After reading the last half of Moby Dick, I decided to do some research on other works that were inspired by the novel. I found many different cultural works that drew from Melville’s novel but I became very interested in the actual artwork that stemmed from Moby Dick. I saw some very familiar names such as, Matt Kish and Jackson Pollock but then I stumbled across a series of art done by Frank Stella. Stella was born in 1936 in Boston. He a modern painter who is most renowned for his series “The Black Painting.”  I then decided to look a little further and found that in the 1980s, Stella did a series of abstract artwork based on Melville’s novel, Moby Dick. This collection not only consisted of paintings, but larger than life sculptures and sketches as well. Each piece of artwork in the series is named after each chapter in Moby Dick. When asked why he decided to do a series based on Moby Dick he replied, that the Americans have tried to grapple with Melville’s work for a long time, it was now time to take a British approach to it.

After the series had gotten some notoriety, a writer named Robert K. Wallace decided to add his own take to this growing collection. Wallace decided to add his own writing to Stella’s art. He depicts Stella’s interpretation and reaction to the novel through words on a greater scale. This collection of writing eventually developed into a comprehensive book consisting of Stella’s art and Wallace’s words. This book is entitled “Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick: Words and Shapes (Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick Series)”

 

I was really intrigued by the way this book came about. Melville’s novel is so influential that it did not just inspire one artist but two and these artists collaboration developed into a piece of art in itself.

Here is where I found the article and the picture if anyone wants to take a look!

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/apr/05/artsfeatures1

http://goseasia.about.com/od/singaporehotels/ss/Exploring-The-Artwork-Of-The-Ritz-Carlton-Millenia-Singapore_8.htm