The Raft of Medusa
- Artist: Martin Kippenberger
- Date: 1996
- Medium: 14 lithographs on paper
- Dimensions: Overall display dimensions variable
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "The Raft of Medusa" by Martin Kippenberger, a 1996 series of fourteen lithographs. It’s a playful yet tense take on the famous 1818–19 painting by Théodore Géricault. Kippenberger’s wife, photographer Elfie Semotan, staged photos of him striking the same dramatic, desperate poses that Géricault captured on a ruined raft. From those photos he printed the lithographs, each a different size, creating a dialogue between the original tragedy and his own personal crisis – he was battling liver cancer at the time. In the prints, you can see the raw emotion he let out, almost as if the ink itself was his release. Géricault’s work is all about looming death and the thin hope of rescue; Kippenberger’s version keeps that tension alive but also hints at survival through the act of creating. This particular print is number ten of a twenty‑six edition, and it reminds us how an artist can turn personal turmoil into a powerful visual conversation.
See it in person
The Raft of Medusa is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
