For other artists, the transformation of narrative into visual art is less illustrative and more interpretive, as demonstrated by Frank Stella’s “The Musket”. The wall sculpture is part of Stella’s series that interprets each of the 135 chapters of Herman Melville’s classic novel, “Moby Dick”. Written in 1851, “Moby Dick” has influenced almost every corner of Western culture including literature, art, film, music, and theater. Even the famed coffee chain, Starbucks, found inspiration in Melville’s novel – the company is named after the first mate, Starbuck. The chapter that inspired this piece, “The Musket”, copes with the aftermath of a typhoon and Starbuck’s moral dilemma to stop Captain Ahab’s mission of revenge against the white whale.

Another way that visual art has incorporated literature is by copying its forms and structures. Take for example Barnett Newman’s series, “Canto”. A style of long form poetry that is often performed musically; the name “canto” derives from the Italian for song or singing. Newman interprets this structure of poetry by creating 18 “cantos”. As Newman stated, “Here are the cantos, eighteen of them, each one different in form, mood, color, beat, scale, and key. There are no cadenzas. Each is separate. Each can stand by itself. But its fullest meaning it seems to me, is when it is seen together with the others.” In the works, Newman replicates poetic conventions such as rhyming, rhythm, or symmetry into meditative visual pieces.