that bridges the emotional intensity of figurative painting with a profound conceptual reflection on mass-media imagery. + Marlene Dumas – Suspect – a cura di Gianni Romano – Milano/Ginevra, Skira 2003 Oblong 8vo, 24 x 16 cm, publisher’s original paperback with flaps, first edition, first printing, 95 pages, lavishly illustrated throughout, text: Italian/English, fine condition. This is the official catalogue for the South African artist’s landmark solo exhibition, held that same year at the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice. The work explores Marlene Dumas’s artistic investigation into the human figure, focusing on the interplay of gazes and a skepticism toward the notion that images can ever convey absolute truth. The volume includes reflective writings by the artist herself—such as "Suspect," "Simplicity," and "About Heaven"—in which she examines the very structure of painting and drawing based on photographic and mass-media imagery, alongside critical contributions from the curators. Careful protective packaging, tracked shipping