Updated Oktober 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 37 works by Marlene Dumas in our catalogue
In short
To the gallery's eye, Marlene Dumas's most famous painting is The Painter (1994). The Accident (1986) and Young Boy (Blue Body) (2008) complete the trio every eye recognises. Of the 37 works by Marlene Dumas in our catalog, the gallery presents the 37 most famous below, each original with its year, its museum and what makes it unique.
Although based on a snapshot of Dumas’s daughter finger painting on a hot summer day, the child in The Painter is far removed from the little girl in the photograph. Dumas intentionally uses an aesthetic of the indistinct; the thinly painted background and the unevenly colored figure—sketchy in part and incomplete at the feet—reveal the artist’s fascination with the expressive qualities of non finito. The abstract, painterly characteristics of the…
In 2015, Marlene Dumas produced Skulls, a work that centers on the stark reality of mortality and death. The painting presents a series of skulls, stripping the human form down to its most essential, skeletal remains. These objects are arranged in a row, stripped of the flesh and identity that once defined them. The subject matter focuses on the inevitability of the end, using the skull as a primary vessel…
Marlene Dumas's „Schädel“, gemalt im Jahr 2015, ist nicht bloß eine Darstellung der Sterblichkeit; es ist eine zutiefst persönliche Meditation über die Zerbrechlichkeit der Existenz, durchzogen von Echos der südafrikanischen Geschichte und der beunruhigenden Macht des fotografischen Gedächtnisses. Das Gemälde konfrontiert den Betrachter unmittelbar mit einer kargen Anordnung: eine Reihe von Schädeln, die vor einem gedämpften, fast gebleichten Hintergrund präsentiert werden – eine bewusste Entscheidung, die ihre Präsenz verstärkt und…
Keine Interviews, bitte1989 · Serralves Stiftung
12
Big Artists1991 · Amsterdam Museum
13
The Last Supper, Marlene Dumas, c. 1985 - c. 19911991
14
Untitled (497)
15
Untitled (672)
16
Untitled (791)
17
Untitled (596)
18
Untitled (572)
19
Untitled (141)
20
Untitled (111)
21
Untitled (497)
22
Untitled (501)
23
Untitled (106)
24
Untitled (690)
25
Untitled (391)
26
Untitled (510)
27
Untitled (438)
28
Untitled (915)
29
Untitled (342)
30
Untitled (987)
31
Untitled (543)
32
Untitled (571)
33
Untitled (101)
34
Oh, Oh, Oh, Not AgainNationalmuseum der Frau im Kunstschaffen
35
Skulls2015 · La Biennale di Venezia
36
Die Vergeblichkeit des künstlerischen GeständnissesBonnefanten Museum
37
Snowwhite in the wrong StoryBonnefanten Museum
The four subjects that come back most often in these originals, each with its finest example.
The 6 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Marlene Dumas | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 La Biennale di Venezia |
Venedig | 3 | Skulls, Schädel, Skulls |
 Bonnefanten Museum |
Maastricht | 2 | Die Vergeblichkeit des künstlerischen Geständnisses, Snowwhite in the wrong Story |
 Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen |
München | 1 | The Accident |
 Serralves Stiftung |
Porto | 1 | Keine Interviews, bitte |
 Amsterdam Museum |
Amsterdam | 1 | Big Artists |
 Nationalmuseum der Frau im Kunstschaffen |
Washington, D.C. | 1 | Oh, Oh, Oh, Not Again |
Pick a decade to see the original that defines it.
Although based on a snapshot of Dumas’s daughter finger painting on a hot summer day, the child in The Painter is far removed from the little girl in the photograph. Dumas intentionally uses an aesthetic of the indistinct; the thinly painted background and the unevenly colored figure—sketchy in part and incomplete at the feet—reveal the artist’s fascination with the expressive qualities of non finito. The abstract, painterly characteristics of the…
In 2015, Marlene Dumas produced Skulls, a work that centers on the stark reality of mortality and death. The painting presents a series of skulls, stripping the human form down to its most essential, skeletal remains. These objects are arranged in a row, stripped of the flesh and identity that once defined them. The subject matter focuses on the inevitability of the end, using the skull as a primary vessel…
The Painter (1994). The Accident (1986) and Young Boy (Blue Body) (2008) come next.
41 years old: The Painter dates from 1994, and Marlene Dumas was born in 1953.
The Painter, The Accident, Young Boy (Blue Body), Untitled (675), Untitled (830), Untitled (347), Untitled (681), Untitled (807), Skulls and Schädel. The ranking above gives each one's year and museum.
Our catalog holds 37 works by Marlene Dumas, dated from 1986 to 2015.
Mostly in La Biennale di Venezia (Venedig), Bonnefanten Museum (Maastricht) and Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (München). The museum table above lists them all.
In 1990s: 3 of the 37 works on this page were made then, The Painter among them.
On this page, the earliest is The Accident (1986) and the latest Skulls (2015).
Portraiture (3), Human form (3) and Emotional portrait (2), across the 37 works on this page.
Zeitgenössischer realismus, judging by the originals on this page.
Skulls, Schädel and Skulls: the La Biennale di Venezia, Venedig holds 3 of the works on this page.
