HELL – Jaume Plensa (2006)

In this piercing lithograph from the Serie Anónimos, Jaume Plensa confronts the viewer with a child’s solemn face, suspended in soft shadow and inscribed with the word HELL. The black ink streaks down like tears or wounds, invoking a stark emotional landscape that transcends the image. The features are delicate, yet the word — bold, cracked, inevitable — collapses the distance between viewer and subject.

Printed on translucent vegetal paper in 2006 by Grifoll (Rubí, Barcelona), this piece belongs to a limited yet widely dispersed series that explores human dignity under erasure. Where Plensa’s public sculptures invoke collective silence, these prints scream quietly. HELL is not metaphor, but declaration — the kind only a child’s stare can make unbearable.

• Object: Lithograph
• Title: HELL
• Artist / Author: Jaume Plensa
• Date: 2006
• Technique / Printing Method: Offset lithography
• Medium / Materials: Ink on translucent vegetal paper
• Edition: Open edition (Serie Anónimos)
• Signed: No (studio identification present)
• Framing: Mounted on archival board (unframed)
• Dimensions: 30 × 22 cm (image), 39 × 28 cm (mounted)
• Condition: Excellent
• Provenance: Darwin Collection