Marlene Dumas

Marlene Dumas painted this self-portrait a year after her mother died, in 2007, at twelve o'clock in the afternoon. The title Selfportrait at Noonsuggests that this work came about at a precise point in time. It sooner refers to a captured moment, such as a photograph or a glance in the mirror, than to a lengthy painterly process. Dumas often paints swiftly; that fleeting quality is visible in the work. There is so little paint on the canvas that the white background shows through in some areas, as though the brush has scarcely touched the surface. The painting was shown along with other works in For Whom the Bell Tolls. In this exhibition Dumas expressed grieving the loss of her mother by painting, among others, movie stars who are crying. About that exhibition Dumas has said the following: "For Whom the Bell Tolls was about loss and leaving, but also about transformation and freedom. A soul that has been set free. My grief and her release."