Name: Medusa Head
Brand: Keith Haring
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Keith Haring’s Medusa Head (signed) is estimated to be worth between £80,000 and £110,000. This aquatint print from 1986 is a rare artwork, with an auction history of seven total sales since its entry to the market in May 2004. Over the past five years, the hammer price has ranged from £92,047 in July 2020 to £96,497 in April 2024. The average annual growth rate of this piece is 4%. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 24.

Meaning & Analysis

This signed screen print from 1986 is a limited edition of 24 by Keith Haring. Medusa Head is rendered in Haring’s trademark linear style and shows an image of a hydra-like figure whose tentacles stem from its neck and merge into individual bodies across the image. This is one of the large prints in Haring’s body of work and is typical in his exclusive use of black, rounded lines against a white backdrop.

Haring appropriated the image of the Medusa from mythology and art history, best known for having hair made of snakes but here the image is subverted so that her head is removed and the tentacles morph into human figures. As a powerful symbol that represents a dangerous threat that deters other dangerous threats, an image of evil that repels evil, Haring’s print seems to be a depiction of the chaos of human life that was felt in 1980s New York.

Medusa Head is very large in scale and uses simplified shapes and line to form a clear visual language for the public to understand. Although Haring’s choice of subject matter is dark, his playful linear style makes this print universally appealing. The figures hanging off the ends of the Medusa’s tentacles appear as though dancing, as emphasised by Haring’s use of action lines that convey a sense of positive energy to the viewer.

Keith Haring was a luminary of the 1980s downtown New York scene. His distinctive visual language pioneered one-line Pop Art drawings and he has been famed for his colourful, playful imagery. Haring's iconic energetic motifs and figures were dedicated to influencing social change, and particularly challenging stigma around the AIDS epidemic. Haring also pushed for the accessibility of art by opening Pop Shops in New York and Japan, selling a range of ephemera starting from as little as 50 cents. Haring's legacy has been cemented in the art-activism scene and is a testament to power of art to inspire social change