Unpainted to the Last: Moby-Dick and Twentieth-Century American Art
"Moby-Dickis America's essential 'big book': physically daunting in sheer number of pages; cosmic and endlessly mysterious in its iconography; epic in the sweep of the story--and, for all of those reasons, irresistible to visual artists. In this riveting study Schultz follows her whale through uncharted waters, daring to discuss comic-book versions ofMoby-Dickand collectible glass whales alongside the paintings of Jackson Pollock. The result is a rich and dazzling exploration of texts-visual and verbal-and contexts, centered on the problem of abstraction in the art of our century."--Karal Ann Marling, author ofAs Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s"Melville readers both old and new will rub their delighted eyes to behold the unexpected vistas spread in this sophisticated, closely detailed, and profusely illustrated book. It will take its place on the short list of major Melville studies and offers an appealing new approach for interpretingMoby-Dick."--Harrison Hayford, general editor ofThe Writings of Herman Melville"Combining a keen appreciation for literature with an equal one for art, Schultz gives new illumination to an American masterwork, literally illustrating its enduring greatness."--Charles C. Eldredge, former director of the National Museum of American Art and author ofGeorgia O'Keeffe: American and Modern"This is a prodigious and brilliantly realized work that does something so imaginative yet so obvious that readers will wonder why it has not been done before. The range of artists Schultz addresses is staggering and her understanding ofMoby-Dickis superb."--Robert K. Wallace, author ofMelville and Turner: Spheres of Love and Fright