Perseus Beheading Medusa, IV 1945

André Racz created this intaglio print, "Perseus Beheading Medusa, IV," in 1945. Racz’s surrealist take on the classical myth invites us to consider the politics of imagery and the social conditions of artistic production during and after World War II. The mid-20th century was a time of immense violence and social upheaval, and many artists turned to mythology as a way to grapple with the anxieties of the modern world. The story of Perseus and Medusa can be seen as a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil, order and chaos, or reason and irrationality. How does Racz's abstraction comment on existing social structures, or the institutions of art? Historians consult a wide range of resources to understand the place of art within its social and institutional contexts.