Dutch ambassador Rob de Vos, middle, with the Foundation’s Sello Hatang (left), Achmat Dangor, Boniswa Nyati and Verne Harris
March 10, 2009 – One of South Africa’s most prominent artists, Marlene Dumas, today gifted Nelson Mandela with a portrait of him as a younger man.
The portrait, handed over at a small ceremony at the Nelson Mandela Foundation today by Dutch ambassador Rob de Vos on behalf of Dumas, who resides in the Netherlands, has the handwritten message “Would you trust this man with your daughter?” across the bottom.
“It’s a little risqué,” said the Foundation’s Memory programme Manager Verne Harris, who accepted the portrait on behalf of Mr Mandela, “but I think Madiba will like it.”
From left, the Foundation’s Boniswa Nyati, CEO Achmat Dangor and Verne Harris share a smile at the handover of the portrait
The work was done in 2004 and was described by De Vos as “enormously valuable”.
“We’ll frame the sketch and Mr Mandela will make a decision on whether or not we will be allowed to put it on display,” said the CEO of the Foundation, Achmat Dangor.
Marlene Dumas was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1953 and studied at the University of Cape Town before moving to the Netherlands where she has lived ever since.
“We regard her as a gift to the Netherlands,” De Vos joked at the event.