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    Marlene Dumas just had the highest sale ever recorded for a living female artist

    When you think of influential contemporary artists working today, who do you think of? And of that list, how many are women? As author and columnist Katy Hessel wrote in her 2022 book The Story of Art Without Men, a 2019 study showed that “in the collections of eighteen major US art museums, 87 per cent of artworks were by men, and 85 per cent by white artists.” So would you know that Marlene Dumas, a South African painter who lives in The Netherlands and has been painting for over 50 years, is one of the most influential artists working today? Would you know that she is so influential her 1997 painting Miss January just became the most expensive work ever sold by a living female artist? See on Instagram Standing at over nine feet tall and more than three feet wide, Miss January depicts a blonde woman with dark eyes, “nude from the waist down save for a single pink sock,” as The Art Newspaper wrote. The work would be sold at Christie’s auction house, at an anticipated range of $12-18 million dollars. If the work reached this threshold, it would be “highest price at auction for an artwork by a living female artist,” the auction house wrote. According to Sara Friedlander, Christie’s Deputy Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Miss January is Dumas’s “magnum opus.” Indeed, the auction house later wrote on Instagram that the work “threads the line between revealing and concealing, and serves as perhaps the best example of her influential female portraiture.” The work did reach this threshold, and sold for $13.6M with fees, $11.5m without, The Art Newspaper reported. The publication added that though the auction was otherwise a quiet one, the works that received the top bids were all by women artists and that “tonight was a story of women,” as art adviser Wendy Cromwell told them. Still, despite all her accolades, Dumas is not a household name the way some of her contemporaries are, according to Artnet. Even so, it doesn’t seem to matter. See on Instagram Dumas has shown her work, which features potent and sometimes cheeky depictions of people across all walks of life, in museums around the world, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, among many others. As Hessel wrote on Instagram in time for the Christie’s auction, Dumas “is acute at creating an evocative smoke-like texture that leaves you spellbound. Her paintings feel like memories or images lodged in the back of your mind.” In 2021, museum director Donatien Grau perhaps described Dumas’s influence best to the BBC. “As opposed to other artists, there is no one way in which she paints…She's consistently redefining, reinventing, trying things,” he said. “ She is a master, in the classical sense: she makes masterpieces." Dumas was an important artist long before her work broke records at auctions, however. In her work, we can see the necessity of understanding and accurately reflecting the role of women artists throughout history, as well as giving them the space they deserve to thrive today. Here’s to only more record-breaking work from female artists in the future. See on Instagram

    Unlock3d and Unstoppable: Jesol’s Mission to Empower Through Music

    Jesol is more than an artist name—it’s a declaration of purpose. A fusion of her real name, Jenae, and the word soul, Jesol represents truth, depth, and raw emotion. Hailing from the small but mighty town of Penns Grove, New Jersey, she carries the strength, resilience, and grit of her hometown into every lyric, melody, and move she makes. Jesol’s music is inspired by life itself—her children, her pain, her healing, and the people still finding their way through the dark. What started as a personal escape evolved into a calling: to use her voice to heal, empower, and connect. Her songs like “Two Sides” and, new single on the way “Save Kensington” are rooted in authenticity, offering a soundtrack for anyone navigating life’s harder moments. As the founder of Unlock3d Records, Jesol turned her vision into a platform. From building her label from the ground up to partnering with industry giants like EMPIRE and Roc Nation for distribution, she’s redefining what it means to move with purpose and integrity in the music industry. Her message is clear: Your pain has a purpose. Your story matters. And no matter where you come from, you can win.Jesol is living proof that even the deepest wounds can be transformed into power—and now, she’s opening the door for others to do the same. Unlock3d Records is actively looking for rising talent—artists who are ready to break barriers and elevate, not just in music but in life. If you’re hungry, gifted, and walking with intention, Jesol wants to hear from you. This isn’t just a label—it’s a movement.

    The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull: A Book Review

    The Paris Deception  Author: Bryn Turnbull Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: MIRA Release Date: 2023 Pages: 434 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: From internationally bestselling author Bryn Turnbull comes a breathtaking novel about art theft and forgery in Nazi-occupied Paris, and two brave women who risk their lives rescuing looted masterpieces from Nazi destruction.      Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families.         Fabienne Brandt was a rising star in the Parisian bohemian arts movement until the Nazis put a stop to so-called “degenerate” modern art. Still mourning the loss of her firebrand husband, she’s resolved to muddle her way through the occupation in whatever way she can—until her estranged sister-in-law, Sophie, arrives at her door with a stolen painting in hand.      Soon the two women embark upon a plan to save Paris’s “degenerates,” working beneath the noses of Germany’s top art connoisseurs to replace the paintings in the Jeu de Paume with skillful forgeries—but how long can Sophie and Fabienne sustain their masterful illusion?     My Review: Sophie Dix is a German who fled the country during the takeover of the Nazi regime. She works at a museum in Paris where she restores art artifacts. She has an estranged sister-in-law, Fabienne who is a Bohemian artist. During the Nazi occupation of Paris, the two women will embark on a dangerous journey to save art. They will hide the original paintings and forge them to protect the original collections. How long can these women manage to sustain their forgeries?       I found both Sophie and Fabienne to be very compelling figures. They have both lost loved ones. Therefore, I found them to be very sympathetic. I also thought that their emotions felt very real. They feel sorrow and bitterness. I could connect with them. I also admire their bravery as they risk their lives to save art. Thus, these women face the challenges of protecting their love of art and their loved ones. I could not help but be invested in their story and see how it would end. I love how both Fabienne and Sophie had true grit.       Overall, this novel is about courage, loss, war, and art. I did not care for the other characters. They felt very flat and some of them were very cliche. I also thought that The Paris Deception was very slow moving. It took me halfway through the story until I was drawn into it. Nevertheless, I did like how the book ended. I also thought The Paris Deception was eloquently written and filled with vivid imagery of the Nazi occupation of Paris! It showed the grim realities of war and did not sugarcoat it! I recommend this for fans of The Rose Code, The Stolen Lady, and Chateau of Secrets! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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