The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 18, 2025
Medusa
1994
(American)
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
Location: Not on view
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.- Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
- {{cite web|title=Medusa|url=false|author=Barbara Petter Putnam|year=1994|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.265