Russell Craig Acquisition by The Bronx Museum

Russell Craig’s painting Prometheus (2024-25) has been acquired by The Bronx Museum. In this incredible painting, Craig reimagines Peter Paul Rubens' Prometheus Bound (c. 1611–18), held in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For Craig, the bound Titan punished for bringing fire to humanity becomes an allegory of incarceration itself, immobilized and punished. 

Craig continues his material experimentation here, incorporating foam board to suggest entrapment and silent suffering. Orange and teal echo the colors of imprisonment, as in his other works: orange for prison uniforms, teal recalling the painted doors of his cell block. The addition of stitched leather further recalls prison labor, where incarcerated people are often forced into the manufacture of leather goods, turning these instruments into testimony. 

Prometheus (2024-25) links myth to lived experience: the Titan chained to the mountain resonates with Craig’s Prison Door Paintings and Prison Window Sculptures, each articulating the architectures of confinement while affirming resilience and survival. 

The painting was first presented to a public audience at Clubhouse Gallery’s solo presentation Russell Craig: Carceral Views in September, 2025 in New York City. We are grateful to The Bronx Museum and its generous supporters for providing a thoughtful and enduring home for this outstanding work.

The Gallery will host an Artist Talk with Craig and Eileen Jeng Lynch, The Bronx Museum’s Director of Curatorial Programs, on Monday Feb 2nd from 4-6PM in Wellington, FL. 

Russell Craig, Prometheus (2024–25)
The Bronx Museum. 
Purchase, with support from the Acquisitions Committee and a gift from the Zicherman Family.