A ‘stormy petrel’

A Rockwell Kent illustration in Moby Dick, or the Whale, by Herman Melville, in the show “Rockwell Kent: A Force of Nature,’’ at the Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, Mass., June 17-Dec. 20.

The museum says:

“Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) is remembered today as an artist, illustrator, explorer, writer, and political activist. Though he was born in the village of Tarrytown, New York, Kent traveled throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Newfoundland, Tierra del Fuego, Greenland, and Cape Cod. His book N by E tells the tales of several such dramatic adventures in his own words, through his own artwork.

“Both Kent’s art and written works express his philosophical considerations of the natural world and humanity’s role in it. Inspired by transcendentalist and mystic philosophies, his pieces often feature one or two central figures isolated amongst the raw power of nature: rolling waves, rugged mountains, or an almost invisible horizon. In addition to his vast travels, his work maintained significant connections to Massachusetts through several projects, including his celebrated illustrated volume of Moby Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville. This masterpiece of illustration is exemplary of the infinite, elemental aspects of life that Kent himself boldly pursued throughout his career as the ‘stormy petrel of American art.’’’

Northern illumination

I'm here near the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, in an atmosphere of memorable clarity. Surprisingly, to me, plants are still growing and the land looks almost as lush as it does hundreds of miles south, though the colors of the maples remind you of how late in the year it is. The  vegetable gardens are still producing crops, though I suppose that may change in a few days.

Though there is much poverty, the houses and farms are neat, adding to the sense of coming into a more innocent, or at least more dignified, world.

I wish I were here in May to see the icebergs calved off the Greenland Ice Sheet float by off the point here.

The place evokes a Rockwell Kent picture.

--- Robert Whitcomb