Master of the Pequod 1967

"Master of the Pequod" is a 1967 lithograph by American artist Benton Spruance (1904-1967). The work depicts a close-up portrait of a man with a weathered face, seen from the chest up. He wears a wide-brimmed hat, his eyes gaze intensely, and his expression is stoic. The use of muted greens and browns, along with the scratchy lines of the lithograph, contributes to the work's somber tone. The work's title alludes to the whaling ship, a symbol of human ambition and the dangers of the sea, suggesting a possible connection to Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick," where the Pequod serves as a vessel for Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of the white whale.