RAFT 1
COMMISSIONED BY KARL KOPP
The work references the dead and desperate survivors in Gericault’s dramatic painting below. Theodore Gericault was 27 in 1818 when he painted this romantic icon. 146 men and one woman climbed on a makeshift raft when the French frigate Medusa ran aground off the west coast of Africa in 1816. After 13 days only 15 were still alive. Gericault spent 10 months planning his massive canvas. He built a scale model of the raft and worked near a hospital to study the dead and dying. The painting itself took 8 months during which he lived a monastic life. His assistant posed for three of the figures. The painting met with mixed reviews at the Paris salon of 1819 and despite winning a gold medal it did not find a buyer. Despondent and exhausted he suffered a nervous breakdown.
COMMISSIONED BY KARL KOPP
The work references the dead and desperate survivors in Gericault’s dramatic painting below. Theodore Gericault was 27 in 1818 when he painted this romantic icon. 146 men and one woman climbed on a makeshift raft when the French frigate Medusa ran aground off the west coast of Africa in 1816. After 13 days only 15 were still alive. Gericault spent 10 months planning his massive canvas. He built a scale model of the raft and worked near a hospital to study the dead and dying. The painting itself took 8 months during which he lived a monastic life. His assistant posed for three of the figures. The painting met with mixed reviews at the Paris salon of 1819 and despite winning a gold medal it did not find a buyer. Despondent and exhausted he suffered a nervous breakdown.
The homicide outlines above the bar are for new figures which will be added about once a month.
After blocking out a configuration with our model, measurements and photographs are taken before silicone molds are made.
The finished work is cast and sculpted in resin and white plaster and contains a steel skeleton. A finished body weighs about 100 pounds.
At this writing, we are working on the third piece of the series. When it’s finished the wall will contain six or seven figures.
