Canary Death

The inspiration for this work was a newspaper photograph of a drowned migrant drifted ashore. Since the beginning of this millennium the world has been confronted with increasingly tragic reports of sea crossings unsuccessfully attempted by African refugees whose bodies have been washed up on Mediterranean beaches and the shores of islands such as the Italian Lampedusa or the Spanish Canary Islands, beaches previously famed as tourist paradises for their beautiful sand and sunny weather.

In 2003 Dumas painted a darker version of the same subject called Drowned.

Is commentary useful. I say yes.
Is not all the necessary information contained in the work itself?
I say no. It is largely contained outside the work.
(MD 1992)