The Whale-Watch

Artist Frank Stella American, 1936–2024

Date1993

MediumLithograph, etching, aquatint, relief on handmade paper

Dimensions72 1/2 x 73 in. (184.2 x 185.4 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Mary and Jim Patton

Object number2013.10

On View

Not on view

Label TextBeginning in the 1980s and continuing onwards through the 1990s, Stella became obsessed with Herman Melville's masterpiece, Moby Dick. In response, he formed a large body of work—paintings, drawings, collages, murals, a large-scale sculpture and prints—that reflected this interest, and over 130 works were completed in this series. Stella's print series, Moby Dick Deckle Edges, presents one of the final stages of his Moby Dick phase—comprised of nine prints completed using various printmaking techniques, densely filled with colors, shapes, lines and pattern. These large-scale images are almost overwhelming in their complexity and detail, and as such it alerts the viewer to sensations and emotion rather than to a specific representation. In these works, though no white whale is physically present, one might detect struggle, raucous energy, and possibly even disaster—just as in the classic text.
[J. Dasal, 2014]ProvenanceCreated (published) Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mt. Kisco, NY; collection of the artist; [M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1993]; sold to Mary and Jim Patton, 1993; given to NCMA, 2013.

Published ReferencesJacquelyn Baas, Frank Stella: Moby Dick Deckle Edges (Mount Kisco, NY: Tyler Graphics, Ltd., 1993), 4–6, 12, illus. (color) 13 (another print), detail (color) cover; also illus. in background (color) 11, and in process 31.

Siri Engberg, Frank Stella at Tyler Graphics (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1997), listed 53; series of prints discussed 12–15, 47.

Robert K. Wallace, Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick: Words and Shapes (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000), 223, 226, 229, 287 (ft. 228), illus. (color) 224.

“The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina,” in North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Summer 2015 Calendar), illus. (color), unpaginated.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “The Patton Collection: A Gift to North Carolina,” March 28–August 23, 2015.
Object Rights Statement

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) makes images of its collection available online to support research and scholarship and to inform and educate the public. Certain works of art, as well as the photographs of those works of art, may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not owned by the NCMA. The responsibility for ascertaining whether any such rights exist and for obtaining all other necessary permissions remains with the applicant. To request images and/or permissions from the NCMA, please complete our online request form.