Keith Haring Medusa Head 1986 is a monumental work and  one of the artist’s most ambitiously commanding works, a striking fusion of classical mythology and the raw immediacy of his urban visual language. Stretching across an immense surface, the composition brims with a dense, labyrinthine network of serpentine forms—an electrified reimagining of the mythic Gorgon, Medusa. Haring transforms the ancient symbol of power and terror into a pulsating field of line and energy, a surface alive with writhing movement and hypnotic rhythm.

Created at the height of his career, Medusa Head epitomizes Haring’s ability to collapse the boundaries between past and present, between antiquity and the graffiti-scarred walls of 1980s New York. The work’s overwhelming scale and intricacy immerse the viewer, commanding both awe and contemplation. Rather than presenting Medusa as a singular monstrous figure, Haring disperses her energy into a tangle of multiplying forms, reflecting his fascination with excess, chaos, and the transformative power of imagery.

With its bold execution and relentless intensity, Medusa Head stands as a masterpiece of Haring’s mature period—an audacious dialogue with art history that is at once mythic and modern. It is both a celebration of life’s wild, uncontainable force and a reminder of the enduring resonance of symbols across centuries.

Created in 1986,  Keith Haring Untitled 1986 (Medusa Head) is hand-signed by Keith Haring (Reading, 1958 – New York, 1990) in pencil in the bottom right margin and numbered from the edition of 24.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Keith Haring Untitled 1986 (Medusa Head) is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Littmann, Klaus. Keith Haring: Editions on Paper 1982-1990 (The Complete Printed Works). Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 1993. Listed and illustrated on pg 54-55.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Keith Haring Untitled 1986 (Medusa Head) is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.