Portrait of Amy Winehouse acquired by National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery has just announced its purchase of Amy-Blue, a work by South African artist Marlene Dumas produced in 2011 which portrays the iconic English singer, deceased that very same year.

Amy Winehouse was born in 1983. She grew up in North London and was soon noticed for her extraordinary, coarse and distinctive voice, which propelled her to international stardom as well as to lead a very tumultuous life. She was an object of fascination to the world, be it for her talents as a singer and songwriter, as well as for her issues with alcohol and drugs which caused her to die prematurely.

The painting was acquired by the Gallery with support from the Art Fund, and will be on display from now onwards in the Gallery. A close-up representation of Amy Winhehouse’s face, featuring her distinctive eyeliner makeup, the painting was made in various shades of “rich, translucent blues” which “allude to Amy Winehouse’s musical influences as much as to the melancholy details of her career”, according to Sarah Howgate, Contemporary Curator at the National Portrait Gallery.

Marlene Dumas particularly admired Amy Winehouse’s musical talent, as did many others internationally. According to the Gallery’s news release, she is known to portray “the abject and the disenfranchised”, such as children, religious figures or media personalities.