Melinda Kirkpatrick Monumental Folk Art Painting of a Sperm Whale and Lighthouse

Details

Description

Melinda Kirkpatrick Large Folk Art Painting of a Sperm Whale and Lighthouse
Contemporary

This large painting in acrylic on panel … Read more Melinda Kirkpatrick Large Folk Art Painting of a Sperm Whale and Lighthouse
Contemporary

This large painting in acrylic on panel shows a sperm whale filling almost the full width of the picture as it cruises past a lighthouse at the harbor mouth. The whale is laid in a dense, flat black lightly flecked with white, with the great square head characteristic of the species, a single round white eye, and the long, narrow lower jaw opened to show a red mouth set with a row of white teeth. A small fin hangs beneath the body, the broad flukes rise at the right, and above the head the spout is drawn as a small double plume in white outline.

At the left a white clapboard lighthouse with a black lantern, an American flag painted on its tower, stands on an outcrop of gray boulders beside a keeper’s house with a red roof. A pale blue sky with drifting white cloud fills the upper part of the panel and a band of deep slate-blue sea runs along the bottom. The panel is set in a narrow dark painted frame. At more than six and a half feet across, the picture has the scale of a shop sign and reads clearly from across a large room.

Dimensions (outside frame)
Height: 37 inches (94.0 cm)
Width: 80 inches (203.2 cm)
Depth: 1 1/2 inches (3.56cm)

Marks
Signed “Melinda” in black ink on the reverse.

Provenance
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge.

Condition
Good.

References
For another whale subject by the artist, similarly signed “Melinda” on the reverse, see Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts, Summer Living, June 25, 2026, lot 7522, a folk art scene of a whale and American flag bunting, acrylic on board, 24 x 30 inches.

“Meet the Artist: Melinda Kirkpatrick of Flowerness Farm,” Cailíní Coastal, October 14, 2025.

Historical Context
Melinda Kirkpatrick is a contemporary Massachusetts folk painter who works at Flowerness Farm in Brimfield, the town known for its antique shows. She has painted since childhood and full time since about 2013, has spoken of feeling “a strong almost mythical connection to folk art traditions,” and draws her subjects from literature, history and New England coastal life. The whale is a recurring theme, appearing in such works as “Whale at Harbor,” “Beyond the Wake” and “See Nantucket.” Her flat, monumental treatment of the sperm whale, the animal on which the nineteenth-century fortunes of Nantucket and New Bedford were built, looks back to the painted trade signs and carved whale silhouettes of the American folk tradition.

(Ref: NY11293-mnpp) See less