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Medusa

1994
(American)
America, 20th century
woodcut
Support: Japanese tissue
Sheet: 69.5 x 131.8 cm (27 3/8 x 51 7/8 in.); Image: 60.7 x 121.8 cm (23 7/8 x 47 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.265
Impression: 1
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

Contemporary artists often work on a very large scale so that the image confronts the viewer aggessively. Putnam's portrait of a tree, appropriately cut from a plank of wood, is a powerful image. The title Medusa refers to a beautiful maiden whose hair, like the branches of the tree, was her chief glory. She dared to challenge the goddess Minerva, who changed Medusa's beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents, making her a terrible monster.
Medusa

Medusa

1994

Barbara Petter Putnam

(American)
America, 20th century

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