Medusa 1959

Frank Mason’s Medusa is a swirl of dark brown and gold. The painting looks like it was worked and reworked, with the paint applied in thin layers that build up a scumbled, textural surface. I imagine Mason in his studio, brush in hand, circling this image of Medusa, trying to capture the horror and the beauty. The snakes in her hair aren't just snakes, they're also brushstrokes, writhing lines of paint that seem to have a life of their own. The gold background glows, giving her a kind of eerie halo. It must have been a bit of a struggle. Painters always work in dialogue with one another, trying to outdo each other. Mason was clearly looking at the old masters, at their dramatic use of light and shadow. But he's also doing something new, pushing the boundaries of representation, and creating a Medusa that is both terrifying and strangely sympathetic. And now we are continuing the chain!