This painting was acquired directly from Deng Chol, one of the great South Sudanese artists at work today. Deng told Muhumuza that the work was inspired by the poignant poetry of a Dinka dwarf named Manyuat Maliik, who was despised by his own mother and resented by his own father. Thus “War and the Sun” is a painting of pain and hope, he said. For the collector, it was the combination of mystery and danger inherent in the semi-abstract picture that won him over, and Deng’s application of color lifts the painting from the sad story underpinning it. Deng, who was born in 1982, was educated in fine art at Helwan University in Cairo. His pictures are inspired by local tradition, mythology, and belief systems.
