Party Boat is inspired by Gericault’s painting, The Raft of Medusa, painted in 1819. In 1816 the French naval frigate Meduse ran aground off the coast of Mauritania. Of 147 people, only fifteen survived by enduring starvation, dehydration and cannibalism for thirteen days. The tragedy was blamed on the incompetent captain, a representative of the restored French monarchy. The captain of Party Boat is likened here to the Greek ferryman of Hades, Charon, who led the deceased across the river Styx. A coin was place in the mouth of the dead to pay the toll into the Underworld. Those without a coin had to wander the banks of the River Styx for one hundred years.

The characters in Party Boat are personifications of the Buddhist idea of Ratna. Ratna, which is gold in color and the shape of a square, is the universal energy of equanimity, which, when enlightened, appears as resourcefulness, abundance, generosity and evenness of emotion. Ratna in is psychologically negative state presents as proud, greedy, and gluttonous behavior. 

Printed at the Highland Studio on archival William Turner Watercolor paper with a 1/2" border for easy framing, this print is virtually indistinguishable from the original painting.