Marlene Dumas – Chernobyl Child

1986 

An exceptionally rare and powerful lithograph by internationally acclaimed artist Marlene Dumas, titled Chernobyl Child .

Hand-signed and dated “1986” in pencil at the lower left 
Hand-numbered in pencil - from an extremely limited edition of just 20 copies
Titled “Chernobyl Child” in pencil at the center of the bottom margin.
on 250 gsm B.F.K. Rives paper

The composition is emotionally intense: the back of a child’s head rendered in raw, expressive strokes, while delicate cartographic textures and ghostly childlike hands emerge from the lower half of the image. At once tender and haunting, the work evokes both innocence and the lasting trauma of the Chernobyl disaster — a poignant commentary on vulnerability and human suffering.

The work is part of a series held in a.o. in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, underscoring its institutional significance and cultural value.

Literature: Marlene Dumas – Sweet Nothings. Notes and Texts, Galerie Paul Andriesse & De Balie Publishers, Amsterdam, 1998, p. 30.

The work is professionally framed to museum standards in a double, acid-free floating mount on linen, within a custom, handcrafted wooden frame with Plexiglas® Optical HC, offering UV protection, scratch resistance, and minimal reflection.
Size framed : approx. 100 × 80 cm

Marlene Dumas (b. 1953) is regarded as one of the most influential contemporary artists of her generation. Her work explores themes of identity, vulnerability, corporeality, and political representation. Often based on found or media images, her portraits transform photography into emotionally charged painterly narratives. Dumas’s works are held in major international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, Tate Modern, London, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.