Tania Marmolejo’s glossy portraits of wide-eyed women make an impact

Tania Marmolejo, a New York-based, Swedish-Dominican artist who paints large, cartoonish portraits of wide-eyed women in otherworldly settings, is a rising star with impressive auction results.

Tania Marmolejo's HENI Score—a unique artist sentiment index based on media coverage and sales—increased by an impressive 212% over the last three months. This jump coincides with the growing demand for her work at auction, especially in Asia. Her secondary market sales have totaled $1.24m over the past two years.

Marmolejo's painting The Interruption (2021) sold for $97,300 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2023, more than three and half times its estimate. You Can't Join Us (2020) sold for $96,300 at Phillips, Hong Kong in 2022, two and a half times its low estimate. But her painting Secrets of the Rainforest (2020), which had a $50,400 estimate, did not find a buyer at Ravenel, Taipei, in June 2024.

Marmolejo's works have recently been spotlighted in several exhibitions, notably those hosted by Lyle O. Reitzel, Dominican Republic, Eligere Gallery, Seoul, Nicodim, Los Angeles, and a sell-out show in 2023, at Villazan Gallery in Madrid. While she has had numerous solo commercial shows around the world, she has not had a solo museum exhibition so far.

The artist, who began her career a fashion illustrator and commercial artist, creating characters and backgrounds for MTV, PBS and Hyperion/Disney, is also a successful textile designer.

To keep track of Tania Marmolejo’s shows and sales, see the artist’s HENI News Dashboard.