Magdalena I 1996

Marlene Dumas made this painting, Magdalena I, using diluted paint to build up washes of tone, with the white of the paper acting as the main source of light. The fluidity of the paint gives the figure an ethereal quality, like a ghost or a memory emerging from the depths. The paint is so thin it almost feels like you could run your finger across the surface without disturbing it. Notice how the artist uses drips and bleeds to define the form, especially in the hair and around the hands. There is a gorgeous kind of messiness here, a willingness to let the material do its thing. Dumas' work has a lot in common with Alice Neel, in that both artists have such a knack for capturing something psychologically raw in their portraits. What’s really cool about the way Dumas paints is that she lets the paint itself express the feeling, without getting too caught up in detail. It is like she is inviting us to bring our own stories and feelings to the image, rather than telling us what to think.