Unpainted to the last
Subtitle: Moby-Dick and twentieth-century American art
By: Elizabeth A. Schultz.
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Lawrence, Kan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 382
Subjects: Melville, Herman, 1819-1891. -- Illustrations; Melville, Herman, 1819-1891 -- Influence; Art and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Sea stories, American -- Illustrations; Art, Modern -- 20th century; Whaling in art; Whales in art; Art, American
Description: Endlessly pursued but ever elusive, Moby-Dick roams freely throughout the American imagination. A fathomless source for literary exploration, Melville's masterpiece has also inspired a stunning array of book illustrations, prints, comics, paintings, sculptures, mixed media, and even architectural designs. Innovative and lavishly illustrated, Unpainted to the Last illuminates this impressive body of work and shows how it opens up our understanding of both Moby-Dick and twentieth-century American art.

The most continuously, frequently, and diversely illustrated of all American novels, Moby-Dick has attracted some remarkable book illustrators in Rockwell Kent, Boardman Robinson, Garrick Palmer, Barry Moser, and Bill Sienkiewicz, among others represented here.

It has also inspired extraordinary creations by such prominent artists as Jackson Pollock, Frank Stella, Sam Francis, Benton Spruance, Leonard Baskin, Theodoros Stamos, Richard Ellis, Ralph Goings, Seymour Lipton, Walter Martin, Tony Rosenthal, Richard Serra, and Theodore Roszak.

The artists reflect in equal measure the novel's realistic (plot, character, natural history) and philosophical modes, its visual and visionary dimensions. Some, like the obsessed and haunted Gilbert Wilson, claim Moby-Dick as their "Bible." Still others view the novel as a touchstone for feminist, multicultural, and environmentalist themes, or mock its status as a cultural icon.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.